Soils were collected on November 9, 1996, from the litter manipulation plots at the Bousson Forest, in the Allegheny College Bousson Environmental Research Reserve in northwestern Pennsylvania. Soil cores were taken from three locations within each plot, with two cores taken side-by-side at each location. Each core contained soil from 0-20 cm depth (O horizon was included if present). Cores were divided into 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm sections.

Core fresh weights were recorded and the 0-10 cm portions of each pair of cores were combined, as were the 10-20 sections, for each location. The composited material was passed through a 5.6 mm seive, and the weight of the <5.6 mm material was recorded. Subsamples were analyzed for fresh weight – oven dry weight conversion, % ash, pH, %C and %N.

Other subsamples were incubated in the laboratory for six months and monitored for CO₂, NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- release.