Humusica 1, article 3: Essential bases ‒ Quick look at the classification

Augusto Zanella (1) , Jean-François Ponge (2) , Rein de Waal (3) , Chiara Ferronato (4) , Maria de Nobili (5) , Jérôme Juilleret (6)

1 Dipartimento del Territorio e Sistemi Agro-Forestali
2 MECADEV - Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution
3 Alterra
4 UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
5 Università degli Studi di Udine - University of Udine [Italie]
6 LIST - Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology

Terms and concepts have been defined in Humusica 1, article 1 and the functioning of humus systems has been discussed in Humusica 1, article 2. Here a short overview of the matter, showing humus systems in their environment, is provided for beginners, before making field investigations. The present work is intended as a part of the field manual (Humusica 1 and 2), an illustrated, easy-to-use application tool for humus systems classification, helpful even for not (yet) expert pedologists. The present article gives also a fast look at the classification, sharing Terrestrial, Histic, Aqueous and Para humus systems, every group being defined by its characteristics set in synthetic tables, and suggests a step-by-step approach allowing everyone to classify and investigate humus systems and forms.

Mots clés: Histic humus systems; Para humus systems; Anthropogenic humus systems; Humus; Aqueous humus systems; Terrestrial humus systems; Humus classification

Domaines: Science des sols; Biodiversité et Ecologie; Ecosystèmes

Augusto Zanella, Jean-François Ponge, Rein de Waal, Chiara Ferronato, Maria de Nobili, et al.. Humusica 1, article 3: Essential bases ‒ Quick look at the classification. Applied Soil Ecology, 2018, 122 (Part 1), pp.42-55. ⟨10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.05.025⟩. ⟨hal-01658526⟩