Litterfall and nutrient deposition in three forest Ecosystems, Northeastern Mexico

Abstract

Litterfall contributes to the development of forest soils, since it undergoes a decomposition process that generates the release of nutrients ontothe soil. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the annual litterfall production, the return of nutrients (Ca, Mg, K and P) and thenutrient use efficiency (NUE) in three forest ecosystems of northeastern Mexico. Litterfall was quantified on a monthly basis from january todecember 2020 at three study sites: Site 1 Jesús María (Tamaulipan Thornscrub), Site 2 Crucitas (Submontane Scrub) and Site 3 BosqueEscuela (Pine-Oak Forest). Regarding the annual litterfall production (g·m⁻²·año⁻¹), the Crucitas site had the highest production (591.88) whilethe lowest one was registered at the Bosque Escuela site (466.77). Nutrient deposition (g·m⁻²·año⁻¹) varied as follows: Ca from 8.62 (BosqueEscuela) to 27.29 (Crucitas); Mg from 0.70 (Bosque Escuela) to 1.97 (Jesús María), K from 0.70 (Bosque Escuela) to 1.96 (Jesús María), andP from 0.19 (Bosque Escuela) to 0.51 (Crucitas). Regarding the NUE, Ca fluctuated from 21.68 (Crucitas) to 54.10 (Bosque Escuela), Mgfrom 253.43 (Jesús María) to 665.98 (Bosque Escuela), K from 64.16 (Jesús María) to 275.35 (Bosque Escuela), and P from 2413.3 (BosqueEscuela) to 1077.3 (Jesús María). The differences between litterfall production and nutrient deposition are due, in part, to the diversity ofspecies in each forest ecosystem, the phenology of the species and the environmental conditions prevailing at each study site.