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Tutorials

explore the forest floor

Tutorial Questions are divided into three sections: Forest Floor, Humus Forms and Multiple Choice. Answering the questions in these tutorials will help you to explore the website, which in turn will be useful to completing your forest floor laboratory assignment.

  • Forest Floor
  • Humus Forms
  • Multiple Choice
  • Answer Keys

Forest Floor

FOREST FLOOR

1. In what types of locations will O horizons be found? Would you expect to find O horizons at UBC? Why or why not?

2. List 3 ways the forest floor influences soil properties. View the definitions page and the” In the Ecosystem” video.

3. List three properties of litter that will influence what type of decomposer communities will be present in a sample. Part 3 of the “Humus Form Orders” videos gives a good overview of this.

4. Describe the typical structure of an Fm horizon, an Fz horizon. See the Classification – Description page for explanations of how to assess structure and other properties of organic horizons.

5. What is meant by the Character of an organic horizon? What would you expect to be the character of an H horizon? Big hint around 1:54 of the “Organic Horizons” video. Keep watching to answer question 6

6. In what range does the organic matter content in an organic horizon fall? (By mass).

7. Name any flora or fauna you would expect to see in an Fm horizon, in and Fa horizon? How will this affect properties of the forest floor?

8. Where would you expect the thickest forest floors to form? The thinnest? Why is this so? See Forest Floor Definition.

9. What differentiates the forest floor from mineral soil?

10. Organic Horizons:

  1. Aide in water retention
  2. Provide Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur among other nutrients to plants and microbial communities
  3. Store carbon
  4. May indicate ecological conditions or changes
  5. All of the above
  6. a, b and c

Humus Forms

Multiple Choice

Forest Floor