n-alkanes and free fatty acids in humus and Al horizons of soils under beech, spruce and grass in the Massif-Central (Mont-Lozere), France

Soil profiles under beech, spruce and a grassland have been analysed to stu dy the evolution of natural n-alkanes in pollution-free ecosystems. The soi ls had all developed on granitic bedrock, at an altitude of 1300-1500 m in the region of Mont-Lozere (southern Massif-Central, France). In contrast to the grassland soil, the two forest soils both possessed a well-developed a cidic moder humus-type horizon. This could be subdivided as follows: fresh litter (OL), fragmentation (OF) and humification (OH) layers; two litters, one fresh (OL1) and one old (OL2) could actually be distinguished in the be ech forest soil. The n-alkane signature of the parent plants was preserved in the top litter. Immediately underneath, in the OF layer(s) the original il-alkane signatures were progressively but rapidly replaced by a common si gnature composed of n-C-27 and n-C-25 With larger proportions of the former than of the latter. These two hydrocarbons were most probably produced in situ by fungi. These results appear to illustrate the action of soil microo rganisms which metabolize the inherited n-alkanes and produce new compounds of the same family. Unlike the alkanes and the low molecular weight fatty acids less than or equal to C-20 (which increase greatly in the OL2 layer u nder beech as a result of intense microbial activity), the heavy fatty acid s (>C-20) show no significant change in the organic horizon.