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Ecosystem dynamics at disturbed and undisturbed sites in north Queensland wet tropical rain forest. II. Litterfall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

John L. Herbohn  and
Robert A. Congdon
John L. Herbohn
Affiliation:
Botany Department, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 4811
Robert A. Congdon
Affiliation:
Botany Department, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 4811
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Abstract

Rates of litterfall over a period of 3 y at one undisturbed site and two sites disturbed by selective harvesting are reported for a tropical rain forest area in North Queensland, Australia. Litterfall over a period of 18 months is also reported for a further undisturbed site in the same area. No significant differences were found in annual litterfall between the sites, with annual litterfall rates ranging from 5.0 to 6.0 t ha−1 y−1. These rates are considerably lower than those reported for other rain forest areas in Australia, and are within the lower ranges recorded for other tropical rain forests. Litterfall was found to be strongly seasonal at all sites with the maximum falls occurring from the end of the dry season to the end of the wet season. The between year variability of the sites was quite low, with the ratio of maximum to minimum production ranging from 1.05 to 1.20. The average percentages of leaves, wood and reproductive material in litterfall were similar at each site. Leaves were the dominant component of litterfall with the average proportion of the total litterfall ranging from 72% to 76% over the study period at each of the four sites. At certain times, however, the fall of wood and reproductive material was quite significant, comprising as much as 71% and 34% of litterfall respectively. A strong negative correlation was found between the fall of leaves and wood at all sites.

Keywords

Australialitterfalldisturbancerain forestnorth Queenslandselective logging
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , August 1993 , pp. 365 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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