Importance of short‐lived components of a dry tropical forest for biomass production and nutrient cycling

Abstract

Abstract. Short‐lived components in a dry tropical forest ecosystem in India ‐ tree foliage, fine roots and herbaceous plants ‐ are shown to be important for biomass production and nutrient cycling. With 62 % they contribute much more to the dry matter production than the long‐lived components‐ tree boles, branches and coarse roots ‐ which make up only 38 %. The contribution of short‐lived components to the total uptake of different nutrients was also high: 18 ‐ 30 % for tree foliage, 26 ‐ 34 % for fine roots and 6–19 % for herbs; their share in the total nutrient storage is less: 6–19 % for tree foliage, 4–8 % for fine roots and 0.6–1.3 % for herbs. The transfer of nutrients by the short‐lived components was also substantial: 31 ‐ 46 % for foliage, 7–24% for herbs and 33–45% for fine roots. The results indicate that the short‐lived components play a significant role in the functioning of a dry tropical forest.