A study on the soil and biological factors affecting organic matter decomposition, and their impact on soil productivity

Marty Jurgensen (Michigan Technological University, School of Forestry and Wood Product, Houghton, MI, USA) and Debbie Dumroese (USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Moscow, ID, USA) started an international study on organic matter decomposition in 2000. Their main objectives are to determine the effects of soil chemical, physical, and biological properties on wood decomposition rates and microbial decay patterns across a wide range of soil types and climatic regimes as well as to determine the impact of various forest management practices (e.g. timber harvesting, site preparation) on wood decomposition in the forest floor and mineral soil. With time more and more sites were added to the project, which extends today from Brithish Columbia (Canada), over Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Idaho, South Carolina (USA) to Finland. In summer 2001 we established additional plots in the Swiss National Park at the same locations where our forest dynamics study and parts of the permanent plot study are carried out. Other study sites are likely to be added in the future.