The Dynamics of Plant Debris Input and of Some Properties of Forest Litters during Postagrogenic Reforestation under the Conditions of Southern Taiga

Abstract

A comparative description of the structural and functional organization of plant debris and forest litter during natural postagrogenic reforestation in the 12-, 40-, and 100-year-long chronoseries of ecosystems is given. With the increase in the age of forests, the total reserves and diversity of litters rise; and the portion of easily decomposed components and their pH and ash content become smaller. The grass ground cover is replaced by grass–dwarf-shrub cover, which indicates a decrease in the trophicity of ecosystems. The properties of forest litter are adequately reflected in the ground cover composition. Forest restoration is accompanied by a regular decrease in the decomposition intensity of the ground detritus and in the rate of the biological cycle. The spatial differentiation of litters plays a role of a trigger for the subsequent divergence of soil organic profiles.