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O Layer (o + layer)
Selected AbstractsDistribution of microbial biomass and phospholipid fatty acids in Podzol profiles under coniferous forestEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2000H. Fritze Summary Microbial-derived phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) can be used to characterize the microbial communities in soil without the need to isolate individual fungi and bacteria. They have been used to assess microbial communities of humus layers under coniferous forest, but nothing is known of their distribution in the deeper soil. To investigate the vertical distribution we sampled nine Podzol profiles on a 100-m-long transect in a coniferous forest and analysed for their microbial biomass and PLFA pattern to a depth of 0.4 m. The transect covered a fertility gradient from Vaccinium vitis-idaea forest site type to Vaccinium myrtillus forest site type. The cores were divided into humus (O) and eluvial (E) layers and below that into 10-cm sections and designated as either illuvial (B) or parent material (C), or as a combination (BC). Two measures of microbial biomass analyses were applied: substrate-induced respiration (SIR) to determine microbial biomass C (Cmic), and the sum of the extracted microbial-derived phospholipid fatty acids (totPLFA). The soil fertility had no effect on the results. The Cmic correlated well with totPLFA (r=,0.86). The microbial biomass decreased with increasing depth. In addition the PLFA pattern changed with increased depth as assessed with principal component analysis, indicating a change in the microbial community structure. The composition of the PLFAs in the O layer differed from that in the E layer and both differed from the upper part of the B layer and from the rest of the BC layers. The deeper parts of the B layer (BC1, BC2 and BC3) were similar to one other. The O layer had more 18:2,6, a PLFA indicator of fungi, whereas the E layer contained relatively more of the PLFAs 16:1,9, 18:1,7 and cy19:0 common in gram-negative bacteria. With increased depth the relative amount of 10Me18:0, the PLFA indicator for actinomycetes, increased. We conclude that the PLFA method is a promising discriminator between the microbial community structures of the horizons in Podzols. [source] Soil properties and tree growth along an altitudinal transect in Ecuadorian tropical montane forestJOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2008Wolfgang Wilcke Abstract In tropical montane forests, soil properties change with increasing altitude, and tree-growth decreases. In a tropical montane forest in Ecuador, we determined soil and tree properties along an altitudinal transect between 1960 and 2450 m asl. In different vegetation units, all horizons of three replicate profiles at each of eight sites were sampled and height, basal area, and diameter growth of trees were recorded. We determined pH and total concentrations of Al, C, Ca, K, Mg, Mn, N, Na, P, S, Zn, polyphenols, and lignin in all soil horizons and in the mineral soil additionally the effective cation-exchange capacity (CEC). The soils were Cambisols, Planosols, and Histosols. The concentrations of Mg, Mn, N, P, and S in the O horizons and of Al, C, and all nutrients except Ca in the A horizons correlated significantly negatively with altitude. The C : N, C : P, and C : S ratios increased, and the lignin concentrations decreased in O and A horizons with increasing altitude. Forest stature, tree basal area, and tree growth decreased with altitude. An ANOVA analysis indicated that macronutrients (e.g., N, P, Ca) and micronutrients (e.g., Mn) in the O layer and in the soil mineral A horizon were correlated with tree growth. Furthermore, lignin concentrations in the O layer and the C : N ratio in soil affected tree growth. These effects were consistent, even if the effect of altitude was accounted for in a hierarchical statistical model. This suggests a contribution of nutrient deficiencies to reduced tree growth possibly caused by reduced organic-matter turnover at higher altitudes. [source] Spatial variability of O layer thickness and humus forms under different pine beech,forest transformation stages in NE GermanyJOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2006Oliver Bens Abstract Spatial variability of humus layer (O layer) thicknesses can have important impacts upon soil water dynamics, nutrient storage and availability, as well as plant growth. The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the impact of forest-transformation practices on the spatial variability of O layer thicknesses. The study focused on the Kahlenberg forest area (NE Germany) with stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) of different age structures that form a transformation chronosequence from pure Scots pine stands towards pure European beech stands. Topsoil profiles including both, the O layer and the uppermost humic mineral soil horizon were excavated at intervals of 0.4 m along 15,20 m long transects, and spatial variability of O layer thicknesses was quantified by variogram analysis. The correlation lengths of total O layer thickness increased in the sequence consisting of pure pine stand (3.1 m) , older mixed stand (3.7 m) , pure beech stand (4.5 m), with the exception of the younger mixed stand, for which no correlation lengths of total O layer thickness could be determined. The degree of spatial correlation, i.e., the percentage of the total variance which can be described by variograms, was highest for the two monospecies stands, whereas this percentage was distinctly lower for the two mixed stands. A similar minimum for the two mixed stands was observed for the correlation lengths of the Oh horizon. These results suggest that the spatial structures of forest-transformation stands may be interpreted in terms of a disturbance (in the form of the underplanting of beech trees). After this disturbance, the forest ecosystem requires at least 100 y to again