Nutrient cycling in two south-east Brazilian forests. I Litterfall and litter standing crop

ABSTRACT Litterfall (leaves, woody < 5 cm diameter, flowers and fruits) was estimated monthly using 20 litter traps, each 1 m 2 , and litter standing crops were collected every three months using 20 samples of 0 5 m 2 , for Altitudinal forest (AF) and Semideciduous forest (SF) in south-east Brazil (Serra do Japi, Jundiaí, Sāo Paulo State) from March 1985 to March 1986 The total litterfall was 7 t ha −1 for AF: 4 9 leaves, 1 8 woody, 0 13 flower, 0 16 fruits; and the total for SF was 8 6 t ha −1 y −1 : 5 5 leaves, 2 1 woody, 0 5 flower, 0 4 fruits Litter standing crop was 5 5 t ha −1 y −1 for the two forest sites studied with a turnover coefficient (K 1 ) of 1 3 for AF and 1 6 for SF Litterfall occurred throughout the year but was greater during the dry season (August–September); seasonality of litter and leaf fall was greater in SF than in AF but in both followed the litterfall patterns of other southeast Brazilian forests