Annual Variations of Litterfall Production in a Broadleaved Deciduous Forest at the Mt. Keumsan LTER Site

Litterfall production represents a major contribution of carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. This study was carried out to determine the litterfall production in a broadleaved deciduous forest at the Mt. Keumsan Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, Southern Korea. Littefall was collected monthly or bimonthly from the site for 7 years from 2004 to2010. Leaf and reproductive (catkins) litters showed a seasonal variation, but litters of needle, branch, and barks were not changed across the seasons. Annual leaf litter of Quercus serrata and Carpinus laxiflora were significantly different (p0.05). Annual average litterfall production was 5,223 kg/ha, but annual variations were very large with minimum of 4,110 kg/ha/yr in 2004 and maximum of 6,002 kg/ha/yr in 2007. Total litterfall comprised of 2,323 kg/ha/yr in Q. serrata, 442 kg/ha/yr in C. laxiflora, 157 kg/ha/yr in C. cordata, 131 kg/ha/yr in Acer pseudosieboldianum, 390 kg/ha/yr in other deciduous tree species, 74 kg/ha/yr in P. thunbergii, 37 kg/ha/yr in C. obtusa, 672 kg/ha/yr in branches, 515 kg/ha/yr in miscellaneous, 448 kg/ha/yr in reproductive parts, and 54 kg/ha/yr in barks. respectively. The results indicate that litterfall production of the Mt. Keumsan LTER site was yearly fructurated with the positive linear relationship between leaf or total litterfall and annual mean temperature if no disturbance such as a typoon, and was lower than that of other Korean LTER sites.