Dynamics of litterfall and soil organic matter in the forest ecosystem plot in satoyama of Kinki University Nara Campus

This research was carried out in the forest ecosystem plot in satoyama of the Nara Campus of Kinki University.. We compared seasonal changes of flow and standing mass of litter fall and nutrients on an upper slope and a lower slope and in a valley. We also checked the standing mass and nutrient flow of the O layer, including L, F and H layers. The annual leaf litter fall was 6.6 t/ha・year on the upper slope, 5.7 t/ha・year on the lower slope and 2.8 t/ha・year in the valley. The amount of litter fall from deciduous trees was at maximum in October-November, while evergreen broadleaf trees showed their peak litter fall in May-June. Japanese cedars, which live in the valley preferentially, had peak leaf litter fall in November and January. Concentrations of T-N, T-P and exchangeable K in litter fall declined in the deciduous season, while Ca was increased in the deciduous season. Branch litter contained more Ca than leaf litter and other litter, which was the highest in November. The O layer standing mass had peaks in May and declined from May to November. Concentrations of T-N and T-P in the O layer showed the highest values in the valley, followed by the middle slope, with the lowest values in the upper slope. We divided and compared the three components of O layers, i.e., L layer, F layer, H layer, in terms of nutrient concentration and found that utrients except for Ca were increased from the L layer to the H layer. Decline of T-N, T-P concentration in litter fall was the highest on the lower slope, higher on the upper slope and lowest in the valley.The amount of standing mass of organic matter in the O layer was the highest on the upper slope. However, the amount of nutrient accumulation was the highest in the valley, with more on the lower slope and less on the upper slope. According to these results, we confirmed that nutrients are accumulated more in valleys, and the highest amount of nutrient cycling occurs in valleys