Litterfall and Accumulated Nutrients in Pinus taeda Plantation and Native Forest in Southern Brazil

The dynamics of the production, chemical composition, and accumulated nutrients in litterfall are essential to understand the availability of nutrients and, consequently, possible gains in productivity in different forest types. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the litterfall and the accumulated nutrients in litterfall in a Pinus taeda plantation and native forest from southern Brazil. Two forest types: (i) an eight-year-old Pinus taeda L. plantation; and (ii) a native forest fragment, located in southern Brazil, were studied for four years. The monthly and annual litterfall production, chemical composition, accumulated nutrients, and nutrient use efficiency of the litterfall were evaluated. The Pinus taeda plantation showed higher values of leaves/needles litterfall and N, P, K, Ca and Mg use efficiency. This demonstrates that Pinus taeda plantations have a high production of needle biomass, which, in turn, has increased cell division, favoring the entry of these nutrients into the soil via decomposition. Our results show that total litterfall production did not significantly influence the accumulated nutrient and nutrient efficiency of litterfall, demonstrating that evaluating litterfall fractionation, such as leaves/needles, twigs and miscellaneous, is essential to understand the quantity and quality of litterfall and, thus, the nutrient cycling, which can contribute to possible silvicultural practices to be implemented, which can provide growth gains in forest types.

Multiple Factors Influence Seasonal and Interannual Litterfall Production in a Tropical Dry Forest in Mexico

Litterfall production plays a fundamental role in the dynamics and function of tropical forest ecosystems, as it supplies 70–80% of nutrients entering the soil. This process varies annually and seasonally, depending on multiple environmental factors. However, few studies spanning several years have addressed the combined effect of climate variables, successional age, topography, and vegetation structure in tropical dry forests. In this study, we evaluated monthly, seasonal, and annual litterfall production over a five-year period in semideciduous dry forests of different successional ages growing on contrasting topographic conditions (sloping or flat terrain) in Yucatan, Mexico. Its relationship with climate and vegetation structural variables were also analyzed using multiple linear regression and generalized linear models. Litterfall was measured monthly in 12 litterfall traps of 0.5 m2 in three sampling clusters (sets of four 400 m2 sampling plots) established in forests of five successional age classes, 3–5, 10–17, 18–25, 60–79, and >80 years (in the latter two classes either on slopping or on flat terrain), for a total of 15 sampling clusters and 180 litterfall traps. Litterfall production varied between years (negatively correlated with precipitation), seasons (positively correlated with wind speed and maximum temperature), and months (negatively correlated with relative humidity) and was higher in flat than in sloping sites. Litterfall production also increased with successional age until 18–25 years after abandonment, when it attained values similar to those of mature forests. It was positively correlated with the aboveground biomass of deciduous species but negatively correlated with the basal area of evergreen species. Our results show a rapid recovery of litterfall production with successional age of these forests, which may increase with climate changes such as less precipitation, higher temperatures, and higher incidence of hurricanes.

Phenological Traits, Litterfall Production, and Carbon Sequestration Rates of Major Three Species in the Sundarbans

BackgroundAttempt to compare the phonological pattern of the three mangrove species: Heritiera fomes, Bruguiera sexangula, and Xylocapus mekongensis in the Sundarbans mangrove forest by observing the litterfall data over 3 years.ResultsAll these three species showed highest litterfall of leaves and stipules in summer and lowest in winter. In case of B. sexangula, it also showed its second peak of leaves litterfall in the rainy season. Branch litterfall for the three species was occurred all over the year without having a distinct seasonal pattern. Flowering was observed in February – June and March - May for H. fomes and X. mekomgensis, respectively. Fruiting was observed for H. fomes and X. mekongensis in between the month of March – May and April – June respectively. Peak of mature fruit or seed litterfall was observed in July and August for both H. fomes and X. mekongensis respectively. Litterfall of flower buds, flowers and propagule for B. sexangula was observed throughout the year and peak flower buds, flowers, and propagule litterfall was found in the month of January, March, and July respectively. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance showed that all the organs of litterfall were concordant during the study period. Autocorrelation coefficient revealed that all the parts of litterfall followed a clear annual cycle except branches. Mean total litterfall was calculated 1014.6±12.7 g m-2 year-1 for H. fomes, 1047.3±21.3 g m-2 year-1 for X. mekongensis and 1640.2±14.1 g m-2 year-1 for B. sexangula of which leaves litterfall contributed more than 50% of total litterfall for all the three species. H. fomes, B. sexangula and X. mekongensis none of them exhibit any correlation between stipules litterfall and reproductive organs litterfall.ConclusionThe findings may contribute to an understanding of vegetative and reproductive phenology, litterfall production, and carbon sequestration rate of the major mangrove species in Sundarbans mangrove forests, and also its role in global C budgets.

