Lignin is highly resistant to biodegradation and only higher fungi are capable of degrading the polymer via an oxidative process.
Masonite, a wood hardboard, was bonded using natural lignin, (although most modern MDF particle boards use synthetic thermosetting resins).
The Anselme Payen Award is an annual prize named in honor for the distinguished French scientist who discovered cellulose, and pioneered in the chemistry of both cellulose and lignin.
Both species of fungi cause brown rot decay, preferentially removing cellulose and hemicellulose from the timber leaving a brittle matrix of modified lignin.
Decomposition of dead plant material causes complex organic compounds to be slowly oxidized (lignin-like humus) or to break down into simpler forms (sugars and amino sugars, aliphatic, and phenolic organic acids), which are further transformed into microbial biomass (microbial humus) or are reorganized, and further oxidized, into humic assemblages (fulvic and humic acids), which bind to clay minerals and metal hydroxides.
Reactive flash volatilization of solid particles composed of cellulose, starch, lignin, Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) wood chips, and polyethylene was demonstrated in 2007 in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie.