Summary
A comparative analysis on the rate of fine litterfall and its associated nutrient fluxes was carried out in a mixed forest on Tierra Firme, a tall Amazon Caatinga and a Bana on podsolized sands near San Carlos de Rio Negro. There was seasonality in leaf fall and total litterfall in mixed forest and tall Amazon Caatinga forest but no definite trend in the Bana. Litterfall curves were significantly correlated among sites indicating common regulating factors in the three forests. Leaf litter from mixed forest on Tierra Firme was richer in N with extremely low Ca and Mg concentrations; tall Amazon Caatinga litter had higher P and Mg concentration, while Bana litter was low in N but K concentration was twice as high as in the other two forests. Annual fine litterfall in Tierra Firme mixed forest was nearly 4 times higher than in Bana, But N flux was 10 times higher, while Ca and Mg fluxes were similar. Tall Amazon Caatinga had Ca and Mg fluxes in litterfall 2–3 times higher than the other two forests. Within-stand efficiency of nitrogen, calcium and magnesium use, as measured by biomass/nutrient ratios, differentiates Tierra Firme from Caatinga and Bana forest: Tierra Firme has the lowest N, but the highest Ca and Mg use efficiencies. Higher P use efficiency was measured in Bana followed by Tierra Firme and Caatinga; while Tierra Firme and Caatinga showed similar higher K use efficiencies than Bana. N/P ratios indicates that Tierra Firme forest is limited by P availability, while low N availability predominates in Caatinga. Bana appears limited by both N and P. These differences probably relate to variations in degree of sclerophylly and leaf duration which determine leaf nutrient concentrations in the ecosystems studied.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adis K, Furch J, Irmler U (1979) Litter production of a Central-Amazonian black water inundation forest. Trop Ecol 20:236–245
Bernhard-Reversat F (1972) Decomposition de la litiere de feuilles en foret ombrophile de basse Cote-d'Ivoire. Oecol Plant 7:279–300
Blood R, Tate C, Nicora M (1981) Factors affecting the analysis of environmental samples using inductively coupled plasma. Annual Report to National Science Foundation Okefenokee Swamp Project. Inst of Ecol Univ Georgia. Athens, Georgia
Bongers F, Engelen D (1982) Some aspects of the structure and ecology of an amazon Caatinga forest in Southern Venezuela. M Sc thesis, Nijmegen University, Holland
Breimer R (1982) Some observations on soils in relation to forest type in San Carlos de Rio Negro. UNESCO Report, Montevideo
Brown S, Lugo A (1982) The storage and production of organic matter in tropical forests and their role in the global carbon cycle. Biotropica 14:161–187
Brünig EF (1970) Stand structure, physiognomy and environmental factors in some lowland forests in Sarawak. Trop Ecol 11:243–264
Brünig EF, Herrera R, Heuveldop J, Jordan CF, Klinge H, Medina E (1977) The International Amazon Project coordinated by Centro de Ecologia, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas: organization and recent advances. Trans Int MABIUFRO Tropical Forest Ecosystem Research. Hambrug-Reinbeck. pp 104–131
Brünig EF, Heuveldop J, Smith J, Alder D (1978) Structure and functions of a rainforest in the International Amazon Project: floristic stratification and variation of some features of stand structure and precipitation. In: Glimpses of Ecology Singh JS, Gopal B (eds), Int Scient Publ. Jaipur, Indi. pp 125–144
Cooper A (1979) Muri and white sand savannah in Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana. In: Specht RL (ed) Heathlands and Related Shrublands. Ecosystems of the World 9A. Elservier Scient Publ Co. Amsterdam. pp 471–481
Cornforth IS (1970) Leaf-fall in a tropical rain forest. J Appl Ecol 7:603–608
