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Litter production in a Populus deltoides marsh. Plantation
Forest Ecology and Management, 15 (1986) 215--218 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - - P r i n t e d in The Netherlands
215
LITTER PRODUCTION IN A POPUL US DEL TOIDES MARSH. PLANTATION
ANURAG R A I Z A D A and M.M. S R I V A S T A V A
Department of Botany, D.A. V. (PG) College, Dehra Dun--248 001, U.P. (India) (Accepted 28 January 1986)
ABSTRACT Raizada, A. and Srivastava, M.M., 1986. Litter p r o d u c t i o n in a Populus deltoides Marsh. plantation. For. Ecol. Manage., 15: 215--218. Litter production was estimated in a 13-year-old Polulus deltoides Marsh. plantation, at Dehra Dun, India. Maximum litter fall occurred in October (1931 kg/ha) and the second peak was observed in May (440.7 kg/ha). Leaf litter accounted for 92.6% of the total litter production. Total annual litter production was 3.1 t/ha/year.
INTRODUCTION
Litter on the forest floor, made up of various plant components (leaves, branches, twigs and bark), affects the moisture status of the top layer of soft and the water run-off pattern as well as nutritional aspects and site quality. When litter decomposes, it releases nutrients into the soft, directly affecting the status of available nutrients. A comprehensive review of forest floor litter was given by Bazilevich and Rodin (1966). Annual litter production in deciduous and evergreen forests of India have been reported for sal (Shorea robusta), teak (Tectona grandis) and chix (Pinus roxburghii) (Puri, 1953; Upadhyay, 1955; Singh, 1962, 1968; Seth et al., 1963; Subba Rao et al., 1972; Garg & Vyas, 1975; Singh and Ramakrishnan, 1981), but no data are available on litter production in poplars (Populus spp.) in India. However, litter production in Populus spp. has been reported from various other countries (Coldwell and Delong, 1950; Sviridova, 1961; Remezov & Bykova, 1953, and Lousier and Parkinson, 1976). The present communication deals with the annual litter production in a Populus deltoides Marsh. plantation at Balindawala (Dehra Dun).
0378-1127/86/$03.50
© 1986 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
216 MATERIALS AND METHODS
Studies were carried out from December 1983 to November 1984 in a 13year-old plantation of P. deltoides IC 65]99. The site, on a sandy loam soil, is situated about 30 km east of Dehra Dun (30°23'--30°24 ' N and 7805 ' 78°6'E). The climate is moderate, although there are sharp differences in summer and winter temperatures. During the study the coldest month was January 1984 when the maximum temperature was 19.8°C and minimum 1.98°C. During May 1984 the maximum temperature was 38.2°C and minimum 18.3°C. Heaviest rainfall occurred in July (687.4 ram) and least in May (1.0 mm). Total rainfall during t h e study period was 1747.1 mm. The sampling area was a 8-ha plantation of pure poplar stands. Tree density was 190 trees/ha. Trees were of 13 m average height with an average diameter at breast height of 25.7 cm. Ten quadrats of 1 × 1 m size were laid down randomly throughout the sample plot (50 X 50 m), located in the centre of the 8-ha area, which was fenced by barbed wire to prevent entry of grazing animals. The quadrats were made permanent by enclosing the area using nylon thread, to last throughout the study period and the plant materials were harvested completely by the end of every month. The contents of the quadmts were brought to the laboratory, separated into components, dried to constant weight at 80°C, and the dry weights recorded. RESULTS
As is evident from the data (Table 1), there is considerable litter fall in May and again in October. Least litter fall occurred in March 1984 (4.3 TABLE I M o n t h l y litter p r o d u c t i o n in p o p l a r p l a n t a t i o n ( k g / h a ± s t a n d a r d deviation) Months
Leaf litter
Dec. 83 Jan. 84 F e b . 84 M a r c h 84 April 84 May 84 J u n e 84 J u l y 84 Aug. 84 S e p t . 84 Oct. 84 Nov. 84
24.3 38.5 8.9 4.3 5.9 440.6 62.6 24.6 42.5 144.5 1931.0 131.2
Annual a
2859.2
± 4.2 ± 13.4 ± 5.1 ± 4.7 ± 4.5 ± 119.6 ± 20.0 ± 9.9 ± 16.2 + 51.3 ± 414.1 ± 24.9
Twig litter
Bark litter
Total
23.5 10.6 7.9 7.0 9.2 35.9 8.3 23.1 8.8 43.3 11.9 3.7
-8.0 --2.1 1.3 1.9 2.9 16.0 0.4 1.3
47.8 57.1 16.9 11.3 17.2 477.8 70.9 49.6 54.3 203.9 1943.4 136.3
193.6
34.1
3087.0
a A n n u a l p r o d u c t i o n = 3.08 t / h a / y e a r .
