Loss of Soil Moisture as Affected by Decomposing Leaf Litter of Different Forest Species

Abstract

In the present study, an attempt has been made to show the loss of soil moisture as affected by decomposing leaf litter of five different forest species viz, Sal (Shorea robusta), Poplar (Poplus deltoides), Chir (Pinus roxburghii), Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus hybrid), and Teak (Tectona grandis). It has been found that, increasing levels of leaf litter reduce the loss of soil moisture. However, as the process of decomposition advances the loss of soil moisture increases gradually at both levels of organic matter treatment (10% and 20%) because of the disappearance of organic matter from the soil under all the five species. The performance of the five species on the moisture loss has been found to be in the fol1owing order of magnitude : Poplar > Eucalyptus > Chir > Teak > Sal.