LITTER PRODUCTION AND DECOMPOSITION IN Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus globulus maidenii STAND

The sustainable wood production in commercial plantations requires knowledge of the nutrient cycling process, which also involves the production and decomposition of litter. This study verified the influence of climatic variables on litter production and t evaluated the rate of leaf litter decomposition in a stand of Eucalyptus urophylla x E. globulus maidenii. There were installed 4 plots of 20 m x 20 m, in each plot four litter traps to collect leaves were placed, thin branches and miscellaneous, beside this, each plot received 3 areas for coarse branches collection. The litter collected was used to calculate the deposition and the correlation between climate variables and deposition. The climatic variables used, on a monthly basis, were average temperature, average maximum temperature, average minimum temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, average wind speed, average solar radiation and average evapotranspiration, both supplied by an experimental station. For evaluation of the litter decomposition rate, four square samples of 0.25 m side in each plot were randomly collected and used for determining the decay coefficient (K), half life (t(0,5)) and decomposition time of 95% of litter (t(0,95)). The monthly litter production was weakly correlated with climatic variables and the annual production was 7.4 Mg ha(-1), with leaves as the major fraction (60%). The litter decomposition rate was considered slow