Leaf litter

File:Leaf litter fungi.jpg

Fungus growing in leaf litter

Leaf litter (sometimes called leaf mold or tree litter) is the layer of leaves and other forms of decomposing matter found on the ground beneath vegetation.

Leaf litter is important to the ecosystem of forests, inhabited by insects, fungi, small mammals and flightless birds. For example, birds such as the cassowary build their nests from the material found on the ground of a rainforest.

Visibly, leaf litter is composed mostly of the leaves that fall from the forest's tall trees and shrubs. However, beneath the leaves lay other decomposing materials such as bark and dead animals. As the leaf litter decomposes further, it becomes a spongy material known as humus.

leaflitter is gay