Global or regional environmental changes in climate or land use have been increasingly implied in shifts in boundaries (ecotones) between adjacent ecosystems such as beech or oak-dominated forests and forest-steppe ecotones that frequently co-occur near the southern range limits of deciduous forest biome in Europe. Yet, our ability to detect changes in biological communities across these ecosys...

To better understand the soil carbon dynamics and cycling in terrestrial ecosystems in response to environmental changes, we studied soil respiration, litter decomposition, and their relations to soil temperature and soil water content for 18-months (Aug. 2010-Jan. 2012) in three different-aged Pinus massoniana forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China. Across the experimental period, t...

T ropical forests play a substantial role in the global carbon (C) cycle and are projected to experience significant changes in climate, highlighting the im portance of understanding the factors th a t contro l organic m atte r decom position in this biome. In the tropics, high tem perature and rainfall lead to some o f the highest rates o f litter decom position on earth , and given the near-o...

Micro-scale changes in earthworm communities and ground cover types were studied along five transect lines in an unmanaged beech forest (Fontainebleau forest, France). Spatial patterns were interpreted to the light of interactions between earthworm species and forest architecture, ground vegetation and quantity as well as quality of litter. The anecic Lumbricus terrestris was associated with pa...

Results The C : N ratio in plant tissue, litter, forest floor and mineral soil exhibited large variation across various sequences, with an average of 145.8 9.4 (mean SE), 49.9 3.0, 38.2 3.1 and 18.5 0.9, respectively. In most sequences, the plant tissue C : N ratio increased significantly with stand age, while the C : N ratio in litter, forest floor and mineral soil remained relatively constant...

This study was undertaken to quantify the nutrient turnover and soil fertility status in the natural forests of Central Western Ghats. Major nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were analyzed in the litter, both from the samples collected in pre and post monsoon seasons. There was no much difference seen in the values between the two seasons studied in all the three nutrients st...

In order to study the diversity of the leaf litter and aerial litter filamentous fungi, sample were collected from a semi-deciduous seasonal forest located in the Miguel Calmon, state of Bahia, Brazil. Leaf litter and aerial litter samples were collected. Samples were placed in moist chambers. Five conidial fungi were described for the first time in Brazil. Comments about their specimens and di...

Most of the terrestrial net primary production enters the decomposer system as dead organic matter, and the subsequent recycling of C and nutrients are key processes for the functioning of ecosystems and the delivery of ecosystem goods and services. Although climatic and substrate quality controls are reasonably well understood, the functional role of biodiversity for biogeochemical cycles rema...

We studied the distribution of millipedes in a forest interior-forest edge-grassland habitat complex in the Hajdúság Landscape Protection Area (NE Hungary). The habitat types were as follows: (1) lowland oak forest, (2) forest edge with increased ground vegetation and shrub cover, and (3) mesophilous grassland. We collected millipedes by litter and soil sifting. There were overall 30 sifted lit...

Successional changes of terrestrial vegetation can profoundly influence stream ecosystem structure and function. We hypothesized that microbial enzyme production and community structure in stream beds depend on terrestrial litter inputs that reflect different stages of riparian succession. Outdoor experimental channels were supplied with leaf-litter of varying quantities and qualities to mimic ...