Abstract
Knowledge about litterfall and its nutrient fluxes is important for understanding ecosystem dynamics, especially in regards to vegetation at different succession stages. Regenerating vegetation represents a large proportion of tropical forests, such as the caatinga dry forest in NE Brazil, which is heavily used for fuel wood and slash-and-burn agriculture. In the present study we measured litterfall for 2 years in four regeneration stages of caatinga: recently abandoned pasture, 15-, 37-, and 57-years (mature caatinga) of regeneration. The lowest litter C fluxes were observed in pasture sites but the highest fluxes occurred in the intermediate regeneration stages (15 and 37 years of regeneration) than in the mature caatinga. The 15-year site had the highest concentrations and the greatest fluxes of nitrogen and phosphorus. Nutrient concentrations in litter were in the range of those found in other dry forests, but the fluxes were lower. The high N:P concentration ratios indicate that P is a limiting nutrient in this ecosystem. The proportion of total litterfall C fluxes relative to total C stocks in the ecosystem decreased consistently with succession age, but annual net C accumulation in the ecosystem increased with succession age. The results suggest that litterfall in earlier regeneration stages is more strongly affected by rainfall variation than mature vegetation, but these patterns need to be further investigated for longer periods. This higher stability of mature ecosystems could be important in face of the expected higher climatic variability in the future.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aerts R (1997) Nitrogen partitioning between resorption and decomposition pathways: a trade-off between nitrogen use efficiency and litter decomposability? Oikos 80:603–606
Aerts R, Chapin FS III (2000) The mineral nutrition of wild plants revisited: a reevaluation of processes and patterns. Adv Ecol Res 30:1–67
Aguiar MI, Fialho JS, Campanha MM, Oliveira TS (2014) Sequestro de carbono e reserva de nutrientes em diferentes sistemas de uso da terra. Revista Árvore, Viçosa-MG 38:81–93
Aide TM, Clark ML, Grau HR, López-Carr D, Levy MA, Redo D, Bonilla-Moheno M, Riner G, Andrade-Núñez MJ, Muñiz M (2013) Deforestation and reforestation of Latin America and the Caribbean (2001–2010). Biotropica 45:262–271
Albuquerque ERGM, Sampaio EVSB, Pareyn FGC, Araújo EL (2015) Root biomass under stem bases and at different distances from trees. J Arid Environ 116:82–88
Althoff TD, Menezes RSC, Carvalho AL, Pinto AS, Santiago GACF, Ometto JPHB, Von Randow C, Sampaio EVSB (2016) Climate change impacts on the sustainability of the firewood harvest and vegetation and soil carbon stocks in a tropical dry forest in Santa Teresinha Municipality, Northeast Brazil. For Ecol Manage 360:367–375
Alves RN, Menezes RSC, Salcedo IH, Pereira WE (2011) Relação entre qualidade e liberação de N por plantas do semiárido usadas como adubo verde. Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agrícola e Ambiental 15:1107–1114
Amorim LB, Salcedo IH, Pareyn FGC, Alvarez IA (2014) Assessment of nutrient returns in a tropical dry forest after clear-cut without burning. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 100:333–343
Andrade RL, Souto JS, Souto PC, Bezerra DM (2008) Deposição de serapilheira em área de caatinga na RPPN “Fazenda Tamanduá”, Santa Teresinha—PB. Rev Caatinga 21:223–230
Aryal DR, De Jong BHJ, Ochoa-Gaona S, Mendoza-Veja J, Esparza-Olguin L (2015) Successional and seasonal variation in litterfall and associated nutrient transfer in semi-evergreen tropical forests of SE Mexico. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 103:45–60
Barlow J, Gardner TA, Ferreira LV, Peres CA (2007) Litter fall and decomposition in primary, secondary and plantation forests in the Brazilian Amazon. For Ecol Manage 247:91–97
Bremner JM, Mulvaney CS (1982) Nitrogen—total. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Chemical and microbiological properties. ASA-SSSA, Madison, pp 595–624
Campo J, Vázquez-Yanes C (2004) Effects of nutrient limitation on the aboveground carbon dynamics during tropical dry forest regeneration in Yucatán, Mexico. Ecosystems 7:311–319
Campo J, Maass M, Jaramillo VJ, Martínez-Yrízar A, Sarukhán J (2001) Phosphorus cycling in a Mexican tropical dry forest ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 53:161–179
Campo J, Solís E, Valencia MG (2007) Litter N and P dynamics in two secondary tropical dry forests after relaxation of nutrient availability constraints. For Ecol Manage 252:33–40
Chave J, Navarrete D, Almeida S, Alvarez E, Aragão LEOC, Bonal D, Châtelet P, Silva-Espejo JE, Goret JY, Hildebrand PV, Jiménez E, Patiño S, Peñuela MC, Phillips OL, Stevenson P, Malhi Y (2010) Regional and seasonal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America. Biogeoscience 7:43–55
