LITTERFALL, LITTER AND ASSOCIATED CHEMISTRY IN A DRY SCLEROPHYLL EUCALYPT FOREST AND A PINE PLANTATION IN SOUTH-EASTERN AUSTRALIA - 1 - LITTERFALL AND LITTER

Litterfall was measured in a dry schlerophyll eucalypt forest and a ne arby Pinus radiata plantation of similar tree density and basal area n ear Canberra in south-eastern Australia. Total annual litterfall for t he eucalypts was 329 g m(-2), compared with 180 g m(-2) for the pines, with the bark component being 52 g m(-2) for eucalypts and zero for p ines. Barkfall did not occur for the eucalypts during the drought of 1 982-1983 but complete bark shedding occurred during the subsequent ver y wet year when barkfall was 177 g m(-2) for Eucalyptus rossii and 146 g m(-2) for Eucalyptus mannifera (9.3 and 7.6 g m(-2) of basal area, respectively). Barkfall of E. rossii responded to rainfall in the peri od autumn to early summer, whereas E. mannifera responded to summer ra infall. In the eucalypt forest floor-litter was stratified into a surf ace layer where the components were substantially intact, and a cohesi ve layer where the components were fragmented and bound together by fu ngal hyphae. The amount and residence times of loose and cohesive floo r-litter were 1056 g m(-2) and 3.2 years, respectively, for the loose litter layer; and 1164 g m(-2) and 3.5 years for the cohesive layer. T he litter biomass represented 17% of the estimated total above-ground biomass of 127 tonnes ha(-1). A previous study showed roots to be 25% of total biomass, suggesting a total biomass of 167 tonnes ha(-1). (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.