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Shiro TSUYUZAKI
Plant community ecology / Environmental conservation

Mount Usu / Sarobetsu post-mined peatland
From left: Crater basin in 1986 and 2006. Cottongrass / Daylily

(First update on January 19 2006. Last on December 11 2011)

Soil

Soil (土壌)

Soil

The top layer of the Earth's surface, containing unconsolidated rock and mineral particles mixed with organic material.


[ soil | duff | litter | decomposition rate ]

Soil profile

Soil profile refers to the layers of soil, horizons (L, F, H,) A, B, and C.

LayerRemarks
LLitter, see below
F
H
AMade of highly decomposed organic matter
B
CMostly bedrock
Soil profile observed at Poker Flat, AK

AK
On May 18 2005. The ground surface was covered with Picea mariana and Sphagnum spp.

Duff

(Johnson 1992)

CC
Ground surface covered
by Cinnamomum
camphora litter

Organic matter layer is divided into two indistinct layers

Litter (L):

consists of the loosely packed, largely unaltered dead remains of animals and plants usually recently cast.


Duff (D): has two layers

(F) = an upper F layer: consisting of litter which has recently begun to decompose but with the particles still recognizable as to their origins
(H) = a lower H layer: is made of well-decomposed organic matter which can not be recognized as to its origin.

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Litter decomposition rate

(Wieder & Lang 1982)

Conclusion: Single and double exponential models best describe the loss of mass over time with an element of biological realism.

Single exponential equation: y/y0 = e-kt

y: remaining at time t, y0: initial mass, k: decay constant

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References
  • tephra (テフラ)
  • Johnson, E.A. 1992. Fire and vegetation dynamics. Studies from the North American boreal forest. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  • Wieder RK & Lang GE. 1982. A critique of the analytical mehods used in examining decoposition data obtained from litter bags. Ecology 63: 1636-1642

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