SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION AND ESTIMATION OF FOREST FLOOR COMPONENTS IN A 37-YEAR-OLD CASUARINA-EQUISETIFOLIA (FORST) PLANTATION IN COASTAL SENEGAL

Forest floor spatial variability was studied in a coastal Casuarina eq uisetifolia plantation in Senegal. Systematic sampling was monitored a long a 300 m transect perpendicular to the shore. The forest floor was divided into litter components (leaves, catkins, cones and twigs), fe cal pellets and undetermined material. Total accumulation was 106 t ha (-1); litter components accounted for 50%; accumulation of fecal pelle ts averaged 15 t ha(-1). Components were not related to the local tree stand. The spatial pattern of each component was investigated by thre e complementary statistical methods operating at different scales, inc luding spatial autocorrelations and geostatistics. Twigs and leaves we re randomly distributed. The fecal pellet semivariogram was characteri zed by a high nugget effect and a large range of spatial dependence. C ones and catkins exhibited more complicated patterns with a large-scal e trend and periodical structures. These results show that forest floo r components exhibit particular spatial patterns, probably in relation to their production and decomposition specificity.