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Table 12. Forest floor organic matter and nutrient concentrations for contrasting forest types (*). The amount of organic matter stored in the forest floor shows a large decrease with decreasing latitude reflecting the effect of temperature on decomposition rates. Coniferous forests within a given climatic regime contain greater oranic matter concentrations primarily as a result of the poorer litter quality associated with conifer litter.

Forest Type	n	Organic Matter	N	P	Ca	Mg	P
	kg/ha
Boreal Coniferous	3	113720	617	109	360	140	115
Boreal Deciduous	1	68772	548	99	489	139	79
Temperate Coniferous	13	74881	681	70	206	53	60
Temperate Deciduous	14	21625	377	53	205	28	25
Mediterranean Deciduous	1	11400	125	10	361	20	4
Tropical Rain Forest	4	6460	91	12	96	15	5

(*) Data for boreal, temperate and Mediterranean forest are from Cole and Rapp (1981); tropical forest from Edwards and Grubb (1982).

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