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With increased anthropogenic carbon dioxide emission, increased temperature, and changes in precipitation, species composition in forest ecosystems are expected to change. The experimental goal is to gain a greater understanding of what occurs during decomposition at the microbial and species level. The procedure tests the response of the microbial communities to different species of leaf litter and how changes in the surrounding environment unfold as the leaves undergo decomposition. It involves creating soil microcosms and monitoring changes in pH, mass loss, and microbial communities. The results showed species variation and harvest date proved significant factors in mass loss during decomposition. The interaction showed a p-value of .03 and an r-squared value of .211. In terms of pH change, the t-test showed pH became more acidic in all species groups changing from the expected of 5.9. The p-values for all species were less than .0001. When observing the interaction between species and harvest date the p-value was less than .001 showing high significance and the r-squared value was .5239. The microbes within the initial slurry showed the presence of bacteria and fungi. However, the results of PCR's on the other harvests proved inconclusive.