Fallen Leaves｜Living Things in the Natural Water Sanctuaries

In autumn, leaves fall and scatter across the forest floor. At first glance, they may seem to lack nutrients, but they actually serve as food for many soil organisms, which support the forest ecosystem.

Contents

A Nutrient Source for Living Things in the Forest
Natural Water Sanctuary Initiatives
- Creating Light-filled Forests
Artwork Created from Fallen Leaves

A Nutrient Source for Living Things in the Forest

Before shedding their leaves, plants remove important nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. As a result, fallen leaves are rich in carbon but low in other nutrients. This initially makes them unsuitable as food for soil organisms like earthworms and bacteria.

However, some living things can make use of these nutrient-poor leaves. These include fungi such as mushrooms and molds, known as leaf-decomposing fungi. By releasing carbon through respiration and absorbing nitrogen and minerals through underground mycelium, these fungi help generate nutrients in decayed leaves.

As this process unfolds, soil creatures like earthworms and microorganisms such as bacteria can make use of the decomposed leaf matter. Earthworm castings, for example, help form small clumps known as aggregates, which give the soil a soft texture. This creates an ideal forest soil environment for plants, with excellent water drainage and retention.

Therefore, by shedding their leaves, forest trees nourish various organisms in the soil and ultimately help cultivate the ideal soil environment for themselves.

Natural Water Sanctuary Initiatives

In our Natural Water Sanctuaries, we are working to create forests where diverse trees can thrive.

Creating Light-filled Forests

Many neglected plantation forests are made up of evergreen trees like cedar and cypress and have not been properly maintained. The dense forest canopy blocks sunlight, making it difficult for understory plants and broadleaf trees to grow. In our Natural Water Sanctuaries, we enhance the forest environment by performing proper thinning and pruning. This allows sunlight to reach the forest floor, thereby fostering the growth of diverse grasses and broadleaf trees.

A forest where sunlight cannot penetrate

After thinning, broadleaf seedlings begin to cover the forest floor

Learn about the restoration of degraded coniferous forests

Artwork Created from Fallen Leaves

In autumn, our Natural Water Sanctuaries showcase a variety of trees turning vibrant shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown. Fallen leaves, seeds, and mushrooms collected from our Natural Water Sanctuaries have been used to create beautiful artworks. By depicting wild birds found in our Sanctuaries, they effectively convey the beauty of the forest.