Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. Relating Litter Redistribution and Decomposition to Slope and Understory of Mt. Jumbong, Korea Litter mediates nutrient cycles and energy flows through detritus food chain in forest ecosystems. Annual production, spatial redistribution pattern, and decomposition rate of leaf litter have been investigated at Mt. Jumbong in Korea since September 1994. Decay rates for Quercus mongolica and Kalopanax pictus were in the same order as the amounts of litter existing on the slopes. Annual decay rate varied with species, slope direction, and understory, ranged from 0.168 to 0.506 yr- 1.
Soil moisture seems to be the major governing factor.
In the future, litter redistribution in forest floors would be characterized, related to wind speed and direction, microtophography, and understory plants. The results will be also related to energy and nutrient flows through detritus food chain and transport of litter from land to stream. Ongoing studies in reduced impact logging are underway in Sabah, with integrated ecoregional biophysical and socioeconomic baseline studies in Central Sumatra and East Kalimantan. Studies on forest land use and related policy research are established in northern Thailand with in-country partners. Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735, Korea.