reach relative equilibrium. These findings are in line with the results of other soil-related investigations at these sites. Räumliche Variabilität der Humuslagenmächtigkeit und Humusformen in verschiedenen Stadien des Waldumbaus von Kiefer zu Buche in NO-Deutschland Die räumliche Variabilität der Humusauflagenmächtigkeit kann einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Bodenwasserdynamik, Nährstoffspeicherung und -verfügbarkeit sowie das Pflanzenwachstum haben. Ziel dieser Studie war es, die Auswirkungen von Waldumbaumaßnahmen auf die räumliche Verteilung der Auflagehumusmächtigkeiten zu untersuchen. Im Forstrevier Kahlenberg, mit Beständen von Kiefer (Pinus sylvestris) und Buche (Fagus sylvatica) unterschiedlichen Alters, welche eine Transformations-Chronosequenz von einem Kiefern-Reinbestand hin zu einem reinen Buchenbestand darstellen, wurden Humusprofile entlang von 15,20 m langen Transekten in Abständen von 0,4 m aufgenommen. Die räumliche Variabilität der Mächtigkeiten der Auflagehumushorizonte wurde durch Variogramm-Analysen quantifiziert. Die Korrelationslängen der Mächtigkeiten des gesamten Auflagehumus stiegen in der Reihenfolge reiner Kiefernbestand (3,1 m) , älterer Mischbestand (3,7 m) , reiner Buchenbestand (4,5 m) an. Aus dieser Reihe fällt der jüngere Mischbestand heraus; für ihn konnten keine Korrelationslängen ermittelt werden. Der Grad der räumlichen Korrelation, d. h. der Anteil der gesamten Varianz, der durch Variogramme beschrieben wird, ist für die beiden Reinbestände am höchsten, während er für die beiden Mischbestände deutlich geringer ist. Ein ähnliches Minimum für die beiden Mischbestände ergibt sich, wenn nur die Korrelationslängen der Oh-Mächtigkeiten betrachtet werden. Diese Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die räumlichen Strukturen von Waldumbaubeständen im Sinne einer Störung gedeutet werden können (wobei die Umbaumaßnahme und der Unterbau mit Buchen die Störung darstellt). Diese Störung dauert offenbar mindestens 100 a an. Dieser Befund stimmt mit den Ergebnissen aus Studien zu weiteren relevanten Bodeneigenschaften an Forststandorten im nordostdeutschen Tiefland überein. [source] The OD interpretation of the crystal structure of kettnerite CaBiOFCO3ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION A, Issue 6 2009í Hybler The mineral kettnerite, CaBi(OFCO3), is a rare example of an order,disorder (OD) structure with a quadratic net. The lattice parameters of the simplest possible 1O polytype are a = 5.3641,(1), b = 5.3641,(1), c = 13.5771,(2),Å, and the space group is Pbaa. There are three kinds of OD layers, identical to structure-building layers. Two of them are non-polar: the Bi,O and Ca,F at z = 0 and z = 1/2, respectively, with the layer-group symmetry C2/m2/m(4/a,b)21/m21/m. The third kind of OD layer of CO3 groups (located between the Bi,O and Ca,F layers) is polar, with alternating sense of polarity. The layer group is Pba(4)mm. Triangular CO3 groups are parallel to (110) or () planes with one O atom oriented towards the Bi,O layer and the remaining two O atoms oriented towards the Ca,F layer. The orientations of CO3 groups alternate along the [110] and [] directions. As a result, each group parallel to (110) is surrounded by four nearest neighbors parallel to () and vice versa. These positions can be interchanged by an (a + b)/2 shift or by ,/2 rotation; thus stacking of the layer onto adjacent ones is ambiguous. Instead of OD layers, the polytypes are generated by stacking of OD packets, comprising the whole CO3 layers and adjacent halves of the Bi,O and Ca,F layers. They are polar, with alternating sense of polarity; the layer group is Pba(4)mm. Stacking sequences are expressed by ball-and-stick models, with the aid of symbolic figures, and by sequences of orientational characters. There are two maximum-degree-of-order (MDO) polytypes, 1O (really found and described, see lattice parameters and space group above) and 2O, with doubled c parameter and space group Ibca (not yet found). The derivation of the MDO generating operations of both polytypes is presented in this paper. The stacking rule also allows another, non-MDO, polytype with doubled c, i.e. the 2Q polytype, space group P42bc (tetragonal, not yet found). Various kinds of domains can exist: (i) out-of-step domains shifted by (a + b)/2, (ii) twin domains rotated by ,/2 around local tetrads of odd or even packets, and (iii) upside-down domains in the polar 2Q polytype. Stacking sequences of 16 possible domains of the polytypes mentioned above are listed. Also 60 domains of four distinct six-packet polytypes are theoretically possible. [source] Magneto-optical spectroscopy of (Zn,Co)O epilayersPHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (B) BASIC SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 4 2006W. Pacuski Abstract We present a magneto-optical study of (Zn,Co)O layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We observed sharp lines related to 4A2,2E intra-ionic Co2+ transitions, and to the A , B and C excitons. Intra-ionic transitions observed by absorption and photoluminescence were used to determine the values of the parameters describing the isolated Co ions, such as the easy-plane magnetic anisotropy and the g -factor of the S = 3/2 Cobalt spin. Excitonic transitions observed in reflectivity were used to determine the giant Zeeman splitting and to estimate the effective coupling ,N0(, , , ),A ,B = 0.4 eV between excitons and Cobalt spins. Due to the electron,hole exchange within the exciton, this effective spin,exciton coupling is much weaker than the exchange integrals for free carriers, estimated to be N0|, , , | , 0.8 eV, with a positive value of (, , , ) if the normal ordering of the valence band of ZnO is assumed. The Zeeman splitting of diluted samples and the magnetic circular dichroism (for a higher Co content) are proportional to the magnetization of the paramagnetic, isolated Cobalt ions. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] | ||||||||||