Heterogeneity in soil animal communities and the development of humus forms

نویسنده

  • Jean-François Ponge
چکیده

Two examples are given of strong relationships between the activity of soil animals and the development of humus forms in a mountain spruce forest and a lowland Scots pine stand. Both were based on field distributions of fauna and humus components. The vertical heterogeneity of soil animal communities in a moder humus profile under Scots pine is related to successional processes occurring during litter decomposition. Accumulation of faecal pellets by litter-dwelling animals influences in turn the development of the root system of pine and associated ectomycorrhizal fungi. The heterogeneity of humus forms in a mountain spruce forest is related to the developmental phases of spruce stands. Typical earthworm mull humus forms are restricted to regeneration sites with a low herbaceous vegetation. Typical moder humus forms with a thick OH horizon (dysmoder) are restricted to the pole phase of spruce stands. Between these two stages of the forest successional cycle, intermediary humus forms are found. They correspond to changes in soil animal communities, mostly burrowing earthworms, occurring together with changes in vegetation. These observations are discussed in terms of feed-back loops involving humus forms, soil animal and plant communities.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

THE STUDY OF HUMUS CHANGES IN SURFACE AND SUB-SURFACE LAYERS OF DESERTIFIED LANDS IN KHODABANDEH, IRAN

Soil organic matters are considered as the animal and plant residues and active components of soils. The cultivation practices will cause the quick removal of organic matters in soils even in those which are not affected by erosion. This study was carried out to assess the level of soil humus in the pilot area, to investigate the positive or negative effect of humus level on soil and to introdu...

متن کامل

Climatic effects on soil trophic networks and the resulting humus profiles in holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia) forests in the High Atlas of Morocco as revealed by correspondence analysis

Multivariate methods have been widely used for revealing the structures of communities, and in this paper we explore one particular method, namely correspondence analysis (also called reciprocal averaging) for studying humus profiles by the 'method of small volumes'. The present study was done on humus profiles under holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia), an evergreen Mediterranean species, in the Hi...

متن کامل

بررسی اشکال مختلف آهن و برخی خواص فیزیکی- شیمیایی به‌عنوان شاخصی از تکامل خاک در یک ردیف زمانی روی پادگانه‌های رودخانه کرج در منطقه حسن‌آباد، جنوب تهران

Terraces are old geomorphic surfaces that are not related to present streams and are best places to study the effect of time on soil formation (chronosequence). This research was carried out to study some physico-chemical parameters especially different forms of iron as soil development indices on terraces of Karaj River in Hassan-Abad, southern Tehran. To determine soil development indices in ...

متن کامل

Barratt: Mull and Mor Development in Temperate Grasslands Factors of Mull and Mor Development in Temperate Grasslands

Grassland humus forms have been investigated morphologically in the field and with the microscope (Barratt 1960, 1964). They are divisible into two main groups: mulls and mors. In mulls, organic residues are finely conllninuted and intimately mixed with the colloidal-sized fraction of the mineral soil. In mors, organic residues accumulate predominantly above the mineral soil surface, but show p...

متن کامل

Population Dynamics of Collembola and Acari in Wetlands and Croplands in Indo-gangetic Plains of North Bihar

Muller (1879) was the first to recognize that soil animals play an important role in the development of soil. In fact soil fauna represents the most rewarding area of current biological exploration. Soil biota, constitutes the driving force of terrestrial ecosystems because they control the rate of turnover and mineralization of substrates. Yet they remain one of the least known biological fron...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2017