Researchers
The tea bag index provides a highly standardized reference method for any decomposition study. We use Lipton Green tea and Rooibos tea that comes in triangular mesh bags, and bury them for 3 months at 8 cm depth. Next to using tea as a standard litter, you can use the weight loss of green tea and rooibos tea to calculate two decomposition parameters, by which you can fit a two phased decay curve. The details of this are explained in our publication in Methods in Ecology and evolution (Keuskamp et al., 2013). Over the past years, the method has been discussed, and we have provided some of the links of this discussion under ‘publications’
This website contains details on the method, tips and tricks and the ways to obtain tea under ‘method’. Be aware that the method described here is somewhat simplified to address a wider public. A more extended protocol can be found
as a download at the method page.
The method has been successfully used to obtain measurements along gradients and to test experimental treatments in greenhouse potting studies and mesocosms. Researchers are challenged to test the usefulness of the method in their own scientific set up. We are keen on learning from your experiences.
We have created a global soil map of decomposition, and we invite for collaborations on the maps of initial decomposition rate or stablisation or the dataset. We envision that our portal will be the collection point for all existing tea bag data (woven, non-woven and plant based). This database will hopefully inspire many interesting research questions.
On this website you will find the standardized excel sheet that will help you to calculate the TBI parameters and a general overview of the project.
Enjoy!