Wednesday 19 September 2012

Litter fall dynamics in village bamboo grove of Barak Valley, Assam

Abstract


Leaf litters of bamboos are the potential source of nutrient input in the village land use systems. Bamboo grove is one such land use where bamboos are managed either in pure or in mixed patches with other plant species. Present study was carried out in a bamboo grove of Cachar district of Barak Valley, Assam to understand the flux of different fractions of litter fall, litter standing crop, turnover rate, turnover time for different litter components and nutrient use efficiency of the bamboo species. Litter fall was studied by laying permanent litter traps followed by collection of litter fractions at monthly interval over a period of three year. Mean litter fall of the stand was 7514.28 kg ha-1yr-1. The contribution of leaf, sheath and branch litter in total litter fall was in the order of 55-65%, 29-38% and 5-7% respectively. Linear relationship between Aridity Index and litter fall data exhibited the existence of negative relationship between leaf fall, sheath fall and total litter fall. Leaf litters had the higher turnover rate (0.56-0.58) and lower turnover time (1.72-1.75) than sheath and branch litter. In leaf litter turnover rate for k was higher (0.61-0.67) than P (0.53-0.56) and N (0.54-0.55). P exhibits higher nutrient use efficiency than N and K. Role of bamboo litter as potential nutrient source in village landscape is discussed.

Key Words: Bamboo grove, nutrient use efficiency, turnover rate, turn over time
Authors: Arun Jyoti Nath and Ashesh Kumar Das

Journal Name and Issue: International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 38(1):1-8.

Year of Publication 2012

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