Decomposition models of litter from oak and pine forests in Nuevo León State

Abstract

The decomposition of leaf litter is important to understand the functioning and productivity of ecosystems because it determines the recycling of nutrients. In the study described here, the degradation of leaf litter during 510 days in three forest communities was evaluated: the oak forest (BE), the pine-oak forest BPE) and the pine forest (BP) in the Iturbide municipality, Nuevo León. In each site five plots of 20 m x 20 m were marked in which 110 bags with 5 g of litter were placed in order to calculate their degradation rate. The results indicate that the degradation was 27 % for BE; 23 % for BPE and 17 % for BP, respectively. A regression analysis was performed for degradation in the sampling period, in which the simple negative exponential model was the one that best fit presented for the three study sites. The degradation rate for 99 % of cases was determined in 17, 22 and 29 years for BE, BPE and BP, respectively. The greatest degradation was recorded in the oak forest, suggesting that the quality of the plant material influences the process.