217 kg/ha) and m a x i m u m in O c t o b e r ( 1 9 3 1 kg/ha). M a x i m u m twig l i t t e r was in S e p t e m b e r (43.3 kg/ha) a n d least in N o v e m b e r (3.7 kg/ha). M a x i m u m b a r k litter was r e c o r d e d in S e p t e m b e r ( 1 6 . 0 k g / h a ) a n d t h e least in O c t o b e r (0.42 k g / h a ) . T o t a l leaf l i t t e r was 2 8 5 9 . 2 k g / h a / y e a r a n d n o n - l e a f l i t t e r was 227.7 kg/ha/year. T o t a l a n n u a l litter was t h u s 3 0 8 7 k g / h a / y r o r 3 . 0 8 t / h a / y e a r in the p l a n t a t i o n . DISCUSSION Witkamp and Van der D r i f t ( 1 9 6 1 ) r e p o r t e d t h a t P o p u l u s t r e m u l a s h o w e d o n l y o n e distinct peak o f l i t t e r fall in O c t o b e r , w h e r e a s in t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y t w o peaks (May and O c t o b e r ) have b e e n o b s e r v e d ( T a b l e 1). T h e increase in May m a y be due t o w a t e r d e f i c i t in t h e area, c a u s e d b y t h e m e a g r e rainfall in this m o n t h (1.0 ram) a n d in t h e p r e c e d i n g m o n t h s o f April (7.6 r a m ) and March (3.7 ram). I n c r e a s e d leaf fall d u e t o d r o u g h t c o n d i t i o n s have also been r e p o r t e d b y Pool ( 1 9 1 3 ) w h e r e in s o m e cases (Celtis occidentalis, TABLE 2 Annual leaf litter production in different parts of India and major climatic zones of the world Vegetation
Location
Leaf litter (t/ha/year)
Climatic zones of the world
Alpine
67 ° N
0.7
Cool temperature
27°--62°N
2.5
Warm temperate
30 ° - 4 0 ° N and S
3.6
Equatorial
within 10°N and of the equator
6.8
Indian subcontinent S. robusta (plantation) T. grandis (plantation) S. robusta (plantation) Araucaria cunninghmii Dendrocalamu8 strictus Deciduous forest (Sugar) T. grandis (plantation) Deciduous forest (Varanasi) Deciduous forest (Udalpur) S. robusta (plantation Methalaya P. deltoidcs (plantation) Dehra Dun (Uttar Pradesh)
30 ° 19'N 30 ° 19'N 30 ° 19'N 30 ° 19'N 30° 19'N 23 ° 50'N 26 ° 45'N 24° 42'--25.5 ° N 24 ° 32'N 24° 45'N 30 ° 23'N
5.9 5.3 5.0 5.9 3.2 26,6--9.3 6.06--17.3 1,01---6.21 4,04 3,41 2.85
Bray and (1964) Bray and (1964) Bray and (1964) Bray and (1964)
Gotham Gotham Gorham Gorham
Purl (1953) Seth et al. (1963) Seth et al. (1963) Seth et al. (1963) Seth et al. (1963) Upadhayay (1955) Singh (1962) Singh (1968) Garg and Vyas (1975) Singh and Ramakrishnan (1981) Present study
218
Gyrnnocladus dioicus and Populus deltoides) all leaves w e r e s h e d b y t h e end of July. N o t all t h e leaves w e r e s h e d in M a y , w h e r e a s c o m p l e t e l i t t e r fall o c c u r r e d in O c t o b e r , w h i c h is a n a t u r a l p h e n o m e n o n o b s e r v e d in t e m p e r a t e d e c i d u o u s trees. A n y leaves still left a t t h e c r o w n fell t o t h e f o r e s t f l o o r in N o v e m b e r . L i t t e r p r o d u c t i o n in w a r m t e m p e r a t e areas o f 3 0 0 - - 4 0 ° N a n d 3 0 - - 4 0 ° S l a t i t u d e s has b e e n r e p o r t e d t o b e 3.6 t / h a / y e a r ( B r a y a n d G o t h a m , 1 9 6 4 ) . T a b l e 2 shows an inverse r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e a m o u n t o f t o t a l a n n u a l litter p r o d u c t i o n and t h e l a t i t u d e o f t h e l o c a l i t y . B r a y a n d G o t h a m ( 1 9 6 4 ) have suggested t h a t leaf litter c o n s t i t u t e s r o u g h l y 70% o f t h e t o t a l litter. In t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y leaf litter c o n s t i t u t e d 9 2 . 6 % o f t h e t o t a l .
