Exploratory analysis and a stochastic model for humusdisintegration

Ulrich (1981) supposes in the hypothesis of humusdisintegration that the ba lance between polymerisation and breakdown of organic material may be distu rbed in chemically well buffered European forest soils. This new aspect of aluminium toxicity may cause nitrogen exceedance in forest ecosystems and s ubsequent seasonal nitrate output (Eichhorn and Hutterman, 1999). In a rese arch program the substances in the seepage water are monitored in a small w oodland in central Germany. We explore these multivariate data for examinin g possible influences on the process of humusdisintegration and its tempora l evolution. As a result, a regression model for carbon is developed, which includes covariables, i.e., other substances, as well as spatial and tempo ral terms describing systematic variability. Especially iron and aluminium turn out to be very influential in the model. So far our work is a basic st ep for monitoring the seepage water data by means of stochastic modelling.