Humus forms in relation to altitude and forest type in the Northern mountainous regions of Iran

Bayranvand, Mohammad; Kooch, Yahya; Hosseini, Seyed Mohsen; Alberti, Giorgio

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.11.035

Cited by 31 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Egli et al [87] investigated mountain soils also within the area of this study and found a higher percentage of weakly degraded organic matter as well as higher soil organic carbon concentrations at northern slope exposure as compared to southern slope exposure. Other studies described patterns similar to this study regarding humus forms, pH values and soil C/N ratio along an elevation gradient (e.g., [66,88]). …”

Section: Soil Ecological Implicationssupporting

confidence: 86%

Humus Forms and Soil Microbiological Parameters in a Mountain Forest: Upscaling to the Slope Scale

et al. 2018

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Humus forms are the morphological results of organic matter decay and distribution in the topsoil, and thus important indicators for decomposer activities in forest ecosystems. The first aim was to examine if humus forms are suitable indicators of microbiological properties of the topsoil in a high mountain forest (Val di Rabbi, Trentino, Italian Alps). The second aim was to predict microbiological parameters based on the topsoil pH value on two slopes of the study area (ca. 1200-2200 m a.s.l.). We investigated humus forms and determined pH values and microbiological parameters (enzymatic activities, carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio and the ratio of bacterial/archaeal abundance) of the uppermost mineral horizon. The results reveal significant correlations between pH value and microbiological parameters (except for bacterial/archaeal abundance), which enable upscaling to the landscape scale using linear models. Based on a random forest with kriging of model residuals, predictive maps of humus form, pH value and microbiological parameters show that decomposition processes in our study area correspond with the topography. As compared to locations on south-facing slopes or close to the valley bottom, locations on north-facing slopes or close to the upper treeline exhibit Moder (scarcely Mull or Amphimull), more acidic topsoil (around pH 4), a lower activity of leucine-aminopeptidase, a lower ratio of alkaline/acid phosphomonoesterase activity and a higher soil C/N ratio (above 20). Our results suggest a high potential of humus forms to indicate soil microbiological properties in a high mountain forest. Together with the pH values of the topsoil, humus forms proved to be a useful tool as a basis for predictive maps of leucine-aminopeptidase activity, ratio of alkaline/acid phosphomonoesterase activity and C/N ratio of the mineral topsoil.

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Section: Soil Ecological Implicationssupporting

confidence: 86%

Humus Forms and Soil Microbiological Parameters in a Mountain Forest: Upscaling to the Slope Scale

et al. 2018

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“…According to Zanella et al (2011), temperature, precipitation and vegetation composition are the three most important factors affecting biological degradation of organic residues and contributing in the formation of different humus forms. On the other hand, altitude through changes in temperature and precipitation, affects the distribution of forest species, forest floor quality and quantity (Bayranvand et al 2017b), soil characteristics (Ponge et al 2011), microorganism types and activities (Zhang et al 2013, Xu et al 2015, thus contributing in humus forms (Ascher et al 2012, Salmon 2018. Altitudinal gradients are considered as natural laboratories for evaluating soil ecological processes (Labaz et al 2014, Bojko & Kabala 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to their unique topographical conditions compared to the oldest forest in Asia, Alborz mountains offers the potential to assess changes in forest types and humus forms with altitude (Naqinezhad et al 2013). So far, few studies investigated the pattern of humus forms, forest floor features and soil microbial biomass along altitudinal gradients (Bayranvand et al 2017b, Waez-Mousavi 2018.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of humus forms and soil characteristics along a forest altitudinal gradient in Hyrcanian forest

Bayranvand¹,

Moslem²,

Jouzani³

et al. 2021

iForest

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“…The typical solution is a respectively high number of primary samples (replicates) from the plot, fitted to the expected or observed local variability [2,23]. However, one of the most important sources of topsoil variability in forest soils is litter, a key component of forest humus that may occur in a wide range of forms, depending on soil trophic status, forest stand composition and age, climate and altitude, as well as an ecosystem balance/transformation related to anthropic impacts (e.g., management or pollution) [24,25]. Forest litter, depending on the humus form, may have little thickness (as in a case of mull humus) or even more than 20 cm and noticeable layerin, as in the case of mor humus [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Topsoil Sampler for the Assessment and Monitoring of Forest Soil Contamination

Kabała

Gałka

Yurkouski

2021

Forests

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The forest litter and underlying mineral topsoil are typically sampled and analyzed separately although they are in a dynamic balance, which ensures macro- and microelement cycling in the forest ecosystem, including the flux and accumulation of xenobiotics in the contaminated sites. Although the national legal regulations specify single limits of element concentration for the entire “topsoil” layer, irrespectively of the kind of materials resting at the earth surface down to the specified depth, the direct analysis of bicomponent forest topsoil (litter + mineral topsoil) was problematic because of the lack of a suitable sampler. The paper presents a comparative analysis of Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations in the forest topsoil layers (0–25 cm), sampled using a new construction sampler invented for a joint collection of the litter layer and underlying mineral layer (to the specified depth). Litter samples (using a steel frame), mineral topsoil samples (0–25 cm, using gouge auger after litter removal), and mixed topsoil samples (0–25 cm, including litter) were collected in 16 replicates from four variably contaminated plots (copper mining and smelting area) afforested with poplar or pine. Pseudo-total concentration of Cu, Pb, and Zn was analyzed after sample digestion in aqua regia. The concentration of elements in the samples consisting of jointly collected litter and mineral layer was noticeably higher than in the samples consisting of the mineral topsoil only, which confirmed the effective inclusion of the litter. The concentrations of trace elements measured in the samples of jointly collected litter and mineral topsoil did not differ (NIR Fisher test at p < 0.05) from the concentrations calculated using the data for litter and mineral soil separately collected and analyzed, which confirmed the usefulness of the new sampler for reliable collection of the forest topsoil samples without skipping any material which may influence the results of soil contamination assessment and risk assessment.

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Humus forms in relation to altitude and forest type in the Northern mountainous regions of Iran

Cited by 31 publications

References 29 publications

Humus Forms and Soil Microbiological Parameters in a Mountain Forest: Upscaling to the Slope Scale

Humus Forms and Soil Microbiological Parameters in a Mountain Forest: Upscaling to the Slope Scale

Dynamics of humus forms and soil characteristics along a forest altitudinal gradient in Hyrcanian forest

New Topsoil Sampler for the Assessment and Monitoring of Forest Soil Contamination

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