REFERENCES Bazilevich, N.I. and Rodin, L.E. 1966. The biological cycle of nitrogen and ash elements in plant communities of the tropical and subtropical zones. For. Abstr., 27: 357--68. Bray, J.R. and Gorham, E., 1964. Litter production in forests of the world. Adv. Ecol. Res., 2: 101--157. Coldwell, B.B. and Delong, W.A., 1950. Studies on the compositon of decidious forest tree leaves before and after partial decomposition. Sci. Agric., 30: 456--466. Garg, R.K. and Vyas, L.N., 1971. Litter production in decidious forests near Udaipur (Rajuthan) India. In: F.B. Golley and E. Medina (Eds.), Tropical Ecology Systems, Springer Verlag, New York, NY, pp. 131--135. Lousier, J.D. and Parkinson, D., 1976. Litter decompositon in a cool temperature deciduous forest. Can. J. Bot., 54: 419--436. Pool, R.J., 1913. Some effects of drought on vegetation. Science, 38: 822--825. Puri, G.S., 1953. Leaf fall in Dehra Dun forests. Bull. Bot. Soc. Univ. Saugar, 9: 28--34. Remezov, N.P. and Bykova, L.N., 1953. Uptake and cycle of nitrogen and ash elements in aspen stands. Pochvovedenie, 8:28--41 (cited in For. Abstr., 16: 334--335, 1955). Seth, S.K., Kaul, O.N. and Gupta, A.C., 1963. Some observations on nutrition cycling and return of nutrients in plantations at New Forest. Ind. For., 89: 90-~J8. Singh, J.S., 1962. Preliminary studies on the humus status of some forest communities of Bashahar Himalayas. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. India, Sec. B., 32: 403- 407. Singh, K.P., 1968. Litter production and nutrient turnover in decidious forests of Varanasi. In: R. Misra and B. Gopal (Eds.), Proc. Symp. Recent Adv. Trop. Ecol. Part II, ISTE, Varanasi, 655--665. Singh, Jesbir and Ramakrishnan, P.S., 1981. Biomass and nutrient movement through litter in Shorea robusta Gaertn. plantation in Meghalaya. Proc. Ind. Nat. Sci. Acad., Part B, 47 (6): 852--860. Subba Ra0, B.K., Dabral, B.C. and Pandey, S.K.,,1972. Litter production in forest plantation of Chit (Pinus roxburghii), teak (Tectona grandis), sal (Shorea robusta) at New Forest, Dehra Dun. In: P.M. Golley and F.B. Golley (Eds.), Tropical Ecology with an Emphasis on organic Production, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. pp. 235--243. Sviridova, L.K., 1961. Role of improvement cuttings in raising soft fertility. Soy. Soil Sci., 4: 401--405. Upadhyaya, S.D., 1955. Soil formation in relation to plant cover. PhD. thesis, Univ. of Saugar (M.P.) India. Witkamp, M. and Van der Drift, J., 1961. Breakdown of forest litter in relation to environmental factors. Plant Soil, 15: 295--311.