Chazdon RL (2012) Regeneração de florestas tropicais. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Ciências Naturais 3:195–218
Costa CCA, Camacho RGV, Macedo ID, Silva PCM (2010) Análise comparativa da produção de serapilheira em fragmentos arboreos e arbustivos em área de caatinga na Flona de Açu—RN. Árvore 34:259–265
Costa LT, Sampaio EVSB, Sales MF, Accioly LJO, Althoff TD, Pareyn FGC, Albuquerque ERGM, Menezes RSC (2014) Root and shoot biomasses in the tropical dry forest of semi-arid Northeast Brazil. Plant Soil 378:113–123
Embrapa (1997) Manual de métodos de análise de solos. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Rio de Janeiro
Ferreira RLC, Lira MA Jr, Rocha MR, Santos MVF, Lira MA, Barreto LP (2007) Deposição e acúmulo de matéria seca e nutrientes em serapilheira em um bosque de sabiá (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth.). Rev Árvore 31:7–12
Freitas ADS, Sampaio EVSB, Menezes RSC, Tiessen H (2010a) δ15N natural abundance of non fixing woody species in the Brazilian dry forest (caatinga). Isot Environ Health Stud 46:210–218
Freitas ADS, Sampaio EVSB, Santos CERS, Fernandes AR (2010b) Biological nitrogen fixation in tree legumes of the Brazilian semi-arid caatinga. J Arid Environ 74:344–349
Freitas ADS, Sampaio EVSB, Silva BLR, Cortez JSA, Menezes RSC (2012) How much nitrogen is fixed by biological symbiosis in tropical dry forests? 1. Herbs. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 94:181–192
Garcia-Oliva F, Sveshtarova B, Oliva M (2003) Seasonal effects on soil organic carbon dynamics in a tropical deciduous forest ecosystem in western Mexico. J Trop Ecol 19:179–188
Gariglio MA, Sampaio EVSB, Cestaro LA, Kageyama P (2010) Uso sustentável e conservação dos recursos florestais da caatinga. Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Brasília
Guariguata MR, Ostertag R (2001) Neotropical secondary forest succession: changes in structural and functional characteristics. For Ecol Manage 148:185–206
Jaramillo VJ, Sanford RL Jr (1995) Nutrient cycling in tropical deciduous forests. In: Bullock SH, Mooney HA, Medina E (eds) Seasonally dry tropical forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 346–361
Köhler L, Hölscher D, Leuschner C (2008) High litterfall in old-growth and secondary upper montane forest of Costa Rica. Plant Ecol 199:163–173
Lawrence D, Foster D (2002) Changes in forest biomass, litter dynamics and soils following shifting cultivation in Southern Mexico: an overview. Interciencia 27:400–408
Lima ALA, Sampaio EVSB, Castro CC, Rodal MJN, Antonino ACD, Melo AL (2012) Do the phenology and functional stem attributes of woody species allow for the identification of functional groups in the semiarid region of Brazil? Trees 26:1605–1616
Lima RP, Fernandes MM, Fernandes MRM, Matricardi EAT (2015) Aporte e Decomposicao da Serapilheira na Caatinga no Sul do Piaui. Floresta e Ambiente 22:42–49
Lugo AE, Murphy PG (1986) Nutrient dynamics of a Puerto Rican subtropical dry forest. J Trop Ecol 2:55–72
Lugo AE, Gonzalez-Liboy JA, Cintrón B, Dugger K (1978) Structure, productivity, and transpiration of a subtropical dry forest in Puerto Rico. Biotropica 10:278–291
Maass JM, Balvanera P, Castillo A, Daily GC, Mooney HA, Ehrlich P, Quesada M, Miranda A, Jaramillo VJ, García-Oliva F, Martínez-Yrizar A, Cotler H, Lopez-Blanco J, Perez-Jimenez JA, Burquez A, Tinoco C, Ceballos G, Barraza L, Ayala R, Sarukhan J (2005) Ecosystem services of tropical dry forests: insights from long-term ecological and social research on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Ecol Soc 10(1): Art. 17
Martínez-Yrízar A (1995) Biomass distribution and primary productivity of tropical dry forests. In: Bullock SH, Mooney HA, Medina E (eds) Seasonally dry tropical forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 326–345
Martínez-Yrízar A, Sarukhán J (1990) Litterfall patterns in a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico over a five-year period. J Trop Ecol 6:433–444
McKey D (1994) Legumes and nitrogen: the evolutionary ecology of a nitrogen-demanding lifestyle. In: Sprent JI, McKey D (eds) Advances in legume systematics 5: the nitrogen factor. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp 211–228
Menezes RSC, Sampaio EVSB, Giongo V, Pérez-Marin AM (2012) Biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems of the Caatinga Biome. Braz J Biol 72:643–653
Miles L, Newton AC, DeFries RS, Ravilious C, May I, Blyth S, Kapos V, Gordon JE (2006) A global overview of the conservation status of tropical dry forests. J Biogeogr 33:491–505
Mlambo D, Nyath P (2008) Litterfall and nutrient return in a semi-arid southern African savanna woodland dominated by Colophospermum mopane. Plant Ecol 196:101–110
