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Effect of winter fire on primary productivity and nutrient concentration of a dry tropical savanna

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Abstract

Burning increased the mean annual canopy and belowground biomass of a dry tropical savanna by 40% and 12%, respectively, while littermass was reduced by 85% in comparison to control savanna. Mean annual aboveground and belowground net primary production were 471 and 631 g m-2 in control, and 584 and 688 g m-2 in burned savanna, respectively. Fire caused an increase in mean aboveground net production of 24% and in belowground net production of 9%.

Concentration of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in vegetation of unburned plots ranged between 34.01–38.59%, 0.85–1.53% and 0.04–0.11% and in soil from 0.95–1%, 0.011–0.13% and 0.017–0.02%, respectively. Fire increased the mean concentrations of N and P by 16% and 42% in vegetation and 18.18% and 17.65% in soil, respectively. Thus winter fire can be an important tool for the management of dry tropical savanna with respect to biomass production and nutritive quality.

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  1. Ecosystems Analysis Laboratory, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, 221005, Varanasi, India

    R. S. Singh

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Singh, R.S. Effect of winter fire on primary productivity and nutrient concentration of a dry tropical savanna. Vegetatio 106, 63–71 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044858

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