STUDIES ON DECOMPOSITION OF LEAF LITTER AND NUTRIENT DYNAMICS OF Simarouba glauca AND Calophyllum inophyllum AGRO-FORESTRY TREE SPECIES
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Date
2015-02-24
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UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU
Abstract
Field experiment, “Studies on decomposition of leaf litter and nutrient
dynamics of Simarouba glauca and Calophyllum inophyllum agro-forestry tree
species” was conducted at GKVK, Bengaluru and ARS Hassan during winter and
summer 2014-15. The experiment comprising of sixteen treatments consisting of two
tree species, two depths, two locations in two seasons, laid out in factorial RCBD with
three replications. The leaf litter production quantified for two seasons during winter
and summer (November to April 2015) in Simarouba and Calophyllum at two
locations revealed that the highest leaf litter fall was recorded during winter in
Simarouba (24.33 kg tree-1 month-1) and lowest in Calophyllum (2.7 kg tree-1 month-1)
during summer. The microbial activities showed significant differences at 90 days
after leaf litter decomposition in two tree species. The urease (102.09 μg NH4
-1 g-1
soil 2hr-1), DHA (112.6 μg TPF g-1 soil day-1) and phosphatase (29.2 and 23.3 μg PNP
g-1 soil) activity was recorded highest in Simarouba plantation compared to
Calophyllum plantation. The available soil nutrients were significantly higher at 90
days after leaf litter decomposition in Simarouba plantation (N-193.8 kg ha-1, P-32.6
kg ha-1, K-362.6 kg ha-1 and S-29.7 ppm) compared to Calophyllum plantation (N-
174.5 kg ha-1, P-25.6 kg ha-1, K-246.41 kg ha-1 and S-24 ppm), respectively. The
Simarouba tree species litter had a higher initial nutrient content and released its
nutrients faster with higher proportion than the Calophyllum tree thus significantly
higher soil fertility was obtained in Simarouba agro-forestry system.
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