Litter deposition in island forests associated with peatlands in the Serra do Espinhaço Meridional - Rio Preto State Park, MG, Brazil

Abstract

Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of forest islands in the landscape can inform conservation strategies for  peatland ecosystems in tropical mountains and specify how  different elements interact in landscape formation. We  studied a peatland ecosystem at the headwaters of the  Preto River, on a plateau surface known as Chapadão do Couto, in the Rio Preto State Park (São Gonçalo do Rio  Preto, MG) at an altitude of 1,600 m. We analyzed two forest  islands with predominantly semideciduous seasonal forest, one entirely within the peatland and the other at the transition to mesic grassland. The purpose was to  investigate variations in the amount and fractioning 
of litter in each forest fragment at different times of the  year, to show responses of the forest to the different  conditions of insertion in the peatland and how this affects 
the dynamics of functional balance of the ecosystem. Four sampling of litter were made within the forest islands  (Jun./2018 to Feb./2019) by the aid of 1 m² collectors made of shade cloth, at a height of 50 cm. We observed a dynamic  of interactions with distinct patterns among the  forest islands, and also verified variations in the litter with respect to intensity and quantity of deposition, dynamics of  deciduousness, this more associated with soil moisture  conditions than the temperature at the surface and other 
features of the soil organic matter.