Litterfall production in forests located at the Pre-delta area of the Paraná River (Argentina)

Abstract

Abstract• The objectives of this study were to measure litterfall production of the four floodplain forest types and to analyze the relationship between litterfall (forest type, dominant species, and organic fractions) and flood pulses.• Litterfall production was measured in two mono-specific stands of Salix humboldtiana or Tessaria integrifolia, respectively, and two mixed forests dominated by A. inundata or Nectandra angustifolia, during 1998 and the 2000-2002 periods.• Mono-specific stands presented similar productivities (6.8 and 6.5 Mg dry matter ha −1 y −1 , respectively), but differed significantly from the two other. The highest litterfall production was obtained during the large flood that occurred during 1998, decreasing later throughout the study period. Leaves were the dominant fraction of litterfall, followed by branches, flowers, and fruits.• Only S. humboldtiana, T. integrifolia and A. inundata forests showed distinct patterns of litterfall production, depending on the flooding pulse. N. angustifolia did not show a distinctive litterfall pattern.• The forests studied here presented patterns of litter production associated with the flood pulse according to its location along a topographic gradient, that controls the litter productivity of these forests.

Linking hydrologic regime, rainfall and leaf litter fall in a riverine forest within the Ramsar Site Humedales Chaco (Argentina)

“…Mixed gallery forests produce higher annual leaf litterfall than other riverine forests in the study area, for example Tessaria integrifolia , which are located at a low topographic position with more frequent flooding (6.43 tn ha −1 yr −1 , Neiff and Poi de Neiff, ) and Copernicia alba , located at a high topographic position (0.97 and 1.83 tn ha −1 yr −1 ). These values are higher than those found at population level by Aceñolaza et al () in a mixed gallery forest located downstream.…”

“…The maximum leaf litterfall in the Paraná River floodplain is either coupled to the inundation phase in palm forests (Poi de Neiff and Casco, ) or coincident with drawdown in Palo Bobo forests (Neiff and Poi de Neiff, ). In other riverine forests, the decrease in litterfall production has been associated with the decrease in the water level of the river (Aceñolaza et al, ). As no further data are available, little is known about the pattern of litter production in the Paraná riverine forest as was indicated for Amazonian várzea floodplain (Piedade et al , ).…”

Temporal evolution of litterfall and potential bio-element return in a successional forest sequence of the Espinal Ecoregion, Argentina

“…The greatest leaf/total production ratio values were 0.55 and 0.52 in C. ehrenbergiana (SF and MF, respectively), which is consistent with production of a deciduous species. By contrast, A. caven (a semi-deciduous species) showed limited growth and development in MF, but only contributed with 15 % of leaves (Aceñolaza et al, 2010).…”

Spatial variability in the amount of forest litter at the local scale in northeastern China: Kriging and cokriging approaches to interpolation

“…Litter amount is linked to litter input and decomposition, as well as other factors such as topography, microclimate, vegetation composition, geological substrates, and soil physicochemical properties (Aceñolaza, Zamboni, Rodriguez, & Gallardo, 2010;Hermansah, Masunaga, Wakatsuki, & Aflizar, 2002;Kitayama & Aiba, 2002;Proctor, Nderson, Ogden, & Vallack, 1983;Röderstein, Hertel, & Leuschner, 2005;Staelens et al, 2011). There are particular controlling factors that are important in different research areas or at different scales.…”