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Litterfall and nutrient return in moist evergreen broad-leaved primary forest and mixed subtropical secondary deciduous broad-leaved forest in China

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Abstract

Litterfall plays an important role in carbon and nutrient cycling of a forest ecosystem which is generally affected by climate, vegetation, forest type and age. The majority of the subtropical forests of China are occurring in nutrient poor environment, and thus there is a need to understand the role of litterfall on the recycling of C and nutrients in these forests for their proper management. We measured litter production, and carbon and nutrient return in an evergreen broad-leaved primary forest (Mt. Ailao, SW China) and a deciduous broad-leaved secondary forest (Mt. Damei, East China). The annual litterfall productions were 1124 and 490 g m−2 at the primary evergreen forest and secondary deciduous forest, respectively. Carbon return in primary evergreen forest was approximately three times greater than that in secondary deciduous forest. Litter N concentrations in the secondary deciduous forest were higher than that of the primary evergreen forest and consequently, the use efficiency of N of the secondary deciduous forest was lower than the primary evergreen forest. This reflects a stronger nutrient conservation mechanism in the primary evergreen forest than in the secondary forest.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by National Key Basic Research Program of China (2013CB430003), and National Science Foundation of China (41003051) and (41173024). We greatly appreciate the help of technical staff in the Research Station of Ailao Mountain Forest Ecosystems and the Atmospheric Observatory of Damei Mountain. We thank Dr. Yu Weimin from Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental and Soil Sciences for identifying the soil type. We are grateful to Climatic Data Center, National Meteorological Information Center, China Meteorological Administration for the meteorological data sharing service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, China

    Jun Zhou, Xiaofang Lang, Buyun Du, Hui Zhang & Lihai Shang

  2. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Jun Zhou

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jun Zhou, Buyun Du & Hui Zhang

  4. Key Laboratory of Karst Environment and Geohazard Prevention, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550003, China

    Xiaofang Lang

  5. College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China

    Hongyan Liu

  6. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China

    Yiping Zhang

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  1. Jun Zhou
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Correspondence to Lihai Shang.

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Zhou, J., Lang, X., Du, B. et al. Litterfall and nutrient return in moist evergreen broad-leaved primary forest and mixed subtropical secondary deciduous broad-leaved forest in China. Eur J Forest Res 135, 77–86 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-015-0918-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-015-0918-7

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