Cuevas E, Medina E (1983) Root production and organic matter decomposition in a Tierra Firme forest of the Upper Rio Negro Basin. In: Wurzelökologie und ihre Nutzanwendung/Root Ecology and its Practical applications. Int Symp Gumpenstein, 1982, pp 653–666
Dubroeck D, Sánchez V (1981) Caracteristicas ambientales y y edáficas del área muestra San Carlos de Rio Negro-Solano, MARN, Dirección General de Información e Investigación del Ambiente, Dirección de Suelos, Vegetación y Fauna. Caracas, Venezuela
Fittkau EJ, Junk W, Klinge H, Sioli H (1975) Substrate and vegetation in the Amazon. In: Tuxen R (ed) Vegetation and Substrat. Berichte der Internationalen Vereinigung für Vegetationskunde. J Cramer Vaduz. Liechtenstein. pp 73–90
Fölster H, de las Salas G (1976) Litter fall and mineralization in three tropical evergreen forest stands, Colombia. Acta Cient Ven 21:196–202
Herrera R (1977) Soil and terrain conditions in the San Carlos project (Venezuela MAB-1) study site correlation with vegetation types. Trans Int MAB-IUFRO Workshop Trop Rain For Ecosystem Res. Hamburg-Reinbeck. pp 132–188
Herrera R (1979) Nutrient Distribution and Cycling in an Amazon Caatinga Forest on Spodosols in Southern Venezuela. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Reading. England
Herrera R, Jordan CF, Klinge H, Medina E (1978) Amazon ecosystems. Their structure and functioning with particular emphasis on nutrients. Interciencia 3:223–232
Herrera R, Jordan CF, Medina E, Klinge H (1981) How human activities disturb the nutrient cycles of a tropical rain forest in Amazonia. Ambio 10:109–114
Heuveldop J (1979) The International Amazon MAB rain forest ecosystem pilot project at San Carlos de Rio Negro: micrometeorological studies. Trans 2nd Int MAB-IUFRO Workshop Trop Rain For Ecosystem Res. Jakarta, Indonesia. pp 106–123
Jordan CF (1982) The nutrient balance of an amazonian rain forest. Ecology 61:14–18
Jordan CF, Herrera R (1981) Tropical rain forests: are nutrients really critical? Amer Nat 117:167–180
Jordan CF, Stark N (1978) Retención de nutrientes en la estera de raíces de un bosque pluvial amazónico. Acta Cient Ven 29:263–267
Jordan CF, Uhl C (1978) Biomass of a “tierra firme” forest of the Amazon basin. Oecol Plant 13:387–400
Jordan CF, Uhl C (1980) Sixth Year Report for the National Science Foundation Sponsored Project: Nutrient dynamics of a tropical rain forest ecosystem and changes in the nutrient cycle due to cutting and burning. Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens
Klinge H (1976) Bilanzierung von Hauptnährstoffen im Ökosystem tropischer Regenwald. Biogeographica 7:59–76
Klinge H (1977) Preliminary data on nutrient release from decomposing leaf litter in a neotropical rain forest. Amazoniana 6:193–202
Klinge H, Herrera R (1978) Biomass studies in Amazon Caatinga forest in Southern Venezuela. 1. Standing crop of composite root mass in selected stands. Trop Ecol 19:93–110
Klinge H, Herrera R (1983) Phytomass structure of The Amazon Caatinga ecosystem in Southern Venezuela 1. Tall Amazon Caatinga. Vegetatio, 53:65–84
Klinge H, Medina E (1979) Rio Negro caatingas and campinas, Amazonas states of Venezuela and Brazil. In: Specht RL (ed) Heathland and Related Shrublands. Ecosystems of the World 9A. Elservier Scient Publ Co. Amsterdam. pp 483–487
Klinge H, Rodrigues WA (1968a) Litter production in an area of Amazonian Terra Firme forest. I. Litterfall, organic carbon and total nitrogen contents of litter. Amazoniana 1:287–302
Klinge H, Rodrigues WA (1968b) Litter production in an area of Amazonian Terra Firme forest. II. Mineral nutrient content of the litter. Amazoniana 1:303–310
Klinge H, Medina E, Herrera R (1977) Studies on the ecology of Amazon Caatinga forest in Southern Venezuela. I. General features. Acta Cient Ven 28:270–276
