Forest Floor Litter

Here in the leaf litter millions of small organisms fungi and bacteria springtails and mites spiders and centipedes and others are all part of a rich food web.

Forest floor litter.

The bottom line is while it goes against the grain of wanting to clean everything up an unkempt forest floor is actually the most healthy and the most beautiful. Forest floor definitions and importance. Shifts in the relative abundance of the two types of litter may lead to changes in soil microbial community structure consequently affecting microbial regulation of soil c and nutrient processes through the linkage between microbial community. Litter relatively fresh organic residues identifiable plant material such as leaves wood or twigs resting on the surface of the forest floor.

The forest floor is also where decomposition takes place. Many of these are decomposers feeding on plant and. Many organisms that live on the forest floor are decomposers such as fungi. The amount of organic material in the forest floor depends on the balance between inputs from litter production and outputs from decomposition.

To add insult to injury this essential leaf litter gets bagged up and hauled off. The forest floor consists of organic residues leaves branches bark stems in various stages of decomposition present on the top of the mineral soil. Upon annual litter fall a new screen window is located above the forest floor. All the forest s hard earned savings are just given away.

From left to right litter originating from red alder bigleaf maple western hemlock and douglas fir. The community of decomposers in the litter layer also includes bacteria amoeba nematodes rotifer tardigrades springtails cryptostigmata potworms insect. Under a canopy of trees the forest floor is a cool damp and protected environment. Organisms whose diet consists of plant detritus such as earthworms are termed detritivores.

Some discolouration or other signs of early decomposition may be visible but the origins of plant residues are still easy to discern. Save some time this fall and let. Although principally composed of non living organic material the forest floor also teems with a wide variety of. Decomposition is the process by which fungi and microorganisms break down dead plants and animals and recycle essential materials and nutrients.

A plot study of forest floor litter frogs central amazon brazil volume 7 issue 4 warren d. The forest floor also called detritus duff and the o horizon is one of the most distinctive features of a forest ecosystem it mainly consists of shed vegetative parts such as leaves branches bark and stems existing in various stages of decomposition above the soil surface. The forest floor is the bottom layer of the rainforest and its also the darkest layer of the rainforest.