• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.330-341
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• 2017

Tropical forests play a key role for functioning of the planet and maintenance of life. These forests support more than half of the world's species, serve as regulators of global and regional climate, act as carbon sinks and provide valuable ecosystem services. Forest floor biomass and litterfall dynamics was measured in different sites influenced by fire in a seasonally dry tropical forest of Bhoramdeo wildlife sanctuary of Chhattisgarh, India. The forest floor biomass was collected randomly placed quadrats while the litterfall measured by placing stone-block lined denuded quadrat technique. The seasonal mean total forest floor biomass across the fire regimes varied from $2.00-3.65t\;ha^{-1}$. The total litterfall of the study sites varied from $4.75-7.56t\;ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$. Annual turnover of litter varied from 70-74% and the turnover time between 1.35-1.43 years. Monthly pattern of forest floor biomass indicated that partially decayed litter, wood litter and total forest floor were differed significantly. The seasonal variation showed that leaf fall differed significantly in winter season only among the fire regimes while the wood litter was found non significant in all the season. This study shows that significant variation among the site due to the forest fire. Decomposition is one of the ecological processes critical to the functioning of forest ecosystems. The decomposing wood serves as a saving account of nutrients and organic materials in the forest floor. Across the site, high fire zone was facing much of the deleterious effects on forest floor biomass and litter production. Control on such type of wildfire and anthropogenic ignition could allow the natural recovery processes to enhance biological diversity. Chronic disturbances do not provide time for ecosystem recovery; it needs to be reduced for ecosystem health and maintaining of the high floral and faunal biodiversity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.102 no.2
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• pp.210-215
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• 2013

Litterfall production represents a major contribution of carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. This study was carried out to determine the litterfall production in a broadleaved deciduous forest at the Mt. Keumsan Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, Southern Korea. Littefall was collected monthly or bimonthly from the site for 7 years from 2004 to2010. Leaf and reproductive (catkins) litters showed a seasonal variation, but litters of needle, branch, and barks were not changed across the seasons. Annual leaf litter of Quercus serrata and Carpinus laxiflora were significantly different (p<0.05) but that of C. cordata, Chamaecyparis obtusa, and Pinus thunbergii was not significantly changed for 7 years (p>0.05). Annual average litterfall production was 5,223 kg/ha, but annual variations were very large with minimum of 4,110 kg/ha/yr in 2004 and maximum of 6,002 kg/ha/yr in 2007. Total litterfall comprised of 2,323 kg/ha/yr in Q. serrata, 442 kg/ha/yr in C. laxiflora, 157 kg/ha/yr in C. cordata, 131 kg/ha/yr in Acer pseudosieboldianum, 390 kg/ha/yr in other deciduous tree species, 74 kg/ha/yr in P. thunbergii, 37 kg/ha/yr in C. obtusa, 672 kg/ha/yr in branches, 515 kg/ha/yr in miscellaneous, 448 kg/ha/yr in reproductive parts, and 54 kg/ha/yr in barks. respectively. The results indicate that litterfall production of the Mt. Keumsan LTER site was yearly fructurated with the positive linear relationship between leaf or total litterfall and annual mean temperature if no disturbance such as a typoon, and was lower than that of other Korean LTER sites.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.573-580
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• 2011

Litter production, nutrient concentration of each component of litterfall and amount of nutrients input to forest floor via litterfall were investigated for four years from May 2005 through April 2009 in Quercus variabilis forest at Mt. Worak National Park. Amount of litterfall in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 were 5.181, 5.372, 5.314, 5.361 ton $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. Average amount of litterfall for four years was 5.307${\pm}$0.09 ton $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$. Average percentage of leaf litter, branch and bark, reproductive organ and the miscellaneous for four years were 67.5${\pm}$1.9, 13.3${\pm}$0.8, 10.1${\pm}$0.5 and 9.1${\pm}$1.2%, respectively. Average amount of N, P, K, Ca and Mg returned to forest floor via litterfall for four years in this Q. variabilis forest were 44.47${\pm}$6.70, 2.50${\pm}$0.25, 12.26${\pm}$0.30, 17.23${\pm}$2.32 and 9.56${\pm}$0.54 kg $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.102-106
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• 2008

