 Hello, it's Meg here and today we'll look at the decomposition rate of your soil. Decomposition rate is important for nutrient cycling and carbon storage among many other soil functions. This method is inspired in the Global Tea Composition Initiative, in which tea bags are used to look at the decomposition rate across time and different sites. By the way, for this method we should bury tea bags in May or June in the northern hemisphere or around November-December in the southern hemisphere. To follow the tea composition methodology, you will need for each of the areas you want to study, 8 marking sticks, 16 green tea bags, 16 redbush tea bags, a waterproof pen to label the tea bags, some ziplock bags or other waterproof recipients with lid, a precise scale, a little spade, a tape measure and some tape if you wish to secure the labels to the tea bags. In each zone we select two representative sampling areas of at least a square meter with gentle slope. Physically mark these areas with sticks or colored stones and record the altitude and GPS coordinates. If possible, record as well the soil type. Label the tea bags with a unique code that represents the number of the tea bags, the type of tea and the zones you are studying and the sampling area you are studying. This is one or two. For example, you could name it 2-G-R-C-O-M-1. To make sure the labels of the tea bags would not disappear, we decided to use tape and noted the codes of each tea bag on top of the tape. Weigh the tea bags before burial and record the weight. Place tea bags in ziplock bag or box until burial. Then note the starting date of incubation. Using string and nails mark four lines of one meter in each sampling area with at least 10 centimeters between the line. Then note the starting date of incubation or tea burial. Gently dig four slots of approximately 5 centimeters, separated by 30 centimeters along each line, creating a pocket for the tea bags. Along each line bury two green tea and two Roy Boss tea bags, roughly 5 centimeters deep. Make sure the identifier codes on the tags are visible on the surface. Then plan the retrieval dates or sampling points in your calendar. This could be 3, 12, 24 and 36 months after burial. This for the other sampling area to get four bags of green and four bags of Roy Boss tea per zone. Gently clean tea bags from roots, soil and so forth. And note if bag was damaged or found at the surface. Place every tea bag in a ziplock bag or in a box. Then dry the tea bags at 70 degrees for 48 hours. Determine the weight of an empty tea bag and notice weight. Then measure the weight of each tea bag. Record the results in the datasheet. Repeat this procedure after 12, 24 and 36 months. Using this method, we are able to calculate the average percentage of decomposed tea in different zones of our camp. However, the small size of the holes in the mesh of tea bags means that this rate is a good proxy for microphone activity and less appropriate for mezzo and microphone. If you are interested in the latter, we recommend creating native litter bags using local litter and a larger mesh. If done following the tea composition protocol carefully, this data could be included in a database of global research on soiled tea composition.