Litter Dynamics in Tropical Plantations

1. Deepthi Dechamma N L
MF3TAHO52
Dept. of Silviculture and Agroforestry
02/12/2019
Litter Dynamics in Tropical Plantations
1

2. OUTLINE
12/26/2020
 Introduction
 Importance of Litter Dynamics
 Factors - Litter fall fluxes
 Mechanism Litter Decomposition
 Estimation of Litter Decomposition – Methods
 Nutrient release
 Summary & Conclusion
2

3. 12/26/2020
3
Tropical plantations plays a pivotal role in maintaining the eco-fragile condition of the
environment as well as to the livelihoods of millions of people.
Bridges the widening gap between the demand and supply of wood and other forest
products.
Continuous flow of nutrients and energy through the various components of
ecosystem
The understanding between nutrient flux and cycling in individual ecosystem is
fundamental to understand the large biogeochemical cycle of plantation ecosystems
In a plantation ecosystem, a large amount of organic matter returns to the forest floor through
litter fall
INTRODUCTION

4.  Litter is a freshly fallen vegetative and reproductive plant parts
caused by senescence, mechanical factors, stress, weathering or
combination of these factors.
 Leaf-litter + Non-leaf litter = Total litter fall (Bisht et al., 2014)
 Plant litter acts as a temporary sink for nutrients and functions as a
‘slow-release’ nutrient source
 Litter fall == Decomposition == Release of nutrients
4
Cont.

5. LITTER FALL – ESSENTIAL....
Sayer (2006)5
Input - Output
system of nutrients
Regulation of
Nutrient cycling
Maintenance of soil
Fertility

6. WHY TROPICAL FOREST (TF) PLANTATIONS?
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• Total area of plantation- 290mha : Temperate region- 150 mha,
Tropical region and Boreal region - 57mha
• Litter fall production - tropical region ˃ temperate region ˃ boreal
regions
• TF plantations consists diverse kind of trees
• To understand the impact of tropical tree spp. on various aspects of
soil organic matter dynamics

7. LITTER DYNAMICS (LD) - IMPORTANCE
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LD play a vital role in the stability of natural ecosystems
Reveals changes in the limiting elements over time
Interaction between litter and environment
Understand – Decomposition rate and Nutrient release by different spp. and env.
Seasonal variation of litter fall
Tool for monitoring nutritional status of vegetation
7

8. COMPOSITION OF LITTER
Krishna and Mohan (2017)8
Cellulose
30%
Hemicellulose
15%
Lignin
20%
Water soluble
components
15%
Ether and
alcohol soluble
components
12%
Proteins
8%

9. FACTORS - LITTER FALL FLUXES
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1) Stand age and basal area
2) Species mixtures
3) Site characteristics
4)Perturbations
5) Tree management practices

10. Stand age, basal area and Litter flux
Kumar(2008)
10
Annual litter fall
increases as
crown coverage
increases
Reaches steady
state after
canopy closure
Declines in very
old stand
Species Location Stand age
(Yrs)
Litter fall
(Mg ha-1yr-1)
Acacia auriculiformis Ibadan, Nigeria 3 6.92
Ibadan, Nigeria 7 12.11
Kerala, India 8.8 12.7-12.9
Casuarina
equisetifolia
Kerala, India 8.8 6.44
Puerto Rico 1.5-3.5 7.7
Casuarina +
Eucalyptus
Puerto Rico
(50:50 mixture)
1.5-3.5 7.74
Eucalyptus
tereticornis
Karnal, India
(Alkaline soil)
4 1.02
7 1.13

11. Seasonal pattern of litter fall(Kg ha-1) in an age series plantations of Teak
Jha(2010)11

12. Species mixtures and litter fall
Parrotta(1999)12

13. Annual litter fall and site characteristics in tropical
region
Spain,198413
Sl.
no
Countr
y
Leaf litter
(gm-2 yr-1)
Wood
(gm-2
yr-1
Reprodu
ctive
(gm-2 yr-
1
Total Latitude Altitud
e
(m)
Precipit
ation
(mm)
1 India 390 129 32 557 10°13’N 2100 1219
2 India 621 25°16’N 90-365 1100
3 Nigeria 717 6°23’N 50 1787
4 Nigeria 460 7°24’N 135 1321
5 Brazil 802 990 1°27‘S 10 2277
6 Panama 583 230 123 1100 9°9‘N 510 3080

14. Leaf litter breakdown and nutrient release in three tree plantations compared
with a natural degraded forest on Coromandel coast
12/26/202014
Land use Rate Constant k
(yr-1)
Half life period
T1/2
(days)
Wt remained
(%)
(12 months)
Natural degraded forest 3.05 82 3.62
Teak plantation 1.892 132 13.24
Acacia plantation 2.368 105 8.15
Eucalyptus plantation 1.699 147 16.53
Swarnalatha & Reddy 2011

15. Monthly litter fall production in Acacia mangium stand thinned
with varying intensities in Kerala
Kunhamu (2009)15

16. 16
Location Plantation Litter fall
(Mg ha−1 yr-
1)
Leaf litter
(Mg ha−1 yr-
1)
Month and
Season of
maximum fall
Reference
Dharwad,
Karnataka
Teak, Sissoo
and Khair
4.1, 6.3 and
5.8
(97%), (90%)
and 76%)
Summer Hosur and
Dasog 1995
Kallipatti,
Tamil Nadu
4, 5 and 6
year old
Bambusa
bambos
15.4, 17 and
20.3
58% late summer Shanmughav
el et al, 2014
Nainital,
Uttara
Khand
An age series
(1, 5, 11,18,
24 and 30
years old)
teak
1.71, 6.21,
5.77, 5.66,
3.94 and
6.45
100, 94, 87,
88, 84 and
88%
Summer Jha 2010
Trichur,
Kerala
(Five year old
three Acacia
14.18, 12.76
and 20.64
(71.09%),
(71.89%)
December Suhyb 2004
Litter fall production and pattern in Indian plantations

