Leaf Litter at LCNP
If you look at the ground, you will see many leaves, which have gathered on the ground not during just one autumn, but through many. The term we use for it is Leaf Litter. Many people ask, “Why isn’t leaf litter raked up?” or “Will it catch on fire and burn the forest down?” or “Doesn’t it look messy?”
Leaf litter is an essential part of the forest floor. It is an important component of healthy soil because decomposing leaf litter releases nutrients into the soil and also keeps it moist. In a deciduous forest system such as this one, the leaf litter covers the soil so that other plants besides the trees can grow in the ecosystem.
It also serves as a primary food for decomposers which help keep the food chain stable. Not only that, it serves as great nesting material, hiding places, and protected spots for animals. Animals you might find living in leaf litter include slugs and snails, worms, millipedes, spiders, and beetles.
Butterflies such as Swallowtails and Gulf Coast Fritillaries, and moths such as the Luna Moth usually overwinter in chrysalids which cleverly blend in with the leaves and dead stalks in the wild. Fireflies and native bees hide in leaf litter or create burrows underground and stay within an inch or two of the surface.
Raking up the leaf litter would destroy this important part of the ecosystem. Because we live in a wet, humid environment, our leaf litter is very unlikely to spontaneously catch on fire. In fact, it is decaying daily as bacteria breaks it down. Because it is keeping the soil beneath it moist, this moisture is more likely to slow or stop a fire than encourage it to burn.
When Hurricane Harvey flooded the forest in 2017, the flood waters picked up all of the leaf litter in the forest, as well as the animals and decomposers living in it and washed it away. It took four years for the leaf litter to build back up to be able to do its job in the forest. It also took quite a while for the decomposers and animal populations that depend on it to build back up in the forest as well.
So, DOES it look messy? No, it looks like a beautiful flooring system that works hard to keep the forest healthy. It’s like a carpet that gets refreshed each autumn when the new leaves fall from the trees.