Defining soil quality in Mediterranean forest system note I: Organic matter turnover

C-mineralisation potentials, humification parameters and isoelectric focusing of humic matter were determined on four soil with different forest covers obtained from the Tenuta Presidenziale of Castelporziano on the Tirrenic coast near Rome. The study demonstrates there are notably differences in carbon mineralisation kinetics in relation to the quality of litter, which can directly influence the structure of soil humic substances, as emerged from the isoelectric focusing profiles.