Anna Nikolaevna Demidova

Forest litter of some coniferous and deciduous plantations within the Botanical Garden of the Moscow State University is studied. It is established that in the conditions of the deciduous plantations, forest litters of destructive types develop, whereas in the coniferous plantations - fermentative and humified ones. The total reserves of forest litters range from 500-800 g/m² in deciduous plantations, up to 1000-5000 g/m² in coniferous ones. It is shown that small-leaved plantations are characterized by high rates of cycling, with a significant decrease in the coniferous ecosystems. It was shown for the first time that with an increase in the proportion of leaves in the litter, the overall decomposition rate of terrestrial litter increases substantially, which is confirmed by the theory of “hot points” proposed in the scientific literature.