Compositions of soil organic matter developed form various vegetations remain unclear. The aims of this study were to investigate the different characteristics of soil organic matters (SOM) from various vegetations in temperate rain forest, Ta-Ta-Chia, central Taiwan. Three forest types were selected for this study, i. e. Taiwan red pine (Pinus taiwanensis Hay., Taiwan red pine, TP), Taiwan hemlock (Tsuga chinensis var. formosana Li & Keng, Taiwan hemlock, TH), and Yushan cane (Yushania niitakayamensis (Hay.) Keng f., Yushan cane, YC). Soil pH ranged from 3 to 4. Low exchangeable cations caused by acidic and intense leaching of forest soils. Total organic carbon contents showed the trend as: TH>TP>YC. From slid state high resolution 13C nuclear magnetic resonance with cross polarization and magic angle spinning analyses (solid-state 13C CP/MAS-NMR), the constituents of organic functional groups showed the various with respect to different plants and tissues, including fresh twigs, leaves and roots. Cellulose and semi-cellulose are the major components of plant tissues. However, the TH and TP comprise more lignin than that of YC. The contents of different functional groups in plant tissues showed the trends as follows: O-alkyl-C>alkyl-C>N-alkyl-C>acetal-C>aromatic-C>phenolic-C≈carboxyl-C. The Oa horizon in TP and TH contain more cellulose and semi-cellulose than that of the YC. The debris of Taiwan hemlock forest type is not that easy decompose under the alpine forest soil environments. The decomposition rate of plant tissues of three forest types showed the trends as: YC>TP>TH.
Compositions of soil organic matter developed form various vegetations remain unclear. The aims of this study were to investigate the different characteristics of soil organic matters (SOM) from various vegetations in temperate rain forest, Ta-Ta-Chia, central Taiwan. Three forest types were selected for this study, i. e. Taiwan red pine (Pinus taiwanensis Hay., Taiwan red pine, TP), Taiwan hemlock (Tsuga chinensis var. formosana Li & Keng, Taiwan hemlock, TH), and Yushan cane (Yushania niitakayamensis (Hay.) Keng f., Yushan cane, YC). Soil pH ranged from 3 to 4. Low exchangeable cations caused by acidic and intense leaching of forest soils. Total organic carbon contents showed the trend as: TH>TP>YC. From slid state high resolution 13C nuclear magnetic resonance with cross polarization and magic angle spinning analyses (solid-state 13C CP/MAS-NMR), the constituents of organic functional groups showed the various with respect to different plants and tissues, including fresh twigs, leaves and roots. Cellulose and semi-cellulose are the major components of plant tissues. However, the TH and TP comprise more lignin than that of YC. The contents of different functional groups in plant tissues showed the trends as follows: O-alkyl-C>alkyl-C>N-alkyl-C>acetal-C>aromatic-C>phenolic-C≈carboxyl-C. The Oa horizon in TP and TH contain more cellulose and semi-cellulose than that of the YC. The debris of Taiwan hemlock forest type is not that easy decompose under the alpine forest soil environments. The decomposition rate of plant tissues of three forest types showed the trends as: YC>TP>TH.