DYNAMICS OF LITTER PRODUCTION IN SECONDARY FORESTS IN MATA ATLANTICA AREAS, PINHEIRAL, RJ

ABSTRACT

This work had as objective to evaluate litter deposition in two secondary semideciduous forest areas: Medium Status Forest (MSF) and Advanced Status Forest (ASF), located in Pinheiral county, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For litter deposition evaluation, in each area were set 10 litter traps in the beginning of 1998. The material was dried in an oven (65°C ± 5) and separated in leaves, branches, flowers, fruits, rinds and others. The MSF area showed higher litter deposition variation in relation to ASF area. In the MSF area the highest litter value was 13.14 t ha^-1 and 9.40 t ha^-1 the lowest.

Key words
: Litter deposition; nutrient cycling; forest