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Litterfall and nutrient cycling in four Hawaiian montane rainforests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Peter M. Vitousek ,
Grant Gerrish ,
Douglas R. Turner ,
Lawrence R. Walker  and
Dieter Mueller-Dombois
Peter M. Vitousek*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
Grant Gerrish
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
Douglas R. Turner
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
Lawrence R. Walker
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
Dieter Mueller-Dombois
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
*
3 Corresponding author.
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Abstract

The mass of fine litterfall and nutrient circulation through litterfall were determined in four Melrosideros polymorpha/Cibotium spp.-dominated rainforests that differed in substrate age, parent material texture and annual precipitation on Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes on the island of Hawaii. Three of the sites had rates of litterfall of 5.2 Mg ha−1 y−1; the fourth, which was on the most fertile soil, produced 7.0 Mg ha−1 y−1 of litterfall with higher concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. Tree ferns of the genus Cibotium cycled relatively large amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium through litterfall; their contribution to nutrient circulation was disproportionate to their mass in the forest, or in litterfall. The forest on the youngest substrate, which also had the lowest concentrations of nitrogen in litterfall, was fertilized with complete factorial combinations of nitrogen, phosphorus and a treatment consisting of all other plant nutrients. Additions of nitrogen increased the quantity and nitrogen concentration in litterfall during the second year following the initiation of fertilization, while no other treatment had a significant effect. Additions of nitrogen had no effect on litterfall mass or nutrient concentrations in the most nutrient-rich site.

Keywords

HawaiilitterfallMetrosiderosnitrogennutrient cyclingnutrient limitationphosphorustree ferns
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , May 1995 , pp. 189 - 203
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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