Litter decomposition and properties of soil under Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus tereticornis

Abstract

The quantity of litter fall on the forest floor is quite high and they have a significant contribution to the dynamics of forest ecosystem. The present investigation was undertaken for litter quantification and its decomposition as per litterfall type, canopy also characteristics of soil in sole and mixed stands of Acacia mangium, Eucalyptus tereticornis and Dalbergia sissoo in agroforestry system. Quantification of litterfall and nutrient analysis was carried out for three trees i.e., Acacia mangium, Eucalyptus tereticornis and Dalbergia sissoo in agroforestry system. In the research area, sissoo stand has higher litterfall than mangium and Eucalyptus, being maximum litterfall occur in the month of January. The mean values for litterfall were 4000, 2200 and 1800 kg ha-1 year-1 for sissoo, mangium and eukalyptus stands, respectively. Annual decay constant was minimum for eucalyptus (k=0.161) whereas in sissoo it was (k=0.276), indicating the variability in nitrogen content among the types of litter (Sissoo, 2.25% and for Eucalyptus its 1.72%,). In conclusion it is stated that N rich litter may speed up for decomposition process.