THE CARBON-CYCLE IN MEADOW ECOSYSTEMS

The structure of plant material and the biomass of soil organisms in the ecosystems of a floodplain catena and a mesophytic meadow were investigated. It was found that, in climax ecosystems, the input of organic matter to the soil is constant on average and equal to the net input of primary production. The microbial biomass, in spite of year-to-year and seasonal variations, also remains quite constant. Its magnitude is characteristic of a meadow ecosystem and depends on the amount of organic matter added to the soil annually.