Nutrient Cycling Studies: A New Approach for Assessing Reclamation Processes of Tropical Degraded Lands and Restoration of Ecosystem Functions

Juan Diego Leon Pelaez

doi:10.4172/2168-9776.1000e103

Abstract

Copyright: © 2012 Leon Pelaez JD. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Nutrient cycling studies have been performed throughout the world for over fifty years. The earliest of these studies were carried out in natural forests of temperate regions, and focused on small number of processes related to litterfall (e.g. nutrient return, nutrient release). Due to increasing interest in tropical forests and an apparent lack of knowledge about their functioning, nutrient cycling studies were later progressively located in tropical and subtropical forests, and began to incorporate other nutrient cycling pathways as well, such as those related to hydrological fluxes and edaphic processes. Pioneer studies that supplied valuable knowledge of nutrient cycling in tropical forests can be attributed to a long list of scientists, among whom could be mentioned H. Jenny, C.F. Jordan, H. Nye, P.J. Edwards, F. Golley, J. Proctor, B. Lundgren, S.N. Rai, J.J. Ewel, and F. Bernhard.

Highlights

Nutrient Cycling Studies: A New Approach for Assessing Reclamation Processes of Tropical Degraded Lands and Restoration of Ecosystem Functions
Nutrient cycling studies have been performed throughout the world for over fifty years. The earliest of these studies were carried out in natural forests of temperate regions, and focused on small number of processes related to litterfall
De Groot et al [2] proposed that ecosystem functions have associated goods and services that are valued for humans

Summary

Introduction

Nutrient Cycling Studies: A New Approach for Assessing Reclamation Processes of Tropical Degraded Lands and Restoration of Ecosystem Functions. The earliest of these studies were carried out in natural forests of temperate regions, and focused on small number of processes related to litterfall (e.g. nutrient return, nutrient release). Pioneer studies that supplied valuable knowledge of nutrient cycling in tropical forests can be attributed to a long list of scientists, among whom could be mentioned H.

Results

Conclusion