Controls on fallen leaf chemistry and forest floor element masses in native and novel forests across a tropical island

Abstract

Litter chemistry varies across landscapes according to factors rarely examined simultaneously. We analyzed 11 elements in forest floor (fallen) leaves and additional litter components from 143 forest inventory plots systematically located across Puerto Rico, a tropical island recovering from large-scale forest clearing. We assessed whether three existing, independently-derived, landscape classifications (Holdridge life zone, remotely sensed forest type (leaf longevity combined with geology generalized to karst vs. non-karst), and plot-based measures of forest assemblage) would separate observed gradients. With principal component and regression analyses, we also tested whether climate-, landscape- (geology, elevation, aspect, percent slope, slope position, distance from coast), and stand-scale (tree species composition, basal area, density, stand age) variables explained variation in fallen leaf chemistry and stoichiometry. For fallen leaves, C, Ca, Mg, Na, and Mn concentrations differed by Holdridge life zone and C, P, Ca, Mn, Al, and Fe concentrations differed by forest type, where leaf longevity distinguished C and Ca concentrations and geology distinguished C, P, Ca, Mn, Al, and Fe concentrations. Fallen leaf C, P, Ca, and Mn concentrations also differed, and N concentrations only differed, by forest assemblage. Across several scales, fallen leaf N concentration was positively related to the basal area of putatively N2-fixing tree legumes, which were concentrated in lower topographic positions, providing for the first time a biological explanation for the high N concentrations of fallen leaves in these locations. Phosphorus concentrations in fallen leaves by forest assemblages also correlated with the basal area of N2-fixing legumes, and P and N concentrations decreased with mean age of assemblage. Fallen leaves from younger (<50 yr, 86% of the plots) and often novel forests had higher P, Fe, and Al and lower C concentrations and lower C/P and N/P ratios than fallen leaves from older forests, the latter due to a decrease in P rather than changes in N. These findings suggest that both N and P availability may currently be greater on the island than pre-deforestation, and substantiate the unique roles that state factors play in contributing to the spatial heterogeneity of fallen leaf chemistry. © 2014 Erickson et al.