A Model of Soil Organic Matter and its Function in Temperate Forest Soil Development

There is considerable need to simulate transformations involving organic carbon (C) in forest soils. Soil organic matter is a solid phase soil pool composed of organic C and other associated elements and is derived from detrital litter inputs and/or from sorption of dissolved organic solutes. In this chapter, the authors develop a framework to simulate the function of naturally occurring organic matter in soil and solutions. They present some field observations to support process formulations and parameter values. The production of organic acids in the canopy and forest floor, organic acid mediated dissolution of mineral soil in upper soil horizons and subsequent deposition of organic compounds in the lower mineral soil, are important components of soil development. The authors conduct a hypothetical simulation using the model. The simulation was made to develop insight into the biogeochemistry of forest ecosystems and to illustrate deficiencies in model formulation and suggest the need for additional quantitative research.