Summary:

The aim of the research has been to determine the effect of the inoculum (forest litter containing living edaphon mixed with peat) on selected plant growth parameters of white birch (Betula pendula Roth) seedlings growing with a covered root system, the mycorrhizal status as well as the abundance of the Acari in the root clump. The research was performed in 2013 at the container nursery of Bielawy (53°01'37.3"N 18°42'55.3"E), in the Forest Inspectorate of Dobrzejewice. The experiment started on May 10, seedlings were growing in containers placed on steel pallets in 2 treatments: C -control, L - 10% of additive of inoculate shredded pine forest litter. Seedlings of white birch cultivated in the treatment with addition of litter were significantly higher than those from control treatment. There were no significant differences between the diameter and the fresh mass of the the seedlings in the two treatments. The percentage of vital mycorrhizae increased slightly in the treatment with the addition of litter. The proportion of non-vital mycorrhizas was lower in the control treatment. Our results indicate that forest litter might improve environmental conditions rather by changing moisture-temperature relationships than by changing the availability of nutrients associated with litter. The application of the litter inoculum into the peat substrate resulted in a many-fold increase in the Acari abundance, especially the Oribatida. In this treatment the abundance of Acari groups was similar to the pattern observed in forest soils.