Forest Litterfall in Mount Kasunogan

Forest litterfall is plant materials that have been fallen to the ground. It is vital in the process of nutrient forests. The vegetation of the stations in Mount Kasunogan consisted of 7 plant species from 7 different families; Tamanu (Calophyllum) from Calophyllaceae, Sweet flag (Calamus Sp) from Acoraceae, Pitanga (Eugenia Sp) from Myrtaceae, Cogon Grass (Imperatacylindrica) from Poaceae, Hickory Wattle (Mangium) from Fabaceae, Nutrush (ScleriaScrobiculata) from Cyperaceae, Screw pine (Pandanus Odoratissimus) from Pandanaceae, and Ivory Mahogany (DysoxylumSp) from Meliaceae. The researchers investigated litterfall production and decomposition rate and correlated these two essential processes to the soil physical and chemical composition of Mount Kasunogan. Organic matter, Soil pH level, and Soil Moisture have a significant influence on litter production and what factors could increase or decrease its production. It has been denoted that all soil attributes (Organic matter, Soil pH level, and Soil Moisture) impact forest litterfall production. However, two of the attributes, which are the organic matter and soil moisture, barely contribute to the litterfall. In contrast, the soil pH is perfectly correlated and has a significant effect on litterfall production. Station three’s advantage regarding the soil pH and wind presence due to its high elevation explains a large amount of litter production in the area. In this study, it is also concluded that the acidic the soil gets, the faster the decomposition, which also resulted in the faster decomposition in station 2 among the rest of the sites in Mount Kasunogan.

Spatial-temporal variation in litterfall in seasonally dry tropical forests in Northeastern Brazil

The production of litterfall is essential for nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. From November 2009 to October 2011, analyzed the monthly litterfall production in two areas of Caatinga, a type of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest located in the Cariri Paraibano, in the semiarid region of the Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil. One of the areas, Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) Fazenda Almas, is legally protected, and the other, Fazenda Moreiras, does not. The aims were to evaluate the effects of precipitation, evapotranspiration and vegetation structure on the temporal and spatial dynamics of litterfall production. Eight sampling points were randomly chosen at each site, and two 1 m2 collectors were installed 50 m apart from each other. The collected material was sorted, dried and weighed. Additionally, the characteristics (density, species richness, height and mean basal area) of the tree-shrub stratum in plots with a 10 m radius surrounding each collector. Total litterfall production was 4,500 kg ha-1 yr-1 for Fazenda Almas and 3,300 kg ha-1 yr-1 for Fazenda Moreiras; these values were within the expected range for Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests. The inter- and intra-annual variation in litterfall production was positively correlated with precipitation and evapotranspiration rates, and four months after the highest precipitation rates, there was a marked decrease in litterfall occurred during the dry season. Furthermore, the contributions of the material fractions were distinct with the leaf fraction representing for more than 60% of the litterfall, and the vegetation structure explained 75% of the variation in litterfall production. Therefore, climatic factors and vegetation structure affect the temporal and spatial dynamics of litterfall production and consequently influence nutrient dynamics in the semiarid region of Brazil.