EJPAU 2005. Kucza J. , Urbaś J. WATER ABSORPTION OF ORGANIC MATTER TAKEN FROM HORIZONS OF ECTOHUMUS OF FOREST SOILS UNDER NORWAY SPRUCE STANDS

Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities (EJPAU) founded by all Polish Agriculture Universities presents original papers and review articles relevant to all aspects of agricultural sciences. It is target for persons working both in science and industry,regulatory agencies or teaching in agricultural sector. Covered by IFIS Publishing (Food Science and Technology Abstracts), ELSEVIER Science - Food Science and Technology Program, CAS USA (Chemical Abstracts), CABI Publishing UK and ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publisher - full membership). Presented in the Master List of Thomson ISI.

2005
Volume 8
Issue 4

Topic:

Forestry

ELECTRONIC
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES

Kucza J. , Urbaś J. 2005. WATER ABSORPTION OF ORGANIC MATTER TAKEN FROM HORIZONS OF ECTOHUMUS OF FOREST SOILS UNDER NORWAY SPRUCE STANDS, EJPAU 8(4), #50.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume8/issue4/abs-50.html

WATER ABSORPTION OF ORGANIC MATTER TAKEN FROM HORIZONS OF ECTOHUMUS OF FOREST SOILS UNDER NORWAY SPRUCE STANDS

Jarosław Kucza, Justyna Urbaś
Department of Forest Engineering, Agricultural University of Cracow, Poland

ABSTRACT

Organic matter from ectohumus horizons of soils under Norway spruce stands may be divided into two parts: (1) able to absorb such an amount of water that its weight by volume together with absorbed water is over 1 Mg·m^-3, and (2) unable to attain such absorption. In the litter horizon (Ol) and fermentation horizon (Of) the mean time of water absorption by organic matter, able to attain its assumed level, depended on the development phase of a Norway spruce stand. Organic matter taken from soils under stands of age classes I and II turned out to have the best water absorption properties. The assumed water absorption was attained by organic matter in the shortest time in the following cases: in the litter horizon (Ol) from under the 35-year-old stand, in the fermentation horizon (Of) from under the 14-year-old stand, and in the humification horizon (Oh) from under the 21-year-old stand. Ranges of the mean time of water absorption were: for the litter horizon (Ol) from 1.66 to 4.14 days, for the fermentation horizon (Of) from 0.79 to 3.12 days, and for the humification horizon (Oh) from 0.63 to 1.19 days. The relationship between the percentage of organic particles, unable to attain the assumed water absorption, and the stand age in the litter horizon (Ol) was similar to that of the fermentation horizon (Of). The matter taken from the youngest stands, i.e. 14-28 years of age, was characterized by the smallest amount of organic particles unable to attain the assumed water absorption. The amount of these particles expressed in per cent of sample’s total weight was: in the litter horizon (Ol) from 1.55 to 16.16%, in the fermentation horizon (Of) from 5.72 to 26.50%, and in the humification horizon (Oh) from 0.27 to 3.36%. Water properties of organic matter in the litter (Ol) and fermentation (Of) horizons were significantly correlated with the index of the degree of decomposition expressed by the ratio between nitrogen and carbon – (N/C) 1000. No such relationship was found in the humification horizon. This study is of a practical importance for forest hydrology.

Key words: forest hydrology, Norway spruce stand, soil organic matter, water absorption, absorption time, index of the degree of organic matter decomposition - (N/C) 1000.

Jarosław Kucza
Department of Forest Engineering,
Agricultural University of Cracow, Poland
al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425 Cracow, Poland

Justyna Urbaś
Department of Forest Engineering,
Agricultural University of Cracow, Poland
al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425 Cracow, Poland
email: rlsulins@cyf-kr.edu.pl

Responses to this article, comments are invited and should be submitted within three months of the publication of the article. If accepted for publication, they will be published in the chapter headed 'Discussions' and hyperlinked to the article.