A proposal for including humus forms in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB-FAO)

Bernard Jabiol (1) , Augusto Zanella (2) , Jean-François Ponge (3) , Giacomo Sartori (4) , Michael Englisch (5) , Bas van Delft (6) , Rein de Waal (6) , Renée-Claire Le Bayon (7)

1 LERFoB - Laboratoire d'Etudes des Ressources Forêt-Bois
2 TeSAF - Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry
3 MECADEV - Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution
4 Museo delle Scienze
5 Department of Forest Ecology and Soil
6 Alterra
7 Institut de Biologie, Laboratoire Sol et Végétation

The morpho-functional classification of humus forms proposed in a previous issue by Zanella and collaborators for Europe has been extended and modified, without any change in diagnostic horizons, in order to embrace a wide array of humus forms at worldwide level and to complete and make more effective the World Reference Base for Soil Resources. For that purpose 31 Humus Form Reference Groups (HFRGs) and a set of prefix and suffix qualifiers are proposed, following the rules erected for the WRB. An exhaustive classification key, respecting the principles of WRB, is suggested and examples of classification are given for some already well known humus forms.

Mots clés: prefix and suffix qualifiers for humus forms; reference humus form groups; humus forms; humus diagnostic horizons; humus WRB; humus classification

Domaines: Science des sols

Bernard Jabiol, Augusto Zanella, Jean-François Ponge, Giacomo Sartori, Michael Englisch, et al.. A proposal for including humus forms in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB-FAO). Geoderma, 2013, 192, pp.286-294. ⟨10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.08.002⟩. ⟨hal-00755558⟩