This study was carried out to evaluate the relationships between stand attributes and litterfall amounts in a 28-year old Quercus acutissima stand. Eighteen sampling plots of $20m{\times}20m$ were chosen and litterfall was collected from May 2005 to December 2006. There was no correlation between stand attributes(tree density, mean diameter at breast height, mean height, basal area) and litterfall amounts except for flower and miscellaneous litter for the study period. There were no significant relationships between leaf litter and basal area(r=0.02, 0.05; P=0.93, 0.83) and between leaf litter and tree density(r=-0.10, 0.05; P=0.85, 0.69). Also, leaf litter was affected neither by mean diameter at breast height(r=-0.08, 0.30; P=0.73, 0.22) nor by mean height(r=-0.24, 0.09; P=0.34, 0.70). Other litter amounts such as bark, branch, and acorn showed no relationships with the stand attributes (P>0.05). The lack of significant relationships between litterfall amounts and stand attributes could be due to the closed canopy with a complete crown cover in this mature oak stand.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2020

In the forest ecosystems, litterfall is an important component of the nutrient cycle that regulates the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM), the input and output of the nutrients, nutrient replenishment, biodiversity conservation, and other ecosystem functions. Therefore, a profound understanding of the major processes (litterfall production and its decomposition rate) in the cycle is vital for sustainable forest management (SFM). Despite these facts, there is still a limited knowledge in tropical forest ecosystems, and further researches are highly needed. This shortfall of research-based knowledge, especially in tropical forest ecosystems, may be a contributing factor to the lack of understanding of the role of plant litter in the forest ecosystem function for sustainable forest management, particularly in the tropical forest landscapes. Therefore, in this paper, I review the role of plant litter in tropical forest ecosystems with the aims of assessing the importance of plant litter in forest ecosystems for the biogeochemical cycle. Then, the major factors that affect the plant litter production and decomposition were identified, which could direct and contribute to future research. The small set of studies reviewed in this paper demonstrated the potential of plant litter to improve the biogeochemical cycle and nutrients in the forest ecosystems. However, further researches are needed particularly on the effect of species, forest structures, seasons, and climate factors on the plant litter production and decomposition in various types of forest ecosystems.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2009

Organic carbon (OC) distribution in 32-year-old pitch pine plantation at Mt. Hotae in Kongju, Korea, was studied from August 2007 to July 2008. In order to investigate the OC distribution, OC in plant biomass, litterfall, litter layer on forest floor, and soil within 50cm depth were estimated. The density of P. rigida plantation was 3,200 trees/ha, average DBH was $18.7{\pm}5.53cm$ and average tree height was $11.1{\pm}1.85m$. Organic carbon stored in plant biomass, litterlayer on forest floor and soil in 2008 was 89.46 ton C/ha (46.09%), 4.32 ton C/ha (2.23%) and 100.32 ton C $ha^{-1}$ 50cm-$depth^{-1}$ (51.68%), respectively. Amount of OC returned to forest floor via litterfall was 2.21 ton C $ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$. Total amount of OC stored in this P. rigida plantation was 194.1 ton C/ha. Net increase of OC in above- and below-ground biomass in this pitch pine plantation was 4.82 ton C $ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.85 no.3
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• pp.416-425
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• 1996

Aboveground biomass, distribution of N and P in tree components, forest floor and the top 20cm of mineral soil, and litterfall were determined in adjacent 37-year-old plantations of Pinus rigida Mill. and Larix leptolepis Gord. on a sandy clay loam soil in Yangpyeong, Kyonggi Province. Total above-ground tree biomass for P. rigida and L. leptolepis were 138.2 and 127.2 t/ha, respectively, and did not differ between the two species. Nitrogen concentrations in stembark and foliage were all greater in L. leptolepis. Understory biomass contributed less than 2.0% of the total aboveground biomass but contributed up to 12.0% of the aboveground nutrient contents. Soil below L. leptolepis had higher concentrations of N and P. Total ecosystem N content (kg/ha) was greater for L. leptolepis (5,579) than P. rigida (4,147). Litterfall dry mass (kg/ha/yr) was greater for P. rigida (6,020) than L. leptolepis (4,191) whereas N contents in leaf litterfall (kg/ha/yr) was almost twice as large in L. leptolepis (28) than P. rigida (16). This common garden experiment suggests a strong influence of tree species on nutrient distribution and cycling in a forest ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2018

