VARIAÇÃO SAZONAL DA DECOMPOSIÇÃO DA LITEIRA EM SOLO DE MATA ATLÂNTICA E DE TABULEIRO EM JOÃO PESSOA, PB, BRASIL

Resumo

The present study was carried out within a 11-months period, with repetitions in the dry and wet seasons. The main objective was to study the influence of some physical factors on litter decomposition in the soil of Atlantic Forest and tableland areas, both located in Joao Pessoa (PB), Brazil. The methodology proposedby BOCOCK and GILBERT (1957), and adapted by LUIZAO (1982) was used. Eighty nylon bags, containing 2 g of leaf litter of Clitoria fairchildiana Howard (Leguminosea) were buriedat 2.5 and 20 cm depth in soil in each area and season. The experiments lasted 120 days in each season, with monthly retrievals. The physical factors studied included rainfall, and the soil moisture and soil temperature, as well as the two depths investigated. The highest monthly temperatures always occurred in the tableland soil and the moisture was always higher in the forest soil. Litter decomposition, both in the dry and wet seasons, was greater at 2.5 cm depth in the forest soil, and at 20 cm depth in the tableland soil. In the wet season, the litter weight loss was faster than in the dry season, especially due to the greater biological activity on the decomposing material.

Keywords: Decomposition, litter, Clitoria fairchildiana, physical factors, Atlantic Forest,tableland.

Descrltores: Decomposigao, liteira, Clitoria fairchildiana, fatores fisicos, Mata Atlantica,tabuleiro.