RATES OF LEAFLITTER DECOMPOSITION IN WESTERN GHATS ECOSYSTEM, TAMILNADU

N. KANAGARAJ¹*, R.K. KALEESWARI², B. PALANIKUMARAN³, M. TILAK^4
1Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, 641301, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641003, India
²Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu, 641301, India
³Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, 641301, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641003, India
⁴Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu, 641301, India
* Corresponding Author : kanagaforester007@yahoo.co.in

Received : 29-05-2017     Accepted : 07-06-2017     Published : 30-06-2017
Volume : 9     Issue : 30       Pages : 4435 - 4437
Int J Agr Sci 9.30 (2017):4435-4437

Keywords : Decomposition, Leaf litter, Tropical dry deciduous, Tropical moist deciduous
Academic Editor : Nasrollahi I., Naveen Gaurav, Suhas Damodar Bhingardeve, Gibson E.
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : I am very grateful to the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship funded by University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India for supporting this research as part of Ph.D program and Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu, 641301, India.
Author Contribution : All authors are contributed substantially in conception, designing of the study, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data

The experiment was conducted to study the Leaf litter decomposition of Western Ghats ecosystem. The study was carried out in the major two types of forest namely tropical dry deciduous forest and tropical moist deciduous forest, which are major ecosystem in the foot hills of Nilgiri biosphere reserve, Tamil Nadu. The rate of leaf litter decomposition was studied using nylon bag buried technique. Rate of decomposition was estimated at soil surface and soil subsurface level. The overall decomposition study results explained that tropical dry deciduous forest recorded the highest rate of decomposition rate in both surface and surface soil. It was observed that in tropical moist deciduous forest composition of leaf litter was highly resistant to degradation.

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