CLASSIFICATION OF FOREST HUMUS FORMS - A FRENCH PROPOSAL

A 2-way classification grid and a nomenclature are proposed for French forest humus forms but which could include mountain, Mediterranean an d tropical forms as well. This proposal takes into account our present knowledge of biological mechanisms that take place in plant litter de composition, transformation of soil organic matter, linkage of the lat ter to mineral particles and building of the structure in the A horizo n. Basically, by adjoining free qualifiers, humus forms may be defined by accounting also for their chemical and physical particularities.