Ciekawostka: “Duff” is the decaying organic matter found on a forest floor

Evidence: 77 • authority: 72

The forest floor, also called detritus or duff, is the part of a forest ecosystem that mediates between the living, aboveground portion of the forest and the mineral/humus-rich soil, principally composed of decaying plant litter and other dead plant matters such as coarse woody debris. In some countries, like Canada, forest floor refers to L, F and H organic horizons. It hosts a wide variety of decomposers and predators, including invertebrates, fungi, algae, bacteria, and archaea. The forest floor serves as a bridge between the above ground living vegetation and the soil, and thus is a crucial component in nutrient transfer through the biogeochemical cycle. Leaf litter and other plant litt…

Evidence: 65 • authority: 88

Nutrient Storage and Stoichiometry of the Forest Floor Organic Matter in Japanese Forests. Nutrient storage in the forest floor is regulated through litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Stoichiometry of nutrients can provide characterization of the forest floor. To quantify nutrient storage in the forest floor and to determine stoichiometry among different forest types, available data on nutrients were meta-analyzed. The data on nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium—were collected from published reports and original data on Japanese forests. The relationship between nutrient storage and forest floor mass was also examined. Japanese cypress and cedar plantat…

Evidence: 65 • authority: 88

The Effect of a Prescribed Burn in Southwestern Ponderosa Pine on Organic Matter and Nutrients in Woody Debris and Forest Floor. Abstract After 100 years of fire exclusion, controlled burning in the fall was used as a first step in the reintroduction of periodic burning in a southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystem near Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.A. Organic matter storage in woody debris was decreased 63 percent from 2,325 g/m² to 869 g/m², with a disproportionate (99 percent) decline in the large, rotten wood. Nutrient storage in the woody debris decreased by 80 percent for N, 62 percent for P, 70 percent for Ca, 71 percent for Mg, and 74 percent for K. Forest floor storages were less drasticall…

Evidence: 65 • authority: 72

In biology, detritus ( or ) is organic matter made up of the decomposing remains of organisms and plant material, and also of feces. Detritus usually hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decompose (remineralise) it. Such microorganisms may be decomposers, detritivores, or coprophages. In terrestrial ecosystems detritus is present as plant litter and other organic matter that is intermixed with soil, known as soil organic matter. The detritus of freshwater ecosystems are mostly leaf litter and other decaying organic materials. These are decomposed by microbes, and small invertebrates that shred leaves or filter feed suspended organic matter. The detritus of marine ecosystems…

Evidence: 58 • authority: 80

Organic matter and nutrient dynamics of the forest and forest floor in the Hubbard Brook forest

Evidence: 58 • authority: 80

Challenges of measuring forest floor organic matter dynamics:

Evidence: 58 • authority: 80

Formation and mobilization pathways of dissolved organic matter: evidence from chemical structural studies of organic matter fractions in acid forest floor solutions

Evidence: — • authority: 35