Dinâmica de serapilheira em estágios sucessionais de uma floresta estacional decídua tropical

Abstract

Understand the deposition is a tool which assesses biological processes during phases of forest regeneration, since it reflect the productivity, phenological and structural characteristics of the vegetation. This study focus, first time, the joint influence of parameters of vegetation, climate and edaphic in the deposition litterfall in chronosequence (Early, Intermediate and Late) of Tropical Dry Forest in Brazil. The material was collected monthly over three consecutive years and separated into: leaves, branches, reproductive structures and debris. The annual litterfall ranged between stages of ecological succession (n = 288, F = 7.222, P <0.01) and between years (n = 288, F = 7.333, P <0.01), but not interaction between stages and years. The higher litterfall deposition was observed in the late stage and year three. The structural parameters and edaphic conditions were most correlated factors with annual litterfall deposition (n = 24, r ² = 0.766, F = 21.84, P <0.001), while the monthly litterfall deposition and the climatic factors were weakly correlated (n = 288, r ² = 0.37, F = 27.456, P <0.001). The data indicate that deposition of litterfall in succession stages in this dry forest it was influenced by size of vegetation and by soil fertility. And it is suggested that the seasonality of litterfall in dry forests is influenced by complex mix of environmental and endogenous factors, inherent to the species of dry forests.