215
LITTER PRODUCTION IN A POPUL US DEL TOIDES MARSH. PLANTATION
ANURAG R A I Z A D A and M.M. S R I V A S T A V A
Department of Botany, D.A. V. (PG) College, Dehra Dun--248 001, U.P. (India) (Accepted 28 January 1986)
ABSTRACT Raizada, A. and Srivastava, M.M., 1986. Litter p r o d u c t i o n in a Populus deltoides Marsh. plantation. For. Ecol. Manage., 15: 215--218. Litter production was estimated in a 13-year-old Polulus deltoides Marsh. plantation, at Dehra Dun, India. Maximum litter fall occurred in October (1931 kg/ha) and the second peak was observed in May (440.7 kg/ha). Leaf litter accounted for 92.6% of the total litter production. Total annual litter production was 3.1 t/ha/year.
INTRODUCTION
Litter on the forest floor, made up of various plant components (leaves, branches, twigs and bark), affects the moisture status of the top layer of soft and the water run-off pattern as well as nutritional aspects and site quality. When litter decomposes, it releases nutrients into the soft, directly affecting the status of available nutrients. A comprehensive review of forest floor litter was given by Bazilevich and Rodin (1966). Annual litter production in deciduous and evergreen forests of India have been reported for sal (Shorea robusta), teak (Tectona grandis) and chix (Pinus roxburghii) (Puri, 1953; Upadhyay, 1955; Singh, 1962, 1968; Seth et al., 1963; Subba Rao et al., 1972; Garg & Vyas, 1975; Singh and Ramakrishnan, 1981), but no data are available on litter production in poplars (Populus spp.) in India. However, litter production in Populus spp. has been reported from various other countries (Coldwell and Delong, 1950; Sviridova, 1961; Remezov & Bykova, 1953, and Lousier and Parkinson, 1976). The present communication deals with the annual litter production in a Populus deltoides Marsh. plantation at Balindawala (Dehra Dun).
0378-1127/86/$03.50
© 1986 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
216 MATERIALS AND METHODS
Studies were carried out from December 1983 to November 1984 in a 13year-old plantation of P. deltoides IC 65]99. The site, on a sandy loam soil, is situated about 30 km east of Dehra Dun (30°23'--30°24 ' N and 7805 ' 78°6'E). The climate is moderate, although there are sharp differences in summer and winter temperatures. During the study the coldest month was January 1984 when the maximum temperature was 19.8°C and minimum 1.98°C. During May 1984 the maximum temperature was 38.2°C and minimum 18.3°C. Heaviest rainfall occurred in July (687.4 ram) and least in May (1.0 mm). Total rainfall during t h e study period was 1747.1 mm. The sampling area was a 8-ha plantation of pure poplar stands. Tree density was 190 trees/ha. Trees were of 13 m average height with an average diameter at breast height of 25.7 cm. Ten quadrats of 1 × 1 m size were laid down randomly throughout the sample plot (50 X 50 m), located in the centre of the 8-ha area, which was fenced by barbed wire to prevent entry of grazing animals. The quadrats were made permanent by enclosing the area using nylon thread, to last throughout the study period and the plant materials were harvested completely by the end of every month. The contents of the quadmts were brought to the laboratory, separated into components, dried to constant weight at 80°C, and the dry weights recorded. RESULTS
As is evident from the data (Table 1), there is considerable litter fall in May and again in October. Least litter fall occurred in March 1984 (4.3 TABLE I M o n t h l y litter p r o d u c t i o n in p o p l a r p l a n t a t i o n ( k g / h a ± s t a n d a r d deviation) Months
Leaf litter
Dec. 83 Jan. 84 F e b . 84 M a r c h 84 April 84 May 84 J u n e 84 J u l y 84 Aug. 84 S e p t . 84 Oct. 84 Nov. 84
24.3 38.5 8.9 4.3 5.9 440.6 62.6 24.6 42.5 144.5 1931.0 131.2
Annual a
2859.2
± 4.2 ± 13.4 ± 5.1 ± 4.7 ± 4.5 ± 119.6 ± 20.0 ± 9.9 ± 16.2 + 51.3 ± 414.1 ± 24.9
Twig litter
Bark litter
Total
23.5 10.6 7.9 7.0 9.2 35.9 8.3 23.1 8.8 43.3 11.9 3.7
-8.0 --2.1 1.3 1.9 2.9 16.0 0.4 1.3
47.8 57.1 16.9 11.3 17.2 477.8 70.9 49.6 54.3 203.9 1943.4 136.3
193.6
34.1
3087.0
a A n n u a l p r o d u c t i o n = 3.08 t / h a / y e a r .
