In an ecological study on material cycling, a scientist placed a mesh litter bag containing 85.0 g of dry deciduous leaf litter on the forest floor. After 120 days120\text{ days}120 days of exposure to decomposers, the remaining dry mass of the leaf litter was measured to be 41.8 g.
Which of the following is the average rate of decomposition of the leaf litter over this period?
0.35 g day−10.35\text{ g day}^{-1}0.35 g day−1
0.36 g day−10.36\text{ g day}^{-1}0.36 g day−1
0.71 g day−10.71\text{ g day}^{-1}0.71 g day−1
1.06 g day−11.06\text{ g day}^{-1}1.06 g day−1
