Fine litter accumulation in Central Amazonian Tropical Rainforest canopy

Abstract

Fine litter dynamics within the canopy differ from litter dynamics on the forest floor for reasons such as differences in microclimate, substrate, disturbance level, stratum influence and decomposition rates. This study is the first attempt to quantify the fine litter accumulated in the canopy of Central Amazonian forests. We compared the canopy litter accumulation to fine litter-layer on forest floor and to other forests and also investigated which were the mostly accumulated litter omponents. We found that Central Amazonian Rainforest intercepts greater fine litter in the canopy (294 g.m-2) compared to other forest formations with higher winds speed as in a Costa Rican Cloud Forest (170 g.m-2). The mean canopy fine litter accumulated at the end of the dry season was less than a half of that on soil surface (833 g.m-2) and the fine wood component dominates the canopy samplings (174 g.m-2) while leafy component predominate on soil surface litter (353 g.m-2).

Percolation through leaf litter: What happens during rainfall events of varying intensity?

“…Larger litter thicknesses have also been reported, including a mean of 86 mm under Cryptomeria japonica in Japan (Sato et al, 2004). In some kinds of forest, significant amounts of litter also accumulate within the canopy, on the surfaces of branches (Couto-Santos and Luizao, 2010), but this form of litter is not considered here. Leaf litter is continually broken down and decomposed (Gosz et al, 1973), and can also be actively transported downslope (Steart et al, 2006;Abe et al, 2009;Funada et al, 2009).…”

“…From the Lake Tahoe basin, Banwell and Varner (2014) reported litter bulk densities in the range 14.4-43.8 kg/m 3 . Litter loadings vary widely, from <1 t/ha in drylands (Sharafatmandrad et al, 2010) to >10 t/ha in humid forests (Couto-Santos and Luizao, 2010).…”