Water holding characteristics of the litter under six kinds of forest beside Songhua river

Through field investigation and room experiment, the litter amount, water holding capacity and water holding speed of the litter under six kinds of forest beside Songhua river was studied. The forest order of the Litter amount from high to low was Pinus koraiensis plantation, Fraxinus mandshurica- Larix olgensis forest, Tilia mandshurica Forest, Quercus monglica forest, Fraxinus mandshurica- Populusdavidiana forest and Juglans mandshurica forest. The maximum water holding rate of the litter changed greatly in different forest, the highest is 321.2% in Juglans mandshurica forest,and the lowerst is 183.3% in Fraxinus mandshurica- Larix olgensis forest. The biggest maximum water holding amount of the litter is 161.6 t/hm2 in Pinus koraiensis plantation,while the smallest maximum water holding amount of the litter is 50.8 t/hm2 in Juglans mandshurica forest. The water absorption speed changed inverselly with time, and the highest speed took place during the first 15 minute. Absorption speed of the halfdecomposion litter layer under conifer forest and conifer-broadleave mixed forest was bigger than that of broadleave forest.