5 CONCLUSIONS
Soil pore structure both in the entire soil volume and in the root detritusphere was significantly influenced by soil texture and minerology. Coarse-textured quartz-rich soils had higher porosity but lower bioporosity than fine-textured soils, as well as greater proportions of biopore spaces occupied by POM. There were clear differences between fine- and coarse-textured soils in spatial patterns of pore size distributions as a function of distance from POM. In the immediate vicinity of POM. Finer-textured soils had higher porosity in close proximity of POM, that is greater POM-gap, consisting mainly of large pores (>300 μm Ø) as well as better pore connectivity compared to those of the coarser-textured soils. Despite known differences in the root characteristics of the studied plant systems, i.e., monoculture switchgrass and restored prairie, their impact on detritusphere pore structure was relatively minor. Lack of plant system effect suggests that the observed differences in detritusphere pore structure between finer- and coarser-textured soils are of primarily physical/mineralogical origin, e.g., due to loss of structure and collapsing of biopores in the latter, and the phenomenon present across a wide range (Alfisols, Entisols, and Spodosols) of soil types. The study provides an insight into the relationship among soil texture, mineralogy, and detritusphere pore structure, which serves as an important arena for microbial activity and soil C processing.