Edge Effect on the Litter Production of a Semi-Deciduous Seasonal Forest Fragment

Abstract

The edge effect makes forest communities more susceptible to changes and may cause changes in different ecosystem characteristics such as litter production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the edge effect on the contribution of litter and its temporal variation in a Semi-Deciduous Seasonal Forest fragment located in Vitória da Conquista, BA, Brazil. Four sampling ranges were delimited in the forest fragment: edge (0-10 m from the edge), transition 1 (40-50 m from the edge), transition 2 (80-90 m from the edge) and interior (400-410 m from the edge). The produced litter was collected monthly. The main litter components were leaves and branches in all sampling ranges. The contribution of the other fractions obeyed different orders at the edges (bark > reproductive structures) and interior (reproductive structures > bark). The edge effect did not influence the contribution of total litter and its temporal variation, only manifesting in the production of reproductive structures.

Edge effect on floristics and structure in Seasonal Semi-deciduous Forest in the Semi-arid region

“…Other studies have been conducted in the same fragment of the present work Scoriza, 2018;Gomes;Guimarães, 2013;Lacerda, 2019a;Paula, 2019b;Novais;Barreto, 2016) which have shown the existence of an edge effect on vegetation and other ecosystem attributes. Barreto-Garcia, Oliveira, Oliveira and Lacerda (2019a) observed that the climate interfered with the litter contribution with greater intensity up to 90 m towards the interior of the fragment.…”

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi community in coffee agroforestry, consortium and monoculture systems

“…Frequency of occurrence (%) of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi species at two times of the year in three coffee production systems and in native forest. of semi-deciduous seasonal forests, with litter deposition peaks coinciding with the end of the dry season as a vegetation response to climatic variation (Dias & Oliveira-Filho 1997, Santos Neto et al 2015, Barreto-Garcia et al 2019, which in turn is reflected in greater litter accumulations at the beginning of the rainy season. These larger accumulations are usually associated with the influence of rain which creates more favorable conditions for leaf renewal and due to leaves and branches falling by mechanical action (Dias & Oliveira-Filho 1997, Vendrami et al 2012.…”