Smith, Kevin T. 2010. Humus and soil fertility. Tree Care Industry 21 (9): 28-31.

Figure 3: Large piles of composting chips need to be periodically turned over to maintain proper proportions of air and
water.
By Kevin T. Smith, Ph.D.
decomposition. The partially decomposed even to fine clay particles for storing posi-
umus is a Latin word, meaning on or composted material can still be further tively charged forms (cations) of essential

H or in the ground, but what is

humus in the context of tree and
landscape care? Is humus the same as soil
degraded to fuel the work of soil microor-
ganisms to fix nitrogen and to convert the
form of essential elements.
potassium, calcium, magnesium and others.
At appropriate soil acidity, tree roots use
metabolic energy to bring these elements
organic matter? Many researchers and soil chemists refer into the plant. Although humus greatly con-
With the increased emphasis on biologi- to humus in a narrow sense that only tributes to the storage and uptake of some
cally-based products for sustainable includes the recalcitrant organic matter that fertilizer elements, recalcitrant humus is not
landscapes and tree care, the sources and resists further decay. Frequently, this nar- a fertilizer or nutritional source for the tree
quality of humus products have greatly row sense is further restricted to mean or for soil microorganisms.
increased in recent years. Some experts nano-sized pieces of carbohydrate that are
stress the importance of humus for soil fer- colloids, particles so small that they remain Source of organic matter
tility, yet other experts say that humus has dispersed in water without settling to form Understanding humus formation begins
no nutritional value. This apparent conflict a sediment. Humus colloids are superior with photosynthesis. Photosynthesis uses
is resolved by recognizing the ori- the energy in sunlight to split
gin, function and fate of humus apart and recombine the atoms
for the tree and forest system, par- that make up water and carbon
ticularly for soils in the moderate dioxide to form glucose sugar
to wet temperate zones. and oxygen. The chemical bonds
Humus greatly contributes to in glucose retain some of that
soil fertility, soil structure includ- solar energy. The controlled
ing aeration and water retention, breaking of these bonds releases
and carbon storage. The physical energy and powers the metabo-
and chemical properties of humus lism of the tree or of
are derived from the biology of microorganisms. The energy in
trees and their associates. glucose can be stored for later
The term humus is used in two consumption by linking a string
different ways. Many tree and of glucose molecules into a
landscape practitioners refer to polymer or chain of starch.
humus in a broad sense, with the Starch is a good storage material
same meaning as soil organic that packs a lot of sugar in a
matter. This broad definition small volume.
includes living biomass, partially Glucose can also be converted
decomposed plant residue, and into other sugars and other
organic matter that is recalcitrant, Figure 1: Conceptual timeline for the conversion of wood and foliage to humus shows organic compounds in plants.
meaning resistant to further overlapping colonization by different fungi. Much of the sugar goes into plant

28 TREE CARE INDUSTRY – SEPTEMBER 2010

structure. Cellulose is the most abundant floor (Fig. 2).
structural material. Like starch, cellulose is Some of the more specialized sugar
a glucose polymer, but the special chemi- fungi are also capable of breaking down
cal bonds between the sugars in cellulose the sugar acids of pectin. As the pectin is
require a much higher degree of special- broken down, the wood matrix opens up,
ization to break. The long unbranched allowing access of both air and water into
chains of the cellulose polymer are stacked the tree tissue, exposing more surface area
into microfibrils that strongly resist com- to colonization by invertebrates as well as
pression. The cellulose microfibrils within fungi and bacteria. The partially degraded
and between cells are held together by organic matter becomes recognizable as
hemicellulose and pectin. Hemicellulose is compost (time period 2 in Fig. 1). Given
a family of short, branched polymers that the proper range of temperature and mois-
contain a mix of different sugars. Pectin is ture, the litter is degraded by the softrot or
a family of branched polymers of sugar compost fungi and their associates. Softrot
acids that is also used to solidify fruit juice is characterized by degradation of the
into jelly. pectin, hemicelluoses, and the formation of
Holding together these cell wall poly- cavities in cellulose. Ascomycete softrot
mers is lignin, the second most abundant fungi and bacteria may alter the structure,
carbohydrate in wood. Lignin provides but do not actually degrade lignin.
bending strength and is a complex, In compost piles (Fig. 3), microbial
branched polymer of short chains of car- metabolism activity can generate consider-
bon with interspersed phenolic rings. Figure 2. Organic soil layers of a typical forest soil show able heat. In undisturbed forest soils, this
Phenolic rings are hard to break by most litter, composted organic matter, and humus. material becomes part of the fermentation
microorganisms. The orientation of the or F-layer (Fig. 2). In the F-layer, the
rings can block access to the carbon chains symplast, the network of living cell con- organic matter has lost some of its physical
by large degradative enzymes. Although tents and by protective features of living form, but the source of the material from
the chemical structures differ, grasses and cells and tissues. Although attention gets foliage or woody branches is still recogniz-
other higher plants produce lignin, too. drawn to these organisms when they able. In moist, but not waterlogged
cause disease or pest outbreaks, most of environments, the F-layer can support a
Humus formation these organisms have little effect on the rich diversity of non-woody fine roots and
Although the details vary by location, functioning of healthy trees. Some may mycorrhizae (Fig. 4).
plant decomposition can lead to hume- actually be beneficial as predators for The proper combination of physical
faction or humus formation. While still potential pests and pathogens or to
attached to the living tree, the surface simply exclude possible troublemakers
and interior of foliage, branches and through competition.
other living or dead plant parts contain Within a short time of being shed and
bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms added to the surface layer or litter on the
and small invertebrates. In healthy trees, forest floor, the bacteria and fungi are no
the development of these organisms is longer held in check by the now dead or
kept within certain limits by the tree absent symplast. The “sugar fungi” and
related bacteria that had been pres-
ent on the formerly living surfaces
plus new colonizers from the forest
floor rapidly consume the soluble
sugars and nitrogen-based com-
pounds that were in the shed litter
(time period 1 in Fig. 1). The sugar
fungi, usually asexual stages of
Ascomycetes, do not cause a meas-
urable change in weight of the litter
as they don’t break down the cell
wall materials, but they do take up
soluble nutrients and leave behind a
lot of high-carbon material. In natu-
Figure 4. Mycorrhizal roots find the composted fermentation layer ral forests, this process occurs in the Figure 5. Brownrot wood decay helps form humus, even in the
of soil a rich source of critical essential elements. litter or L-layer of the organic forest living tree.

