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Nutrient fluxes in bulk precipitation, throughfall and stemflow in montane subtropical moist forest on Ailao Mountains in Yunnan, south-west China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2002

Wenyao Liu ,
John E. D. Fox  and
Zaifu Xu
Wenyao Liu
Affiliation:
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, P. R. China School of Environmental Biology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U 1987, Perth WA 6845, Australia
John E. D. Fox
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Biology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U 1987, Perth WA 6845, Australia
Zaifu Xu
Affiliation:
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, P. R. China
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Abstract

A study of nutrient movement through rainfall, throughfall and stemflow, as well as epiphytic bryophyte (moss and liverwort) biomass and its effect on nutrient composition of stemflow, was conducted for 2 y in subtropical montane moist forest (Lithocarpus–Castanopsis association) at Xujiaba, Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve, Yunnan, south-west China. Base cation and fluxes were increased in throughfall, while NH4+-N and NO3--N were reduced relative to precipitation. Annual throughfall inputs of N, P, Ca and S were mainly from precipitation, while most K and two-thirds of Mg throughfall input was due to canopy leaching. Input of Na in the precipitation and throughfall was low in this forest. Net flux (throughfall flux minus bulk precipitation) and deposition ratios (ratio of throughfall flux to bulk precipitation flux) were in the low part of the range reported for other tropical montane rain forests. The throughfall data for this forest reveal generally low cycling rates for mineral elements. Abundant epiphytic bryophytes on bole bark affected the chemical composition of stemflow by selective uptake or release of elements. Relative to trees without epiphytic bryophytes, the annual amounts of total N, NH4+-N, Mg, Na and SO42--S were enhanced, while NO3--N, K, P and Ca were depleted in stemflow. Contributions of N from nitrogen-fixing organisms are likely to be constrained by low temperatures.

Keywords

Aqueous fluxesepiphytic bryophytesleachingnutrient inputmontane evergreen broad-leaved forestsubtropicsYunnan
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , July 2002 , pp. 527 - 548
Copyright
2002 Cambridge University Press

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