Litter Dynamics in Fruit Orchards and Natural Forests in the West Coast Region of India – A Comparative Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2024/v150i8/170192Keywords:
Cashew, Mango, Litter Accumulation, Litter Decay Rate, Natural Forest.Abstract
Litter accumulation and decomposition play a vital role in nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and overall ecosystem functioning. This study investigates the dynamics of litter accumulation and decomposition between fruit orchards (Anacardium occidentale and Mangifera indica) and forest ecosystems, focusing on the influence of key environmental factors. Litter accumulation and decomposition varied between the systems. The highest accumulation was in A. occidentale (1882.30 kg ha-1 ) and the least was in the forests (1479.47kg ha-1). Leaf litter decay studies revealed that natural forest litter to be the most labile litter and A. occidentale the most recalcitrant. The decay rate coefficients varied significantly among the species and varied from 0.002 to 0.011. Among three systems the negative exponential decomposition model was the best fit in A. occidentale (r2 = 0.967) followed by M. indica (r2 = 0.679) and natural forest (r2 = 0.418). The litter decomposition rate correlated significantly with various climatic parameters, rainfall quantity and rainy days being the most influential factors. These findings emphasize the intricate and variable nature of litter accumulation and decomposition processes in various systems. Additionally, understanding litter dynamics' role in nutrient cycling and soil health can aid in developing more effective land-use plans and ecosystem management strategies for the fragile Western Ghats.References
Aber J.D., Melillo J.M. and Mc Claugherty C.A. (1990). Predicting long term patterns of mass loss, nitrogen dynamics, and soil organic matter formation from initial fine litter chemistry in temperate forest ecosystems. Canadian Journal of Botany, 68: 2201–2208.
Austin A.T. and Vitousek P.M. (2000). Precipitation, decomposition and litter decomposability of Metrosideros polymorpha in native forests on Hawai'i. Journal of Ecology, 88: 129–138. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00437.
Berg B. and McClaugherty C. (2003). Plant Litter Decomposition, Humus Formation, carbon Sequestration. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag Press
Berg B., Berg M.P., Bottner P., Box E., Breymeyer A., De Anta R.C., Couteaux M., Escudero A., Gallardo A., Kratz W. and Madeira M. (1993). Litter mass loss rates in pine forests of Europe and Eastern United States: some relationships with climate and litter quality. Biogeochemistry, 20: 127-159.
Brandt L.A., King J.Y. and Milchunas D.G. (2007). Effects of ultraviolet radiation on litter decomposition depend on precipitation and litter chemistry in a shortgrass steppe ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 13: 2193–2205.
Chapman S.K. and Koch G.W. (2007). What type of diversity yields synergy during mixed litter decomposition in a natural forest ecosystem? Plant Soil, 299: 153–162
Chave J., Navarrete D., Almeida S., Alvarez E., Aragao L.E.O.C., Bonal D., Chatelet P., Silva-Espejo J.E., Goret J.Y., von Hildebrand P., Jimenez E., Patino S., Penuela M.C., Phillips O.L., Stevenson P. and Malhi Y. (2010). Regional and seasonal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America. Biogeosciences, 7: 43-55.
Clein J.S. and Schimel J.P. (1994). Reduction in microbial activity in birch litter due to repeated drying and rewetting events. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 26: 403–406.
Cornwell W.K., Cornelissen J.H., Amatangelo K., Dorrepaal E., Eviner V.T., Godoy O., Hobbie S.E., Hoorens B., Kurokawa H., Pérez-Harguindeguy N. and Quested H.M. (2008). Plant species traits are the predominant control on litter decomposition rates within biomes worldwide. Ecology letters, 11(10): 1065-1071.
Cundell A.M., Brown S.M., Stanford R. and Mitchell R. (1979). Microbial degradation of Rhizophora mangle leaves immersed in the sea. Estuarine and Costal Marine Science, 9: 281-286.
Dechaine J., Ruan H., Sanchez-de Leon Y. and Zou X. (2005). Correlation between earthworms and plant litter decomposition in a tropical wet forest of Puerto Rico. Pedobiologia, 49(6): 601-607.
Franklin H.M., Carroll A.R., Chen C.R., Maxwell P. and Burford M.A. (2020). Plant source and soil interact to determine characteristics of dissolved organic matter leached into waterways from riparian leaf litter. Science of the Total Environment, 703: 134530. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134530
Gartner T.B. and Cardon Z.G. (2004). Decomposition dynamics in mixed-species leaf litter. Oikos, 104(2): 230-246.
Giweta M. (2020). Role of litter production and its decomposition, and factors affecting the processes in a tropical forest ecosystem: a review. Journal of Ecology and Environment, 44(1): 11.
Hasanuzzaman M.D. and Mahmood H. (2014). Nutrient return through leaf litter decomposition of common cropland agroforest tree species of Bangladesh. International Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3(8): 82-88.
Hossain M., Siddique M.R.H., Rahman M.S., Hossain M.Z. and Hasan M.M. (2011). Nutrient dynamics associated with leaf litter decomposition of three agroforestry tree species (Azadirachtaindica, Dalbergiasissoo, and Melia azedarach) of Bangladesh. Journal of Forestry Research, 22: 577-582.
Isaac S.R. and Nair M.A. (2006). Litter dynamics of six multipurpose trees in a home garden in Southern Kerala, India. Agroforestry systems, 67: 203-213.
