Litter production and decomposition from an overstorey of Eucalyptus spp. on two catchments in the New England region of New South Wales

Litter fall on two catchments, one with an almost continuous canopy of Eucalyptus spp., the other with a discontinuous eucalypt canopy was measured for 29 4‐week periods. Annual litter accretion(2.5‐3.7 t ha−1) was low by world standards, but similar to other Australian dry sclerophyll forests. Between 33 and 54% of the total litter fall occurred during summer, and only 6‐13% in winter. Leaf was the major component of litter fall and usually contributed more than 50% of the total. Variability between the 4‐weekly litter falls was high, but coefficients of variation for the total annual fall were low (<5%). Half‐life of total litter fall in the continuous forest (2.14 y) was double that in the discontinuous forest (0.98 y), and may have been due to differences in air temperature and surface soil moisture. The pattern of litter fall on each catchment was related to hydro‐meteorological variables including air temperature, solar radiation, rainfall and soil moisture content.