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Large Rainfall Pulses Control Litter Decomposition in a Tropical Dry Forest: Evidence from an 8-Year Study

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Abstract

We investigated the influence of rainfall attributes on litter decomposition over an 8-year period in a well-preserved tropical dry forest ecosystem in western Mexico. We examined the relationship between the size and number of rainfall events and rainy-season litter decomposition rates and determined if this relationship varied along a landscape gradient. A mass balance approach was used to estimate decomposition rate in four permanent 2,400 m2 plots located in two small watersheds. Watershed I included three plots in different landscape positions (upper, middle, and lower) in the elevation gradient, whereas Watershed IV included one plot in the middle position. Surface litter C mass was lower in the rainy than in the dry season in all plots in response to seasonal fluctuations in rainfall. The frequency of small (≤5 mm) and medium (5.1–9.9 mm) size rainfall events largely did not correlate with litter decomposition, but the frequency of large events (≥10 mm) had a positive correlation with decomposition rates (P < 0.05), except in plot IV (P < 0.1). Decomposition rates were similar among plots at the different landscape positions within Watershed I (P > 0.05). The relevance of large rainfall events (≥10 mm) in rainy-season litter decomposition suggests that changes in the precipitation regime which alter the frequency of these rainfall pulses or increase their variability would affect the vulnerability of the litter C and nutrient pools to extreme events.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Maribel Nava for technical support in the laboratory and Salvador Araiza and Abel Verduzco for assistance in the field. Raúl Ahedo, Heberto Ferreira and Alberto Valencia provided technical assistance in various aspects of this study. We specially thank Dr. Manuel Maass and Raúl Ahedo for providing a detailed database to perform the rainfall analyses and are grateful to the personnel of the Estación de Biología Chamela for their logistic assistance. We greatly appreciate the comments by two anonymous reviewers and Dr. Amy Austin, which were key to improving the manuscript for publication. This research was supported by CONACYT G27674-N, CONACYT 83441, and PAEP-UNAM. CAA acknowledges CONACYT 153968 and DGEP, UNAM for scholarships to pursue a doctoral degree.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 27-3 Sta. María de Guido, C.P. 58090, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Carlos A. Anaya, Víctor J. Jaramillo & Felipe García-Oliva

  2. Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8701, C.P. 58190, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Carlos A. Anaya

  3. Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Unidad Hermosillo, A.P. 1354, C.P. 83000, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

    Angelina Martínez-Yrízar

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  1. Carlos A. Anaya
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  4. Felipe García-Oliva
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Correspondence to Víctor J. Jaramillo.

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Author Contributions

AMY conceived study design; CAA and VJJ conducted sample preparation and carbon determinations; CAA, VJJ, AMY, FGO contributed to data analyses and interpretation; CAA, VJJ, AMY wrote the paper; FGO commented on the manuscript and improved presentation of results.

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Anaya, C.A., Jaramillo, V.J., Martínez-Yrízar, A. et al. Large Rainfall Pulses Control Litter Decomposition in a Tropical Dry Forest: Evidence from an 8-Year Study. Ecosystems 15, 652–663 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-012-9537-z

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