CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION TEST OF THE FOREST LITTER OF THE OAK GROVE (CORK OAK AND ZEEN OAK) OF EL-KALA NATIONAL PARK (PNEK), ALGERIA

Abstract

The importance of organic matter in the soil has been highlighted for a long time. Several authors tried to define this fraction: The organic matter is the whole of the carbonaceous and nitrogenous compounds resulting from the degradation of the products of the fauna and the flora, of surface and the basement. It presents a range of very different substances and at very different stages of evolution. The National Park of El-Kala (PNEK) is known by the diversity of ecosystems that are linked to a rich and diverse plant cover dominated by forests of cork oak and Zeen oak, which provides the soil with a significant amount of organic matter in the form of organic debris not decomposed (litter). In order to know and evaluate the litter, two characteristic groups of the vegetation of cover of Ain-Bergougueya were carried out. The morpho-analytical characterization of the litter brings out the dominance of the fraction recognizable on the surface constituted essentially by the leaves and the twigs. Results showed that the chemical characterization of the litter shows that the pH varies little according to the layers; it is more acid on the surface and close to neutrality in contact with the soil, the electrical conductivity is rather low, the water content of the litter varies from one layer to another but is low on the ground. The rapid recycling of organic matter provides the plant cover with mineral salts that are essential for the maintenance and development of rich and diversified vegetation capable of providing many products that can be used by man