ISFR (2021). India State of Forest Report 2021. Forest Survey of India. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Dehradun, India
Jacotot A., Marchand C. and Allenbach M. (2019). Increase in growth and alteration of C:N ratios of Avicennia marina and Rhizophorastylosa subject to elevated CO2 concentrations and longer tidal flooding duration. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7: 98.
Keller A.B. and Phillips R.P. (2019). Leaf litter decay rates differ between mycorrhizal groups in temperate, but not tropical, forests. New Phytologist, 222(1): 556-64.
Krishna M.P. and Mohan M. (2017). Litter decomposition in forest ecosystems: a review. Energy, Ecology and Environment, 236-249.
Liu Y., Wang S., Wang Q. and Zhang J. (2010). Effects of mixed-species leaf litter on litter decomposition and soil microbial communities in experimental subtropical plantation forest. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, 8(3/4 part 2): 1102-1107.
Mason F.C. (1977). Decomposition. The Institute of Biology's Studies in Biology no. 74. London: Edward Arnold Limited. 219.
Meentemeyer V. and Berg B. (1986). Regional variation in rate of mass loss of Pinussylvestris needle litter in Swedish pine forests as influenced by climate and litter quality. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 1(1-4): 167-180.
Melillo J.M., Aber J.D. and Muratore J.F. (1982). Nitrogen and lignin control of hardwood leaf litter decomposition dynamics. Ecology, 63(3): 621-626.
Mohsin F., Singh R.P. and Singh K. (1996). Nutrient cycling of poplar plantation in relation to stand age in agroforestry system. Indian Journal Forestry, 19: 302-310.
Morffi-Mestre H., Ãngeles-Pérez G., Powers J.S., Andrade J.L., Feldman R.E., May-Pat F., Chi-May F. and Dupuy-Rada J.M. (2023). Leaf litter decomposition rates: influence of successional age, topography and microenvironment on six dominant tree species in a tropical dry forest. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 6: 1082233.
Mundinamani S.M., Patil M.R., Desai A.R., Naik M.R., Sonnad S.J. and Patil V.S. (2018). Analysis of Cashew Value Chain in Goa. Final Draft Report Submitted by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad to Directorate of Cashew & Cocoa Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmer's Welfare, Government of India, 52.
Ochoa Cordero M., Meza Herrera C.A., Vázquez GarcÃa J.M., Stewart C.A., Rosales Nieto C.A., Ochoa Alfaro A.E., Purvis I.W., Cuevas Reyes V., Lee Rangel H.A. and Martin G.B. (2019). Pregnancy and litter size, but not lamb sex, affect feed intake and wool production by Merino-type ewes. Animals, 9(5): 214.
Olson J.S. (1963). Energy storage and the balance of producers and decomposers in ecological systems. Ecology, 44(2): 322-331.
Panda T., Pani P.K. and Mohanty R.B. (2010). Litter decomposition dynamics associated with cashew nut plantation in coastal habitat of Orissa, India. Journal of Oceanography and Marine Science, 1(4): 79-85.
Pandey R.R., Sharma G., Tripathi S.K. and Singh A.K. (2007). Litterfall, litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics in a subtropical natural oak forest and managed plantation in northeastern India. Forest Ecology and Management, 240(1-3): 96-104.
Pucheta E., Llanos M., Meglioli C., Gaviorno M., Ruiz M. and Parera C. (2006). Litter decomposition in a sandy Monte desert of western Argentina: Influences of vegetation patches and summer rainfall. Austral Ecology, 31(7): 808-816.
Shen Y., Tian D., Hou J., Wang J., Zhang R., Li Z., Chen X., Wei X., Zhang X., He Y. and Niu S. (2021). Forest soil acidification consistently reduces litter decomposition irrespective of nutrient availability and litter type. Functional Ecology, 35(12): 2753-2762.
Simlai A. and Roy A. (2012). Analysis of correlation between phytochemical and antimicrobial constituents of Ceriopsdecandra, a medicinal plant, from Indian Sundarban estuary. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, 6: 4755-4765.
Singh B. (1998). Biomass production and nutrient dynamics in three clones of Populus deltoids planted on Indo-Gangetic plains. Plant and Soil, 203: 15-26.
Soil Survey Staff (1999). Soil taxonomy: A basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys. USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Sundarapandian S.M. and Swamy P.S. (1999). Litter production and leaf-litter decomposition of selected tree species in tropical forests at Kodayar in the Western Ghats, India. Forest Ecology and Management, 123(2-3): 231-244.
Swarnalatha B. and Reddy M.V. (2011). Leaf litter breakdown and nutrient release in three tree plantations compared with a natural degraded forest on the coromandel coast (Puducherry, India). Ecotropica, 17(2): 39-51.
Taylor B.R., Parkinson D. and Parsons W.F. (1989). Nitrogen and lignin content as predictors of litter decay rates: a microcosm test. Ecology, 70(1): 97-104.
Taylor B.R., Prescott C.E., Parsons W.J.F. and Parkinson D. (1991). Substrate control of litter decomposition in four Rocky Mountain coniferous forests. Canadian Journal of Botany, 69(10): 2242-2250.
Wider R.K. and Lang G.E. (1982). A critique of the analytical methods used in examining decomposition data obtained from litter bags. Ecology, 63(6): 1636-1642.
Zhang H., Yuan W., Dong W. and Liu S. (2014). Seasonal patterns of litterfall in forest ecosystem worldwide. Ecological Complexity, 20: 240-247.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Unless otherwise stated, copyright or similar rights in all materials presented on the site, including graphical images, are owned by Indian Forester.
