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SUMMARY
Pinus resinosa leaf litter with associated attached fungi collected from a coal strip-mining area in Perry County, Ohio was studied using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray emission microanalysis. Six-mo-old leaf litter accumulated Ca to more than three times the amount observed for living leaves. Other elements (P, Si, Cu, Zn, Fe) also appeared to accumulate in Pinus resinosa leaf litter after 6-mo decomposition time. X-ray emission spectra and X-ray maps collected for leaves and fungi revealed a detectable partitioning of Ca and Fe in fungi, suggesting that fungi are partly responsible for regulating cycling patterns for these elements in Pinus leaf litter. Partitioning of P, K, Si and Mn was not observed. These results are discussed in relation to current biological and physico-chemical models of element cycling regulatory mechanisms.