The litter production, the nutrient concentration of each component of litterfall, and the amounts of nutrient into the forest floor via litterfall were assessed for 5 years from January 2009 through December 2013 in a Pinus densiflora forest in Mt. Worak National Park. The average amounts of leaf litter, branch and bark, reproductive organs(flowers and cones), and miscellaneous categories for 5 years were $1.940{\pm}0.21$, $0.505{\pm}0.15$, $0.259{\pm}0.09$, and $0.737{\pm}0.14t\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. The average percentage of leaf litter, branch and bark, reproductive organs and miscellaneous categories for 5 years were 56.4, 14.7, 7.5, and 21.4%, respectively. The amounts of total litterfall in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 were 2.810, 3.796, 3.268, 3.284, and $4.045ton\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. The average amounts of litterfall for 5 years were $3.441{\pm}0.4ton\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$. The average amounts of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg returned to the forest floor via litterfall for 5 years in this Pinus densiflora forest were $22.73{\pm}4.92$, $1.05{\pm}0.42$, $4.26{\pm}1.69$, $8.48{\pm}4.62$, and $2.42{\pm}1.01kg\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2008

The objectives of this study were to compare nutrient natural input between thinned and unthinned natural hardwood stands at Mt. Joongwang, Pyongchang-gun, Gangwon-do. Throughfall, stemflow, A-layer and B-layer soil water as well as litterfall were sampled at two-week intervals during the period of June to October from 2002 to 2004. The amount of rainfall interception in thinned and unthinned natural hardwood stands was as 12% and 18%, respectively. The results indicated that there was no difference in annual nutrient input by rainfall between thinned and unthinned stands. $Na^+$, $Cl^-$ and $SO_4{^{2-}}$ concentrations of A-layer soil water in the unthinned stand were higher than those in the thinned stand. In the B-layer soil water, $Ca^{2+}$, $Cl^-$, $NO_3{^-}$ and $SO_4{^{2-}}$ concentrations in the unthinned stand were higher than those in thinned stand. Mean annual litterfall input was $2,706kg\;ha^{-1}$ in unthinned stand and $2,589kg\;ha^{-1}$ in thinned stand. Total-N input from litterfall was $50.28kg\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ in the unthinned stand and $36.81kg\;ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ in the thinned stand, while there was no difference in exchangeable cation input from litterfall between thinned and unthinned stands. Thus, the difference in nutrient inputs except for N by throughfall, stemflow and litterfall between the two stands was not influenced by thinning.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 2007

The organic carbon (OC) distribution of Pinus densiflora forest in Songgye valley at Mt. Worak National Park were studied as a part of the National Long-Term Ecological Research in Korea. In order to investigate the OC distribution, OC in plant biomass, litterfall, litter layer on forest floor, and soil were estimated. The density of P. densiflora forest was 1,300 trees/ha, average DBH was $15.2{\pm}6.17\;cm$ and average tree height was $10.7{\pm}2.56\;m$. The shrub layer was dominated by shrubby Quercus variabilis, Fraxinus sieboldiana and lndigofera kirilowii with low frequency, and herb layer was dominated by Pteridium aquilinum and Miscanthus sinensis. Total amount of OC stored in this pine forest was 142.78 ton C/ha. Organic carbon stored in soil and plant biomass accounted for 59.2% and 37.8%, respectively. Amount of OC distributed in trees, shrubs, herbs and litter layer in this pine forest was 51.79, 2.03, 0.12 and 4.29 ton C/ha, respectively. Amount of OC returned to forest floor via litterfall was $1.50\;ton\;C\;ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$. Soil organic carbon (SOC) decreased along the soil depth. Total amount of SOC within 50cm soil depth was $84.55\;ton\;C\;ha^{-1}\;50\;cm-depth^{-1}$.