Importance of short-lived components of a dry tropical forest for biomass production and nutrient cycling

Abstract

Short-lived components in a dry tropical forest ecosystem in India - tree foliage, fine roots and herbaceous plants - are shown to be important for biomass production and nutrient cycling. With 62 % they contribute much more to the dry matter production than the long-lived components- tree boles, branches and coarse roots - which make up only 38 %. The contribution of short-lived components to the total uptake of different nutrients was also high: 18 - 30 % for tree foliage, 26 - 34 % for fine roots and 6 - 19 % for herbs; their share in the total nutrient storage is less: 6 - 19 % for tree foliage, 4-8 % for fine roots and 0.6-1.3 % for herbs. The transfer of nutrients by the short-lived components was also substantial: 31 - 46 % for foliage, 7 - 24% for herbs and 33-45% for fine roots. The results indicate that the short-lived components play a significant role in the functioning of a dry tropical forest.