Changes in litter production in a secondary rain forest 29 years after fire induced succession

Abstract

This study investigated dynamics in litter production after a fire induced succession, with a view to assessing the changes in litter fall deposition in the forest as it recovered from fire disturbance. Litter traps were randomly positioned for litter fall collection for a period of one year in 25×25 m sample plot in the burnt area of the forest. The collected litter was sorted into leaf, wood, reproductive parts and trash and oven dried at 80 °C, weighed. The results from this study were compared with those of previous studies on the litter production in the forest in 1990, 1997 and 2008. The results showed that the annual litter fall production (t·ha^-¹·yr^-¹) was 77.36 (total), 57.31 (73.7 %) (leaf); 14.79 (19.4 %) (wood); 2.02 (2.7 %) (reproductive parts) and 3.24 (4.3 %) (trash). There was significant (p < 0.05) differences in litter fall between the litter components. Litter fall has increased from 4.60 t·ha^-1·yr^-1 in 1990 to 77.36 t·ha^-¹·yr^-¹ in 2013. It was concluded that there had been changes in litter production in the forest 29 years after fire