Regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America
The production of aboveground soft tissue represents an important share of total net primary production in tropical rain forests. Here we draw from a large number of published and unpublished datasets (n=81 sites) to assess the determinants of litterfall variation across South American tropical fore...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2009
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| _version_ | 1826303413348990976 |
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| author | Chave, J Navarrete, D Almeida, S Álvarez, E Aragão, L Bonal, D Châtelet, P Silva Espejo, J Goret, J von Hildebrand, P Jiménez, E Patiño, S Peñuela, M Phillips, O Stevenson, P Malhi, Y |
| author2 | European Geosciences Union |
| author_facet | European Geosciences Union Chave, J Navarrete, D Almeida, S Álvarez, E Aragão, L Bonal, D Châtelet, P Silva Espejo, J Goret, J von Hildebrand, P Jiménez, E Patiño, S Peñuela, M Phillips, O Stevenson, P Malhi, Y |
| author_sort | Chave, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The production of aboveground soft tissue represents an important share of total net primary production in tropical rain forests. Here we draw from a large number of published and unpublished datasets (n=81 sites) to assess the determinants of litterfall variation across South American tropical forests. We show that across old-growth tropical rainforests, litterfall averages 8.61±1.91 Mg/ha/yr. Secondary forests have a lower annual litterfall than old-growth tropical forests with a mean of 8.01±3.41 Mg/ha/yr. Annual littefall shows no significant variation with total annual rainfall, either globally or within forest types. It does not vary consistently with soil type, except in the poorest soils (white sand soils), where litterfall is significantly lower than in other soil types (5.42±1.91 Mg/ha/yr). Litterfall declines significantly with increasing N:P. We also study the determinants of litterfall seasonality, and find that it does not depend on annual rainfall or on soil type. However, litterfall seasonality is significantly positively correlated with rainfall seasonality. Finally, we assess how much carbon is stored in reproductive organs relative to photosynthetic organs. Mean leaf fall is 5.74±1.83 Mg/ha/ye (71% of total litterfall). Mean allocation into reproductive organs is 0.69±0.40 Mg/ha/yr (9% of total litterfall). The investment into reproductive organs divided by leaf litterfall is negatively related to the N:P ratio, suggesting that on poor soils, the allocation to photosynthetic organs is prioritized over than to reproduction. Finally, we discuss the ecological and biogeochemical implications of these results. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:02:18Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:eca15528-ab77-40b5-ac43-cbeca3e82210 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:02:18Z |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:eca15528-ab77-40b5-ac43-cbeca3e822102022-03-27T11:18:53ZRegional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South AmericaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:eca15528-ab77-40b5-ac43-cbeca3e82210EnvironmentGeographyEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetCopernicus Publications2009Chave, JNavarrete, DAlmeida, SÁlvarez, EAragão, LBonal, DChâtelet, PSilva Espejo, JGoret, Jvon Hildebrand, PJiménez, EPatiño, SPeñuela, MPhillips, OStevenson, PMalhi, YEuropean Geosciences UnionThe production of aboveground soft tissue represents an important share of total net primary production in tropical rain forests. Here we draw from a large number of published and unpublished datasets (n=81 sites) to assess the determinants of litterfall variation across South American tropical forests. We show that across old-growth tropical rainforests, litterfall averages 8.61±1.91 Mg/ha/yr. Secondary forests have a lower annual litterfall than old-growth tropical forests with a mean of 8.01±3.41 Mg/ha/yr. Annual littefall shows no significant variation with total annual rainfall, either globally or within forest types. It does not vary consistently with soil type, except in the poorest soils (white sand soils), where litterfall is significantly lower than in other soil types (5.42±1.91 Mg/ha/yr). Litterfall declines significantly with increasing N:P. We also study the determinants of litterfall seasonality, and find that it does not depend on annual rainfall or on soil type. However, litterfall seasonality is significantly positively correlated with rainfall seasonality. Finally, we assess how much carbon is stored in reproductive organs relative to photosynthetic organs. Mean leaf fall is 5.74±1.83 Mg/ha/ye (71% of total litterfall). Mean allocation into reproductive organs is 0.69±0.40 Mg/ha/yr (9% of total litterfall). The investment into reproductive organs divided by leaf litterfall is negatively related to the N:P ratio, suggesting that on poor soils, the allocation to photosynthetic organs is prioritized over than to reproduction. Finally, we discuss the ecological and biogeochemical implications of these results. |
| spellingShingle | Environment Geography Chave, J Navarrete, D Almeida, S Álvarez, E Aragão, L Bonal, D Châtelet, P Silva Espejo, J Goret, J von Hildebrand, P Jiménez, E Patiño, S Peñuela, M Phillips, O Stevenson, P Malhi, Y Regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America |
| title | Regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America |
| title_full | Regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America |
| title_fullStr | Regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America |
| title_short | Regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America |
| title_sort | regional and temporal patterns of litterfall in tropical south america |
| topic | Environment Geography |
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