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Presents a study that determined factors limiting the early survivorship of Thuja plicata on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Method of the study; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Discusses the improvement of understanding of the role of soil invertebrates in the break-down of litter, cycling of nitrogen, and growth of seedlings in forests of British Columbia. Presence of millipedes in the microcosms of forest floor; Increase of inorganic nitrogen release in the presence of fauna; Rate of breakdown of forest litter.

Reports that the rate of mass loss of three standard substrates (pine needle litter, aspen leaf litter, and forest floor material) was measured in forests and adjacent clearcuts throughout British Columbia to test the hypotheses that (i) rates of mass loss are greater in clearcuts than in forests and (ii) clear-cutting would stimulate decomposition most in colder zones. Range of mass loss; Mass loss from pine needles that was significantly slower in clearcuts throughout the incubation; Aspen leaf litter and forest floor material that lost mass at similar rates in forests and clearcuts; Effect of clear-cutting that did not vary between relatively cold and warm sites; Effect of clear-cutting that was not related to the size of the clearcuts.

Reports on the measured rates of decomposition at three sites representing the major mixedwood forest types of British Columbia: (i) boreal forests of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), (ii) coastal forests of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), and (iii) a wet interior forest of Douglas-fir, paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Doug. ex Loud.). Mass loss of litter of each species (both pure and in combination with the other species) that was measured in forests of each species to determine (i) if broadleaf litter decomposed faster than needle litter, (ii) if litter decomposed faster in broadleaf or mixedwood forests than in coniferous forests, and (iii) if mixing with broadleaf hastened decomposition of needle litter; Broadleaf litters that decomposed faster than needles during the first year but, thereafter, decomposed more slowly; Litter that tended to decompose faster in the broadleaf forests than in the coniferous forests; No evidence to indicate that the addition of broadleaf litter hastened decomposition of needle litter; Results that indicate that the mixing of needle litter with broadleaf litter is unlikely to hasten decomposition in mixedwood forests of British Columbia.