217 kg/ha) and m a x i m u m in O c t o b e r ( 1 9 3 1 kg/ha). M a x i m u m twig l i t t e r was in S e p t e m b e r (43.3 kg/ha) a n d least in N o v e m b e r (3.7 kg/ha). M a x i m u m b a r k litter was r e c o r d e d in S e p t e m b e r ( 1 6 . 0 k g / h a ) a n d t h e least in O c t o b e r (0.42 k g / h a ) . T o t a l leaf l i t t e r was 2 8 5 9 . 2 k g / h a / y e a r a n d n o n - l e a f l i t t e r was 227.7 kg/ha/year. T o t a l a n n u a l litter was t h u s 3 0 8 7 k g / h a / y r o r 3 . 0 8 t / h a / y e a r in the p l a n t a t i o n . DISCUSSION Witkamp and Van der D r i f t ( 1 9 6 1 ) r e p o r t e d t h a t P o p u l u s t r e m u l a s h o w e d o n l y o n e distinct peak o f l i t t e r fall in O c t o b e r , w h e r e a s in t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y t w o peaks (May and O c t o b e r ) have b e e n o b s e r v e d ( T a b l e 1). T h e increase in May m a y be due t o w a t e r d e f i c i t in t h e area, c a u s e d b y t h e m e a g r e rainfall in this m o n t h (1.0 ram) a n d in t h e p r e c e d i n g m o n t h s o f April (7.6 r a m ) and March (3.7 ram). I n c r e a s e d leaf fall d u e t o d r o u g h t c o n d i t i o n s have also been r e p o r t e d b y Pool ( 1 9 1 3 ) w h e r e in s o m e cases (Celtis occidentalis, TABLE 2 Annual leaf litter production in different parts of India and major climatic zones of the world Vegetation
Location
Leaf litter (t/ha/year)
Climatic zones of the world
Alpine
67 ° N
0.7
Cool temperature
27°--62°N
2.5
Warm temperate
30 ° - 4 0 ° N and S
3.6
Equatorial
within 10°N and of the equator
6.8
Indian subcontinent S. robusta (plantation) T. grandis (plantation) S. robusta (plantation) Araucaria cunninghmii Dendrocalamu8 strictus Deciduous forest (Sugar) T. grandis (plantation) Deciduous forest (Varanasi) Deciduous forest (Udalpur) S. robusta (plantation Methalaya P. deltoidcs (plantation) Dehra Dun (Uttar Pradesh)
30 ° 19'N 30 ° 19'N 30 ° 19'N 30 ° 19'N 30° 19'N 23 ° 50'N 26 ° 45'N 24° 42'--25.5 ° N 24 ° 32'N 24° 45'N 30 ° 23'N
5.9 5.3 5.0 5.9 3.2 26,6--9.3 6.06--17.3 1,01---6.21 4,04 3,41 2.85
Bray and (1964) Bray and (1964) Bray and (1964) Bray and (1964)
Gotham Gotham Gorham Gorham
Purl (1953) Seth et al. (1963) Seth et al. (1963) Seth et al. (1963) Seth et al. (1963) Upadhayay (1955) Singh (1962) Singh (1968) Garg and Vyas (1975) Singh and Ramakrishnan (1981) Present study
218
Gyrnnocladus dioicus and Populus deltoides) all leaves w e r e s h e d b y t h e end of July. N o t all t h e leaves w e r e s h e d in M a y , w h e r e a s c o m p l e t e l i t t e r fall o c c u r r e d in O c t o b e r , w h i c h is a n a t u r a l p h e n o m e n o n o b s e r v e d in t e m p e r a t e d e c i d u o u s trees. A n y leaves still left a t t h e c r o w n fell t o t h e f o r e s t f l o o r in N o v e m b e r . L i t t e r p r o d u c t i o n in w a r m t e m p e r a t e areas o f 3 0 0 - - 4 0 ° N a n d 3 0 - - 4 0 ° S l a t i t u d e s has b e e n r e p o r t e d t o b e 3.6 t / h a / y e a r ( B r a y a n d G o t h a m , 1 9 6 4 ) . T a b l e 2 shows an inverse r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e a m o u n t o f t o t a l a n n u a l litter p r o d u c t i o n and t h e l a t i t u d e o f t h e l o c a l i t y . B r a y a n d G o t h a m ( 1 9 6 4 ) have suggested t h a t leaf litter c o n s t i t u t e s r o u g h l y 70% o f t h e t o t a l litter. In t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y leaf litter c o n s t i t u t e d 9 2 . 6 % o f t h e t o t a l .
