The Influence of Abiotic Factors on Litter Deposition in a Semiarid Area, Northeastern Brazil

The amount of deciduous material throughout the year is mostly related to climatic conditions in tropical areas. A large deposition of litterfall in the dry season is described for deciduous and semideciduous forests. We aimed to assess the monthly deposition rate of litterfall during one year and the climatic influence in a deciduous thorny woodland area. The study area had a permanent plot of one hectare. To collect litterfall, 50 plots were selected and a collector (0.5 x 0.5 m) was installed. Samples were collected monthly for twelve months and divided into fractions: leaves, branches, fruits and seeds, flowers and miscellaneous. We tested the correlation of four abiotic factors (rainfall, soil humidity, temperature and wind) and the litter deposition.The annual litterfall collected had a total value of 2,731.6 kg ha-1.The contribution fraction of leaves corresponded to 54.3%, branches (14.2%), fruits (12.6%), flowers (1.6%) and miscellaneous (17.2%). The wind was the abiotic factor most correlated with the total deposition of the litterfall, but other correlations were found. In this area, site-dependent climatic and edaphic variables have an important control on litterfall.