Assessment of literfall in chestnut forest stands: comparison of two sample methods

The annual amount of litter returned to the ecosystems and their decomposition processes are vital for sustainable management since that regulate the carbon cycle and soil nutrients pools. However, the methodology used for their assessment can significantly influence the obtained estimates concerning to the produced biomass and the potential return of nutrients to the soil and carbon sequestration. This study compared two common assessment methods of the annual litterfall in three high forest chestnut stands located in the mountains of Bornes, Marão and Padrela, Northern Portugal. The tested litterfall sampling methods were the quadrat method (50 x 50 cm) and the circular 1m2 littertraps. The two methods were randomly applied on the same sample area. The harvest was repeated for two consecutive years. The obtained estimates of the amount of litterfall varied significantly with the method used and the interaction method x location was not significant. Estimates obtained with littertraps were lower than that obtained with the quadrat method.
This study was supported partially by the project FCT - PDTC/AGR-CFL/68186/2006

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