As you walk through piles of autumn leaves and hear it crunch underneath your feet, know that you are likely stepping on top of a magnificent and almost invisible world of critters and plant materials.
In the fall edition of NatureWILD magazine, you can read about leaf litter and about what happens when leaves fall from the trees and lie on the ground. These leaves along with fallen twigs and pieces of bark make up what is known as leaf litter. Leaf litter is an important component of healthy soil and releases important nutrients into the soil and keep it moist – and it provides important habitat for a variety of soil organisms, including worms, millipedes and centipedes, beetles and spiders.
As you can read in NatureWILD magazine, Dr. Doowit invites you on a small game safari to hunt for decomposers and other “small game” so print out the Life in the Leaf Litter ID card and join him! Please do send pictures or drawings of the critters you see to Dr.Doowitt@naturekidsbc.ca when you have finished.
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