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from Section II - Ecosystem structure and function
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Dead organic matter from plants, litter, has to be decomposed in order to release its content of elements for use by other plants. This chapter discusses how the release of different elements is related and the factors regulating the release. A simple mathematical model provides a framework that lets us identify how different properties of the decomposer organisms, mainly bacteria and fungi, control the rate and fate of the decomposition process.
Litter and soil organic matter
Litter and soil organic matter represent different forms of a continuous transition of organic matter from newly shed, or even still attached, plant tissue or tissues from other living organisms, to an amorphous mixture of organic compounds. Since soils (with litters and soil organic matter) in general contain more of the most important elements than other stores in global element cycles (see Figures 9.21–9.24), the dynamics of soil pools are critical for the functioning of the element cycles. For simplicity, in this chapter we will include litters in soil organic matter, SOM for brevity (see Chapter 4 and the partitioning of soils into horizons).
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