Sulphur Stored in Forest Soils and the Relative Importance of Organic and Inorganic Forms. Examples from Mont-Lozère (Southern Massif Central)

From studies initiated in 1981, the mean annual hydrochemical budget established in three experiment watersheds at Mont-Lozere demonstrated that sulphur is retained in soils and in arenaceous formations (Lelong et al. 1990). Soils were developed on weathered granite materials that were strongly reworked by periglacial processes. One watershed is covered with grasses (Bassin de la Cloutasse) and the two others by forest. A beech coppice (Fagus sylvatica L.) and a Norway spruce forest (Picea abies (L.) Karst., hereafter shortened to “spruce”) occupy the Bassin de La Sapine (54 ha) and the Bassin of La Latte (20 ha), respectively. Unfortunately, as a result of a parasite attack, a large part o…