Effect of dominant ground vegetation on soil organic matter quality in a declining mountain spruce forest of central Europe

Grasses and shrubs constitute a high proportion of the total biomass in declining forest stands and may deeply affect soil organic matter. We fractionated the organic matter of 45 Oa horizons from the Krkonose Mts. into humic and fulvic acids (HA and FA) and related the differences to the dominant ground vegetation Vaccinium myrtillus, Deschampsiaflexuosa and Molinia caerulea. Organic C was higher under M. caerulea than under Vaccinium myrtillus, but the humification rate was similar at all sites. A higher proportion of HA was found under M. caerulea, indicating that differences in species lead to variations in the quality of humic substances, but not in the quantitative aspects of the humification process. Regarding the importance of HA and FA in soil development, the findings suggest that, upon forest decline, major changes may be expected not only in the O horizons, but also in the whole soil profile.