Changes in humus form and forest dynamics in the French northern Alps

In: Denise Bellan-Santini, Gilles Bonin & Christian Emig, 1995. Functioning and dynamics of natural and perturbed ecosystems. Lavoisier, Paris, France, pp. 174-182. The humus form is governed by at least two factors in spruce forests of the French northem Alps. Forest dynamics induces rapid changes in humus form which result from permanent unstability in the functional relationships between primary producers and decomposers. This unstability increases with altitude, driving the system up to a breaking point. This point is the upper limit of the forest.