Litter as an Ecological Indicator of Forest Restoration Processes in a Dense Ombrophylous Lowland Forest

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of spacing, species richness, and sampling time on accumulated litter in forest restoration areas in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The experiment was conducted under a randomized complete block design, in a subdivided plot scheme. Six treatments were evaluated, consisting of a combination of spacing levels and species richness. Accumulated litter samples were weighed and chemically analyzed to obtain nutrient concentrations. The variables analyzed in the restoration process, in general, did not influence litter biomass and nutrient concentrations. The time elapsed between restoration implantation and data sampling for the present study may have been insufficient for the occurrence of differences in variables evaluated. Despite the small amount of accumulated litter, it is of great importance for soil physical protection and fertility improvement, generating conditions for the stabilization of new forest species in the restoration area .

Litterfall and nutrient cycling in different restoration models

“…There were significant differences for the nutrient content (Table 3). The variations of the different content of nutrients in the litterfall are related to their mobility within the plant (Caldeira et al, 2019). The significant calcium content for the 60P40NP treatment can be explained by the fact that the element has low mobility in the plant tissue (Godinho et al, 2014;Caldeira et al, 2019).…”

Bioeconomia na Amazônia: importância da matéria orgânica do solo para a manutenção dos sistemas produtivos

“…A matéria orgânica fornecida pela serapilheira é a principal fonte de nutrientes para as plantas nas regiões tropicais (Caldeira et al, 2019;Moreira & Malavolta, 2004), havendo relação direta entre a diversidade de espécies de uma área, a qualidade da liteira e a disponibilidade de nutrientes (Machado et al, 2017). A decomposição da serapilheira pelos microorganismos do solo promove a ciclagem de nutrientes, melhorando a fertilidade do solo (Chaves et al, 2020), principalmente nas camadas superficiais, de 0 a 20 cm (Butzke et al, 2020).…”

Litter stock, litterfall and nutrients in the Amazonia: defining patterns from last 40 years of scientific research

“…Although Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador are on the list of countries with the highest deforestation rates from 1990 to 2015 [41], few studies on litter flow and litter have been published in these locations. This data is alarming for local scientific research, as understanding the factors associated with litter deposition can help devise strategies to recover degraded areas, as litter is an indicator of restoration [42][43].…”

“…In addition, the litter layer enables water retention, providing ideal conditions for the reproduction of edaphic fauna, consequently improving physical and biological characteristics of soil [15,17,18]. Thus, due to all these attributes, the litter layer is considered an indicator of efficient forest restoration, facilitating periodical monitoring of ecosystems in the succession process, especially those where the exploration of natural resources increases constantly [17,19,20]. It is also considered a technique for preventing forest fires because its quantification makes it possible to estimate the dynamics of combustible materials in a given ecosystem [21].…”