Accumulation and Decay of Litter and Net Production of Forest in Tropical West Africa

Abstract

Fall of small litter caught in traps was measured at monthly intervals for over two years and wood litter once for a 6-month period in a moist semi-deciduous forest in Ghana. Measurements were made also of the weight of ground litter and the rate of disappearance. Litter-fall was greatest from Jan to the beginning of Mar with a small peak in leaf-fall also occurring from Sept to 5 Dec; the major peak corresponded to the season. About 77 % of the annual fall of 9 656 kg ha-' (dry weight) of small litter is leaf material. No significant difference in litterfall was found between forests growing on two different soil types and only a small difference over the two years of study. Litter decay ranges from 0.25 to 9.2 years with leaf litter disappearing nearly three times as fast as twig litter. Net dry matter production was estimated roughly as from 21 to 25 t ha-' yr-1.