17. Seasonal litter fall pattern of tropical species
Jamaludheen (1998)17

18. LITTER DECOMPOSITION
18
It is a sequential biogeochemical process where complex organic
compounds are broken down to simpler compounds and nutrients
which vary with climate, season, substrate quality, litter chemistry, and
type of biota
Complex organic
compounds
Simpler
compounds
Swift et al. (1979)

19. STAGES OF DECOMPOSITION
19
• Breakdown of
litter into smaller
sizes by few
detritivores
1)FRAGMENTATION
• Litter is converted into
simple inorganic
compounds by
microbes
2) Catabolism
• Simple and water
soluble compounds
percolate down to
lower layers of soil
3) Leaching
Swift et al. (1979); Coleman et al. (2004)

20. FACTORS AFFECTING LITTER DECOMPOSITION
20 Krishna et al. (2017)

21. LITTER QUALITY AND DECOMPOSITION
21
Litter
nitrogen
Cellulose
Lignin
Light
Tannin
C:N
Phenol
Phenol:
N
DECOMPOSITION
DECOMPOSITION

22. Olsen 1963; Schlesinger 1997; Karberg (2008)
22
MASS BALANCE
QUANTIFICATION OF LITTER DECOMPOSITION
TETHERED LEAVES
Litter fall = k(detrital litter mass)
Advantages
Estimates litter
decomposition at
the stand level
Disadvantages
Over estimates
decomposition
rate

23. 23
Used to study decomposition at the soil surface
Dimension of litterbag: Bag size – 20x20cm,mesh
size- 1-2 mm (Robertson and Paul,1999 )
Fresh leaf litter placed in litterbags and inserted into
litter layer of soil
Litter bags are gathered at periodic interval and
remaining litter quantity measured
Contd...
Cohort Layered ScreenLitterbag Method
Advantages: Represents litter
dynamics better than other methods
Disadvantages: Blocks the access
of macrofauna to litter by the mesh
size
Bocock and Gilbert (1957); Karberg (2008)

24. LITTER DECOMPOSITION RATE - ANALYSIS
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 The decomposition constant k is estimated
using exponential decomposition method
given by
x is weight remaining at time t
x° is the original mass
k is decay rate coefficient
Olson (1963)
General approach
Fitting of mathemetical
models to estimate
constants- describe loss
of mass over time
Half-life period (T1/2)
T1/2 = ln (0.50)/-k
Bockheim et al.
(1991)
x/x°= e-kt

25. NUTRIENT RELEASE
Olsen(1963); Wieder Lang(1977)25
Where, CO = Original concentration of elements in leaf litter kept for decomposition
C= Concentration of the element in the leaf litter at the time of sampling
Wo = Initial dry matter of the leaf sample kept for decomposition
Wt = Weight of the dry matter after a given period
Percent of nutrient release (%) =100 – percent of original nutrient remaining
Percent nutrient remaining(%) = C/C0 X Wt/W0

26. Nutrient release pattern in Swietenia macrophylla King. plantation
Dinesha, 201826
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Nutrientconcentration(%)
Months N P
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Nutrientconcentration
(%)
Months N P K
Leaf decomposition Rachis decomposition

27. 27
Months
Average litter production (kg ha-1)
2016-17 2017-18
Leaf Rachis Total Leaf Rachis Total
September 0.00 0.00 0.00 128.30 41.13 169.43
October 383.06 101.74 484.80 399.10 79.01 478.11
November 651.40 101.74 753.14 542.50 112.02 654.52
December 543.00 116.35 659.35 353.40 122.85 476.25
January 591.60 186.71 778.31 516.70 177.51 694.21
February 731.12 138.54 869.66 486.60 94.16 580.76
March 2287.67 648.87 2936.54 4338.60 995.76 5334.36
April 281.46 156.94 438.40 0.00 0.00 0.00
May 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
June 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
July 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
August 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Average 455.78 120.91 576.68 563.77 135.20 698.97
Total 5469.31 1450.89 6920.20 6765.20 1622.45 8387.65
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
Litterfall(kgha-1)
Months 2016-17 2017-18
Monthly litter production Dinesha, 2018

28. 28
Soil physico-chemical properties
Available and exchangable soil nutrients (Kg/ha)

29. Quantification of organic carbon and primary nutrients in litter and soil in foothill
forest plantations of Eastern Himalaya
Shukla et al.,201729

 The annual litter fall production in the plantation ranged from
4.72 to 5.61Mg ha-1
 The maximum annual litter production was in Tectona grandis
plantations and minimum in Lagerstroemia parviflora
plantations

30. 30 The annual return of available nutrients was in the order N˃K˃P
Nutrient release from litter at different intervals

31. CONCLUSION
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LD plays a key role in nutrient cycling and release of essential nutrients for stand growth after
canopy closure
Understanding timely availability of nutrients- Plantation management
Seasonal litter fall pattern of diff tropical species
Helps to understand decomposition rate of litter fall from different tropical species
It would be beneficial if the growth period and uptake of nutrients synchronized with the
litter fall and decomposition.
It glimpses the ban of the regular removal of leaf litter from plantations to maintain the
nutrient status and carbon sequestration of the soil.

32. 12/26/202032
DISCUSSION