MMA—Ministério do Meio Ambiente (2011) Monitoramento do Desmatamento nos Biomas Brasileiros por Satélite Acordo de Cooperação Técnica MMA/IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis) Monitoramento do Bioma Caatinga 2002 a 2009. Relatório Técnico, Brasília
Murphy J, Riley JPA (1962) A modified simple solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim Acta 27:31–36
Oladoye AO, Ola-Adams BA, Adedire MO (2010) Litterfall dynamics in Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) de Wit plantation in the Nigerian derived savanna. J Agric Biol Sci 5:31–38
Pereira IM, Andrade LA, Sampaio EVSB, Barbosa MRV (2003) Use-history effects on structure and flora of caatinga. Biotropica 35:154–165
Pinto SIC, Martins SV, Barros NF, Dias HCT (2008) Produção de serapilheira em dois estádios sucessionais de floresta estacional semidecidual na reserva Mata do Paraíso, em Viçosa, MG. R Árvore 32:545–556
Quesada M, Sanchez-Azofeifa GA, Alvarez-Añorve M, Stoner KE, Avila-Cabadilla L, Calvo-Alvarado J, Castillo A, Espírito-Santo MM, Fagundes M, Fernandes GW, Gamon J, Lopezaraiza-Mikel M, Lawrence D, Morellato LPC, Powers JS, Neves FS, Rosas-Guerrero V, Sayago R, Sanchez-Montoya G (2009) Succession and management of tropical dry forests in the Americas: review and new perspectives. For Ecol Manage 258:1014–1024
Read L, Lawrence D (2003) Litter nutrient dynamics during succession in dry tropical forests of the Yucatan: regional and seasonal effects. Ecosystems 6:747–761
Romero-Duque LP, Jaramillo VJ, Pérez-Jiménez A (2007) Structure and diversity of secondary tropical dry forests in Mexico, differing in their prior land-use history. For Ecol Manage 253:38–47
Salgado EV, Andrade EM, Hevia JN, Nunes EP, Rodrigues MMA (2015) Padrões de chuva e a contribuição da serapilheira em uma floresta tropical seca caatinga. Rev Ciên Agron 46:299–309
Sampaio EVSB (1995) Overview of the Brazilian Caatinga. In: Bullock SH, Money H, Medina E (eds) Seasonally dry tropical forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 35–63
Sampaio EVSB, Costa TL (2011) Estoques e fluxos de carbono no semi-árido nordestino: estimativas preliminares. Rev Bras Geografia Física 6:1275–1291
Sampaio EVSB, Araújo MSB, Salcedo IH, Menezes RSC (2009) Manejo sustentável do semi-árido nordestino. Editora Universitária da UFPE, Recife, Brazil
Sanchez-Azofeifa GA, Quesada M, Rodriguez JP, Nassar JM, Stoner KE, Castillo A, Garvin T, Zent EL, Calvo-Alvarado JC, Kalacska MER, Fajardo L, Gamon JA, Cuevas-Reyes P (2005) Research priorities for neotropical dry forests. Biotropica 37:477–485
Santana JAS, Souto JS (2011) Produção de serapilheira na Caatinga da região semiárida do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. IDESIA 29:87–94
Schelesinger WH, Bernhardt ES (2013) Biogeochemistry: an analysis of global change. Academic Press, Waltham
Schumacher MV, Brun EJ, Rodrigues LM, Santos EM (2003) Retorno de nutrientes via deposição de serapilheira em um povoamento de acácia negra (Acacia mearnsii De Wild) no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. R Árvore 27:791–798
Singh L, Singh JS (1991) Storage and flux of nutrients in a dry tropical forest in India. Ann Bot 68:275–284
Singh L, Singh JS (1993) Importance of short-lived components of a dry tropical forest for biomass production and nutrient cycling. J Veg Sci 4:681–686
Snyder JD, Trofymow JA (1984) A rapid accurate wet oxidation diffusion procedure for determining organic and inorganic carbon in plant and soil sample. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 15:587–597
Souza LQ, Freitas ADS, Sampaio EVSB, Moura PM, Menezes RSC (2012) How much nitrogen is fixed by biological symbiosis in tropical dry forests? 1. Trees and shrubs. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 94:171–179
Tiessen H, Salcedo IH, Sampaio EVSB (1992) Nutrient and soil organic matter dynamics under shifting cultivation in semi-arid northeastern Brazil. Agric Ecosyst Environ 38:139–151
Tiessen H, Sampaio EVSB, Salcedo IH (2001) Organic matter turnover and management in low input agriculture of NE Brazil. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 61:99–103
Vitousek PM, Sanford RL Jr (1986) Nutrient cycling in moist tropical forest. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 17:137–167
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Inter American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for their financial support and research scholarships. We gratefully acknowledge Fazenda Tamanduá, where the research was conducted.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moura, P.M., Althoff, T.D., Oliveira, R.A. et al. Carbon and nutrient fluxes through litterfall at four succession stages of Caatinga dry forest in Northeastern Brazil. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 105, 25–38 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-016-9771-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-016-9771-4