Litter Production and Decomposition Rate in the Reclaimed Mined Land under Albizia and Sesbania Stands and Their Effects on some Soil Chemical Properties
Main Article Content
Abstract
Vegetation establishment is considered as a critical step of mined land rehabilitation. The growing plants do not only prevent soil erosion, but also play important roles in soil ecosystem development. Their litterfall is the main process of transferring organic matter and nutrients from aboveground tree biomass to soil. Thus, its quantification would aid in understanding biomass and nutrient dynamics of the ecosystem. This study was aimed to investigate the litter production and its decomposition rate in a reclaimed mined land using albizia and sesbania, and their
effects on some soil properties. The litter under each stand was biweekly collected for four months. At the same time litter samples were decomposed in mesh nylon bags in soils and the remaining litters were biweekly measured. Soil samples were taken from 0-15 cm depths from each stand for analyses of soil organic C, total N, and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The results demonstrated that total litter production under albizia (10.58 t ha-1 yr-1) was almost twice as much as that under sesbania stands (5.43 t ha-1 yr-1). Albizia litter was dominated by leaf litter (49.26%) and least as understory vegetation (23.31%), whereas sesbania litter was more evenly distributed among litter types. Decomposition rates of all litters were fastest in the initial stage and then gradually decreased. Sesbania leaf litters decomposed fastest, while albizia twigs slowest. Differences in the litter production and decomposition rates of the two species had not sufficiently caused significant effects on organic-C, total N, and CEC of the soils
after one year of revegetation.
Keywords: Albizia (Paraserianthes falcataria), decomposition rates, litter, mined land, Sesbania grandiflora
Downloads
Article Details
License for Authors
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
License for Regular Users
Other regular users who want to cite, distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon author’s works, even for commercial purposes, should acknowledge the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.