Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties
Litterfall production is fundamental to various functions and processes within forest ecosystems. Yet, it has been primarily investigated within single vegetation types, with its dependence on biotic conditions remaining largely undefined, particularly in the tropics. In this study, litterfall monit...
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Elsevier
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25006892 |
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| author | Huiqi Zhang Tao Zhang Yidong Zhou Cixu Huang Xincai Qiu Guang Feng Wenxing Long Yi Ding |
| author_facet | Huiqi Zhang Tao Zhang Yidong Zhou Cixu Huang Xincai Qiu Guang Feng Wenxing Long Yi Ding |
| author_sort | Huiqi Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Litterfall production is fundamental to various functions and processes within forest ecosystems. Yet, it has been primarily investigated within single vegetation types, with its dependence on biotic conditions remaining largely undefined, particularly in the tropics. In this study, litterfall monitoring and community investigations were conducted on five representative vegetation types of the tropical natural forests on Hainan Island, China, including the tropical lowland rainforest, montane rainforest, monsoon rainforest, coniferous forest, and cloud forest. On that basis, the litterfall production characteristics in the various vegetation types were distinguished, and their dependence on different community properties (species composition, species diversity, functional diversity, stand structure, and functional traits) was assessed. The lowland rainforest displayed the highest total, monthly maximum, and variance of litterfall production, followed by the montane rainforest, while the lowest levels were observed in either the cloud forest or the coniferous forest. The temporal variations turned out pronounced in all vegetation types except for the coniferous forest, which was distinguished by a unimodal pattern of litterfall dynamics. Meanwhile, a bimodal pattern was also observed, particularly prominent in the cloud forest, followed by the montane rainforest. Moreover, litterfall production characteristics significantly depended on community properties, with stand structure being the most crucial factor. Overall, these findings emphasize the considerable regional-scale variation in litterfall production across vegetation types and its dependence on community properties. From a forest management perspective, maintaining stand structural complexity contributes to sustaining nutrient return through increased litterfall production. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2d84993e8be14cb79c3612d33528395e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-2d84993e8be14cb79c3612d33528395e2025-08-20T03:16:08ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-08-0117711375910.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113759Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community propertiesHuiqi Zhang0Tao Zhang1Yidong Zhou2Cixu Huang3Xincai Qiu4Guang Feng5Wenxing Long6Yi Ding7School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, PR ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, PR ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, PR ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, PR ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, PR China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Ecological Civilization, Hainan University, Haikou, PR ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, PR China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Ecological Civilization, Hainan University, Haikou, PR China; Corresponding author.Collaborative Innovation Center of Ecological Civilization, Hainan University, Haikou, PR China; School of Ecology, Hainan University, Haikou, PR ChinaKey Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, PR China; Co-Innovation Centre for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, PR ChinaLitterfall production is fundamental to various functions and processes within forest ecosystems. Yet, it has been primarily investigated within single vegetation types, with its dependence on biotic conditions remaining largely undefined, particularly in the tropics. In this study, litterfall monitoring and community investigations were conducted on five representative vegetation types of the tropical natural forests on Hainan Island, China, including the tropical lowland rainforest, montane rainforest, monsoon rainforest, coniferous forest, and cloud forest. On that basis, the litterfall production characteristics in the various vegetation types were distinguished, and their dependence on different community properties (species composition, species diversity, functional diversity, stand structure, and functional traits) was assessed. The lowland rainforest displayed the highest total, monthly maximum, and variance of litterfall production, followed by the montane rainforest, while the lowest levels were observed in either the cloud forest or the coniferous forest. The temporal variations turned out pronounced in all vegetation types except for the coniferous forest, which was distinguished by a unimodal pattern of litterfall dynamics. Meanwhile, a bimodal pattern was also observed, particularly prominent in the cloud forest, followed by the montane rainforest. Moreover, litterfall production characteristics significantly depended on community properties, with stand structure being the most crucial factor. Overall, these findings emphasize the considerable regional-scale variation in litterfall production across vegetation types and its dependence on community properties. From a forest management perspective, maintaining stand structural complexity contributes to sustaining nutrient return through increased litterfall production.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25006892Litterfall productionTropical natural forestVegetation ZonalityBiodiversityStructural complexityFunctional traits |
| spellingShingle | Huiqi Zhang Tao Zhang Yidong Zhou Cixu Huang Xincai Qiu Guang Feng Wenxing Long Yi Ding Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties Ecological Indicators Litterfall production Tropical natural forest Vegetation Zonality Biodiversity Structural complexity Functional traits |
| title | Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties |
| title_full | Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties |
| title_fullStr | Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties |
| title_full_unstemmed | Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties |
| title_short | Litterfall production in tropical natural forests on Hainan Island: variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties |
| title_sort | litterfall production in tropical natural forests on hainan island variations across vegetation types and dependence on community properties |
| topic | Litterfall production Tropical natural forest Vegetation Zonality Biodiversity Structural complexity Functional traits |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25006892 |
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