Litter Fall Production and Decomposition in Deodar Forest Ecosystem
Litter Fall Production and Decomposition in Deodar Forest Ecosystem
Kamran Aziz1*, Aamir Saleem1 and Arshad Mahmood Malik2
ABSTRACT
Decomposition is a natural process of nutrient cycling in which the different elements play their role to decompose the plants parts such as roots, shoots, leaves and other parts. The present study was conducted to estimate the decomposition rate, litter fall production and elemental composition of Cedrus deodara and Pinus wallichiana in the study area Dungagali, Taohidabad, Kuzagali and Khanspur situated around the Ayubia National Park. The research was carried from September, 2016 to August, 2017. Litter bag technique was used to estimate the decomposition rate, elemental composition was carried through chemical analysis in the laboratory and litter fall production was estimated by trapper technique. Under Cedrus deodara and Pinus wallichiana canopy, the leaf litter was collected and brought back to laboratory for the further chemical analysis. The Total annual litter fall production of Cedrus deodara was 4.2209t/ha/annum while the Pinus wallichiana was estimated 4.6097t/ha/annum. It showed that there is more litter fall in Pinus wallichiana as compared to Cedrus deodara. The P. wallichiana has greater decay rate as compared with C. deodara, estimated 12 % and 6% per annum respectively. The elemental composition was calculated for each of the nutrients i.e. C; N; P and K for Cedrus deodara is; 2006.67, 53.72, 21.33 and 7.91 Kg/ha/annum and for Pinus wallichiana; 2245.07, 51.69, 23.13 and 4.79 Kg/ha/annum respectively. The amount of carbon is greater in Pinus wallichiana as compared with C. deodara while the other nutrients i.e. N; P and K are greater in Cedrus deodara. It was concluded that Pinus wallichiana is better in litter fall, decay rate and in carbon and phosphorus composition.
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