Un exemple de l’effet du régime sylvicole sur l’humus et la richesse du sol en éléments nutritifs

The factors involved in soil formation and fertility are known. The effects of silvicultural practices on soil are not so well-known, for instance those arising from switching from a coppice-with-standards to a high forest system. Coppice is thought to take a greater toll on the inorganic fertility of soils as compared to a high forest system because of biomass removal. However, the high forest system may produce more degraded humus than coppicing. This article presents an example from an oak stand in the Loire river basin, raising the general question of the effect of single-crop systems, including deciduous species, and of ecosystem disruption on the inorganic fertility of soils.