Abstract
Litterfall, precipitation and nutrient fluxes were investigated in a 0.25 ha plot of a secondary lowland rain forest in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, for a period of one year. The study determined the magnitude of nutrient fluxes through (litterfall, incident rainfall, throughfall and stemflow) and evaluated the relative importance of these components as pathways of nutrient transport to the soil of this forest. There was a significant monthly variation in litterfall and the highest values of the standing crop of litter occurred from November to March. The concentration of elements in both throughfall and stemflow were higher than those of incidence rainfall. Greater quantities of calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and nitrogen were deposited annually from the forest floor while greater quantities of mercury, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, lead and sulphur were deposited via precipitation. There was net leaching of all elements from the canopy as precipitation pass through it with the exception of copper, hydrogen ions and lead, which were retained in the canopy. The finding of this study shows that litterfall is the major pathway for the cycling of calcium, magnesium, nitrogen and all micronutrients investigated. Net precipitation is the major pathway for the cycling of potassium, phosphorus, sulphur and trace toxic metals (mercury and lead) in the forest.
Highlights
An understanding of nutrient cycle processes is fundamental to the management of natural and disturbed vegetation growing on tropical soils of low fertility (Congdon & Herborn 1993)
This study examined the magnitude of nutrient fluxes through litterfall, incident rainfall, throughfall and stemflow, and evaluated the relative importance of these components as pathways of nutrient transport to the soil of the forest studied
The litterfall value was within the range (7.0 – 14.1 t ha-1 yr-1) reported for other West African tropical lowland rainforests (Swift et al 1981; Songwe et al 1988, 1995; Muoghalu et al 1993a; Odiwe & Muoghalu 2003)
Summary
An understanding of nutrient cycle processes is fundamental to the management of natural and disturbed vegetation growing on tropical soils of low fertility (Congdon & Herborn 1993). Litterfall, throughfall and stemflow are the main fluxes through which nutrients move from the vegetation to the soil surface (Herborn & Congdon 1998). Litterfall is significant because it is the means by which the litter layer on the forest floor is formed and is described as the third major pool of nutrients in the biogeochemical cycles (Congdon & Lamb 1990). Above-ground litter is a major pathway linking the plant component to the soil in an ecosystem through organic matter decomposition (Arunachalam et al 1998). Litterfall and its decomposition processes maintain nutrient pools in the soil, influence primary production and regulate energy flow and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystem (Waring & Scheslinger 1985). Analysis of element concentrations in litterfall can be used to give an indication of limiting nutrients and nutrient use efficiency in forests (Vitousek 1982; Proctor et al 1983)
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