Abstract

MANTERO-GARCIA, Héctor Daniel et al. How sustainable is the forest floor harvest in oak forests?. Madera bosques [online]. 2019, vol.25, n.3, e2531807.  Epub May 15, 2020. ISSN 2448-7597.  https://doi.org/10.21829/myb.2019.2531807.

This work aimed to evaluate if the current procedure to harvest forest floor litter is sustainable. For this purpose, the litter production in an oak forest under forest floor removal, at three condition levels, was evaluated: without forest floor removal (C1), with recent forest floor removal in the last two years (C2), and with forest floor removal occurred in a previous time longer than two years (C3). The mass of nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) was also measured in the biomass that returned to the forest floor through the litter fall. Litter traps of 0.5 m2 area were used and the litter bulk density and forest floor depth were measured. Litter production was higher in sites C2 and C3 [(9.36 ± 0.64; 10.04 ± 1.92) Mg ha-1 year-1 , respectively], compared to the control site C1 [(6.74 ± 0.45) Mg ha-1 year-1). The mass of nutrients that returns to the forest floor was 40% higher in sites with forest floor removal. The results suggest that the removal of forest floor has a stimulating effect on litter production. However, even when there may be a process of stimulation in litter production, this result should be cautiously considered as the data showed that the time period for recurrent removals of forest floor, in a sustainable way, is about 14 years. This is, a span at least two and a half times greater than that used currently in oak forests. A sustainable scheme implies that the time between two removal dates is equal to the time required to form the organic layer retired.

Keywords : oak forests; litterfall; litter; nutrients in litterfall; forest floor removal; forest mulch harvest.

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