Plant litter is dead plant material that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent nutrients are added to the top layer of soil, commonly known as the litter layer or O horizon. Litter is an important factor in ecosystem dynamics, as it is indicative of ecological productivity and may be useful in predicting regional nutrient cycling and soil fertility.
Leaf litter, mainly White Beech, Gmelina leichhardtii, from Black Bulga State Conservation Area, NSW, Australia
Plant litter, mainly western hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla, in Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, United States
Common wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia
Fungi in the forest floor (Marselisborg Forests in Denmark)
In biology, detritus or is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decompose it. In terrestrial ecosystems it is present as leaf litter and other organic matter that is intermixed with soil, which is denominated "soil organic matter". The detritus of aquatic ecosystems is organic substances that is suspended in the water and accumulates in depositions on the floor of the body of water; when this floor is a seabed, such a deposition is denominated "marine snow".
Horse feces and straw are forms of detritus, and are used as manure.
Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia) cones and foliage, sugar pine and white fir foliage, and other plant litter constitute the duff layer that covers the ground of Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, United States.