REFERENCES Bazilevich, N.I. and Rodin, L.E. 1966. The biological cycle of nitrogen and ash elements in plant communities of the tropical and subtropical zones. For. Abstr., 27: 357--68. Bray, J.R. and Gorham, E., 1964. Litter production in forests of the world. Adv. Ecol. Res., 2: 101--157. Coldwell, B.B. and Delong, W.A., 1950. Studies on the compositon of decidious forest tree leaves before and after partial decomposition. Sci. Agric., 30: 456--466. Garg, R.K. and Vyas, L.N., 1971. Litter production in decidious forests near Udaipur (Rajuthan) India. In: F.B. Golley and E. Medina (Eds.), Tropical Ecology Systems, Springer Verlag, New York, NY, pp. 131--135. Lousier, J.D. and Parkinson, D., 1976. Litter decompositon in a cool temperature deciduous forest. Can. J. Bot., 54: 419--436. Pool, R.J., 1913. Some effects of drought on vegetation. Science, 38: 822--825. Puri, G.S., 1953. Leaf fall in Dehra Dun forests. Bull. Bot. Soc. Univ. Saugar, 9: 28--34. Remezov, N.P. and Bykova, L.N., 1953. Uptake and cycle of nitrogen and ash elements in aspen stands. Pochvovedenie, 8:28--41 (cited in For. Abstr., 16: 334--335, 1955). Seth, S.K., Kaul, O.N. and Gupta, A.C., 1963. Some observations on nutrition cycling and return of nutrients in plantations at New Forest. Ind. For., 89: 90-~J8. Singh, J.S., 1962. Preliminary studies on the humus status of some forest communities of Bashahar Himalayas. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. India, Sec. B., 32: 403- 407. Singh, K.P., 1968. Litter production and nutrient turnover in decidious forests of Varanasi. In: R. Misra and B. Gopal (Eds.), Proc. Symp. Recent Adv. Trop. Ecol. Part II, ISTE, Varanasi, 655--665. Singh, Jesbir and Ramakrishnan, P.S., 1981. Biomass and nutrient movement through litter in Shorea robusta Gaertn. plantation in Meghalaya. Proc. Ind. Nat. Sci. Acad., Part B, 47 (6): 852--860. Subba Ra0, B.K., Dabral, B.C. and Pandey, S.K.,,1972. Litter production in forest plantation of Chit (Pinus roxburghii), teak (Tectona grandis), sal (Shorea robusta) at New Forest, Dehra Dun. In: P.M. Golley and F.B. Golley (Eds.), Tropical Ecology with an Emphasis on organic Production, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. pp. 235--243. Sviridova, L.K., 1961. Role of improvement cuttings in raising soft fertility. Soy. Soil Sci., 4: 401--405. Upadhyaya, S.D., 1955. Soil formation in relation to plant cover. PhD. thesis, Univ. of Saugar (M.P.) India. Witkamp, M. and Van der Drift, J., 1961. Breakdown of forest litter in relation to environmental factors. Plant Soil, 15: 295--311.