Lawson GW, Armstrong-Mensah KO, Hall JB (1970) A catena in tropical moist semi-deciduous forest near Kade, Ghana. J Ecol 58:371–398
Lim MT (1978) Litterfall and mineral nutrient content in litter in Pasoh forest reserve. Malay Nat J Bot 30(2):375–380
Medina E (1984) Nutrient balance and physiological processes at the leaf level. In: Physiological Ecology of Plants of the Wet Tropics. (Medina E, Mooney HA and Vázquez-Yánes eds.) Tasks in Vegetation Science 12, Dr W Junk, Publ. Amsterdam. pp 139–154
Medina E, Herrera R, Jordan CF, Klinge H (1977) The Amazon project of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research. Nature and Resources UNESCO 13(3):4–6
Medina E, Sobrado M, Herrera R (1978) Significance of leaf orientation for leaf temperature in an Amazon sclerophyll vegetation. J Rad Environ Biophys 15:131–140
Melillo JM, Aber JD, Muratore JF (1982) Nitrogen and lignin control of hardwood leaf litter decomposition dynamics. Ecology 63:621–626
Peace WH, MacDonald FD (1981) An investigation of the leaf anatomy, foliar mineral levels, and water relation of trees of a Sarawak forest. Biotropica 13:100–109
Proctor J, Anderson JM, Chai P, Vallack WH (1983a) Ecological studies in four contrasting lowland rain forests in Gulung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. I. Forest environment, structure and floristics. J Ecol 71:237–260
Proctor J, Anderson JM, Fodgen SC, Vallack HW (1983b) Ecological studies in four contrasting lowland rain forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. II. Litterfall, standing crop and preliminary observations on herbivory. J Ecol 71:261–283
Richards PW (1952) The Tropical Rain Forest. Cambridge Univ Press. New York. pp 561–692
Sanford Jr R, Saldarriaga J, Clark K, Uhl C, Herrera R (1985) Amazon rain-forest fires. Science 227:53–55
Schlesinger WH, Hasey MM (1981) Decomposition of chaparral shrub foliage: losses of organic and inorganic constituents from deciduous and evergreen leaves. Ecology 62:762–764
Singh JS, Gupta SR (1977) Plant decomposition and soil respiration in terrestrial ecosystems. The Bot Rev 43:449–528
Sobrado M, Medina E (1980) General morphology, anatomical structure and nutrient content of sclerophyllous leaves of the “Bana” vegetation of Amazonas. Oecologia (Berlin) 45:341–345
Specht RL (1979) Heathland and related shrublands of the world. In: Specht RL (ed) Heathlands and Related Shrublands. Ecosystems of the World 9A. Elsevier Scient Publ Co. Amsterdam. pp 1–17
Stark N, Spratt M (1977) Root bioamass and nutrient storage in rain forest oxisols near San Carlos de Rio Negro. Trop Ecol 18:1–9
Steinhardt U (1979) Untersuchungen über den Wasser- und Nährstoffhaushalt eines andinen Wolkenwaldes in Venezuela. Göttinger Bodenkundliche Berichte 56:1–185
Swift MJ, Heal OW, Anderson JM (1979) Decomposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems. Univ of California Press. Berkeley
Uhl C, Murphy PG (1981) Composition, structure, and regeneration of a Tierra Firme forest in the Amazon basin of Venezuela. Trop Ecol 22:219–237
Uhl C, Clark K, Clark H, Murphy P (1981) Early plant succession after cutting and burning in the Upper Rio Negro region of the Amazon basin. J Ecol 69:631–649
Vitousek P (1982) Nutrient cycling and nutrient use efficiency. Amer Nat 119:553–572
Vitousek P (1984) Litterfall, nutrient cycling, and nutrient limitation in tropical forests. Ecology 65(1):285–298
Walter H (1973) Die Vegetation der Erde. Bd I. III. Auflage. VEB Fischer
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cuevas, E., Medina, E. Nutrient dynamics within amazonian forest ecosystems. Oecologia 68, 466–472 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01036756
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01036756