TREE CARE INDUSTRY – SEPTEMBER 2010 29

 Figure 6. Peat bogs are a rich source of soil organic matter yet are low in some essential elements.

structure, moisture and aeration favors the Much of the organic matter in humus
development of brownrot and whiterot has not only undergone the wood decay
wood decay, both caused by basid- process, but also the digestive processes of
iomycete fungi. In brownrot, the other organisms and includes the living
cellulose is selectively decomposed, and dead remnants of microorganism and
leaving behind a brown residue original- invertebrates. The fine organic matter of
ly formed from lignin, but modified as humus is seen as the H-layer in natural for-
other components are removed. These est soil (Fig. 2). In contrast with brownrot,
modifications of lignin increase its all components of wood are degraded in
capacity to store positively charged fertil- whiterot, resulting in little or no residue
izer elements. This residue left behind (time period 4 in Fig. 2). Organic acids and
from the brownrot wood decay process other small organic fragments leached
(time period 3 in Fig. 1) and related from the H-layer help store fertilizer ele-
processes in herbaceous plants is humus. ments in mineral soil.

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30 TREE CARE INDUSTRY – SEPTEMBER 2010

 Some of these soluble or colloidal pieces to support much decomposition of either Humus is a central link between tree
from humus are call humic and fulvic cellulose or lignin and organic matter biology and their environment.
acids. Originally described by solubility accumulates, sometimes to great depths.
and molecular size, humic and fulvic acids In addition to deep layers of organic mat- Kevin Smith, Ph.D., is a plant physiolo-
are being more rigorously defined and ter, tree growth in bogs is highly limited, gist and project leader with the USDA
marketed as biological soil treatments. both because of the lack of aeration for Forest Service Northern Research Station
Their chemical structure is variable and the roots and that the naturally acid envi- in Durham, New Hampshire. This article
may not be possible to determine in the ronment usually has reduced amounts of was taken from his presentation, “Tree
intact plant. They do contain phenolic rings essential calcium and magnesium, and Response to Climate Change” at TCI
and short chains of carbon that tend to con- high amounts of aluminum and iron that EXPO 2009 in Baltimore.
dense, sometimes into quite large interfere with element uptake by trees
complexes. (Fig. 6).
Humic acids can be formed independ- Sphagnum peat is mined from bogs in
ently of lignin breakdown and be extracted some parts of the world, both for use in
from certain algae and some higher plants. horticulture and as fuel. Over time, the bio-
Determining the precise structure of humus logical cycle of peat formation becomes
and fulvic acids as they are in the intact the geological cycle of lignite or brown
plant is challenging. Environmental condi- coal production. Lignite and lignite
tions such as pH affect the tendency of the extracts are commercial sources for some
acids to condense into large, complex humic acid soil treatments.
structures that may not exist in the intact In the broad sense, humus as soil
plant or in composted plant materials. The organic matter fuels the cycling of essen-
condensed acid polymers are beneficial, as tial elements. In the narrow sense, humus
they bind or chelate fertilizer elements in provides much of the basis for forest fer-
both the mineral soil and in the organic for- tility through the chelation of essential
est floor. elements that are then available to trees
and other plants. In both senses, humus
Conditions for humefaction provides soil with good aeration and
The microbial component of humefac- water holding capacity essential for both
tion requires the proper combination of urban and rural forests. Ongoing
air and water. In sphagnum peat bogs, research investigates other roles of
flooding excludes the oxygen necessary humus for tree growth and defense.

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TREE CARE INDUSTRY – SEPTEMBER 2010 31