Classification of forest humus forms: a French proposal

Alain Brêthes (1) , Jean-Jacques Brun (2) , Bernard Jabiol (3) , Jean-François Ponge (4) , François Toutain (3, 5)

1 ONF - Office National des Forêts
2 UR EMGR - Ecosystèmes montagnards
3 ENGREF - Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural, des Eaux et des Forêts
4 CESCO - Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la COnservation
5 Centre de Pédologie Biologique

A 2-way classification grid and a nomenclature are proposed for French forest humus forms but which could include mountain, Mediterranean and tropical forms as well. This proposal takes into account our present knowledge of biological mechanisms that take place in plant litter decomposition, transformation of soil organic matter, linkage of the latter to mineral particles and building of the structure in the A horizon. Basically, by adjoining free qualifiers, humus forms may be defined by accounting also for their chemical and physical particularities.

Mots clés: humus form; forest; classification; nomenclature; soil biology

Domaines: Science des sols

Alain Brêthes, Jean-Jacques Brun, Bernard Jabiol, Jean-François Ponge, François Toutain. Classification of forest humus forms: a French proposal. Annales des sciences forestières, 1995, 52 (6), pp.535-546. ⟨10.1051/forest:19950602⟩. ⟨hal-00505506⟩