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Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests

Problem statement: Forest rehabilitation with human assistance by species selection and management shortens the time needed to rehabilitate degraded land as compared to natural succession. Empirical data on litter nutrient contents of tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia have been established, ho...

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Main Authors: Ku, Melvin Kin Kin, Bujang, Japar Sidik, Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna, Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad, Kueh, Roland Jui Heng, Jemat, Silvester
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Science Publications 2011
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22182/1/ajassp.2011.967.972.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22182/
http://www.thescipub.com/abstract/10.3844/ajassp.2011.967.972
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spelling my.upm.eprints.221822017-11-28T09:13:33Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22182/ Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests Ku, Melvin Kin Kin Bujang, Japar Sidik Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad Kueh, Roland Jui Heng Jemat, Silvester Problem statement: Forest rehabilitation with human assistance by species selection and management shortens the time needed to rehabilitate degraded land as compared to natural succession. Empirical data on litter nutrient contents of tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia have been established, however it is limited to rehabilitated degraded lands. The objective of this study was to determine contents of carbon and selected macronutrients of nutrients present in the litter layer of different age stands and an adjacent secondary forest at Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. Approach: Forest litter was sampled in 1 m2 quadrates of 5 points in research plots of 20×20 m by carefully brushing off the standing litter layer on the forest floor followed by oven-drying and grinding before analysis using standard procedures for pH, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Results: Results showed that litter layer was acidic, with pH ranging from 4.4-5.1 in water and 3.7-4.4 in 1 M KCl. Carbon constituted the highest amount of element in litter, ranging from 285.6-363.9 g kg-1 followed by N with a range of 4.4-10.5 g kg-1, followed by P, ranging from 0.05-0.20 g kg-1. Content of K was in a range of 0.91-3.1 g kg-1, while Ca and Mg contents were 0.3-7.9 and 0.39-1.64 g kg-1 respectively. Litter layer mass and content of nutrients increased with stand age. Plots 1993, SF, 1999 and 1991 were clustered together while Plots 2002, 1996, 2005 and 2008 were in the other cluster. Stocks of nutrients in the plots were found to be in the order of C>N>Ca>K>Mg>P. Conclusion: The results are consistent with other secondary and primary forests in the tropics, suggesting that the project is successful in rehabilitating degraded forests in terms of restoring nutrient availability in forest litter. Science Publications 2011 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22182/1/ajassp.2011.967.972.pdf Ku, Melvin Kin Kin and Bujang, Japar Sidik and Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna and Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad and Kueh, Roland Jui Heng and Jemat, Silvester (2011) Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 8 (10). pp. 967-972. ISSN 1546-9239; ESSN: 1554-3641 http://www.thescipub.com/abstract/10.3844/ajassp.2011.967.972 10.3844/ajassp.2011.967.972
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description Problem statement: Forest rehabilitation with human assistance by species selection and management shortens the time needed to rehabilitate degraded land as compared to natural succession. Empirical data on litter nutrient contents of tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia have been established, however it is limited to rehabilitated degraded lands. The objective of this study was to determine contents of carbon and selected macronutrients of nutrients present in the litter layer of different age stands and an adjacent secondary forest at Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. Approach: Forest litter was sampled in 1 m2 quadrates of 5 points in research plots of 20×20 m by carefully brushing off the standing litter layer on the forest floor followed by oven-drying and grinding before analysis using standard procedures for pH, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Results: Results showed that litter layer was acidic, with pH ranging from 4.4-5.1 in water and 3.7-4.4 in 1 M KCl. Carbon constituted the highest amount of element in litter, ranging from 285.6-363.9 g kg-1 followed by N with a range of 4.4-10.5 g kg-1, followed by P, ranging from 0.05-0.20 g kg-1. Content of K was in a range of 0.91-3.1 g kg-1, while Ca and Mg contents were 0.3-7.9 and 0.39-1.64 g kg-1 respectively. Litter layer mass and content of nutrients increased with stand age. Plots 1993, SF, 1999 and 1991 were clustered together while Plots 2002, 1996, 2005 and 2008 were in the other cluster. Stocks of nutrients in the plots were found to be in the order of C>N>Ca>K>Mg>P. Conclusion: The results are consistent with other secondary and primary forests in the tropics, suggesting that the project is successful in rehabilitating degraded forests in terms of restoring nutrient availability in forest litter.
format Article
author Ku, Melvin Kin Kin
Bujang, Japar Sidik
Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna
Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad
Kueh, Roland Jui Heng
Jemat, Silvester
spellingShingle Ku, Melvin Kin Kin
Bujang, Japar Sidik
Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna
Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad
Kueh, Roland Jui Heng
Jemat, Silvester
Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests
author_facet Ku, Melvin Kin Kin
Bujang, Japar Sidik
Ahmed, Osumanu Haruna
Nik Ab. Majid, Nik Muhamad
Kueh, Roland Jui Heng
Jemat, Silvester
author_sort Ku, Melvin Kin Kin
title Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests
title_short Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests
title_full Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests
title_fullStr Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests
title_sort comparison of carbon and selected macronutrients in forest-floor litter of rehabilitated and secondary forests
publisher Science Publications
publishDate 2011
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22182/1/ajassp.2011.967.972.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/22182/
http://www.thescipub.com/abstract/10.3844/ajassp.2011.967.972
_version_ 1643827752824995840
score 13.211869

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