Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,135 The Forest Floor Defined and Measured .....................................................................................

Ant-aphid mutualism is known to play a key role in the structure of the arthropod community in the tree canopy, but its possible ecological effects for the forest floor are unknown. We hypothesized that aphids in the canopy can increase the abundance of ants on the forest floor, thus intensifying the impacts of ants on other arthropods on the forest floor. We tested this hypothesis in a deciduo...

water erosion causes severe soil damage in northern forests of iran which is associated with different rut depths in skid trails. the aim of this study was to assess rutting and soil displacement on skid trails to mitigate water erosion. therefore the research was carried out in eight parcels of district no 3 of shafarood forest in the north of iran. in order to evaluate the amount of erosion i...

The fungal community of the forest floor was examined as the cause of previously reported increases in soil organic matter due to experimental N deposition in ecosystems producing predominantly high-lignin litter, and the opposite response in ecosystems producing low-lignin litter. The mechanism proposed to explain this phenomenon was that white-rot basidiomycetes are more important in the degr...

The Agaricomycotina are a phylogenetically diverse group of fungi that includes both saprotrophic and mycorrhizal species, and that form species--rich communities in forest ecosystems. Most species are infrequently observed, and this hampers assessment of the role that environmental heterogeneity plays in determining local community composition and in driving beta-diversity. We used a combinati...

Local variation in the abundance and richness of vascular epiphytes is often attributed to environmental characteristics such as substrate and microclimate. Less is known, however, about the impacts of tree and branch turnover on epiphyte communities. To address this issue, we surveyed branches and epiphytes found on the forest floor in 96 transects in two forests (Atlantic rainforest in Brazil...

The energy balance components were measured above the ground surface of a temperate deciduous forest over an annual cycle using the eddy covariance technique. Over a year, the net radiation at the forest floor was 21.5% of that above the canopy, but this proportion was not constant, primarily because of the distinct phenological stages separated by the emergence and senescence of leaves. The do...

Measuring forest floor interception in a beech forest in Luxembourg A. M. J. Gerrits, H. H. G. Savenije, L. Hoffmann, and L. Pfister Water Resources Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands Department Environment and Agro-biotechnologies, Centre de Recherche Public – Gabriel Lippmann, 41, rue du Brill, 4...

Changes in aboveground and forest floor mass, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) pools were quantified on three sites in the southern Appalachians 2 yr after felling and burning. Before felling and burning, stands were characterized by sparse overstories and dense Kalmia latifolia L. understories. Two years after burning, foliar C and N pools had reached 25% and 29% of pretreatment levels, respective...

In a northwestern Connecticut forest, we quantified the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content of the forest floor and the top 15 cm of mineral soil and the rate of midsummer net N mineralization beneath six different tree species. There were large interspecific differences in forest floor depth and mass, in the size and distribution of C and N pools at varying soil depths, and in rates of midsumm...