Effect of seasonal flooding cycle on litterfall production in alluvial rainforest on the middle Xingu River (Amazon basin, Brazil)

Abstract

The assumption for this study was that litterfall in floodplain environments of the middle Xingu river follows a pattern of seasonal variation. According to this view, litterfall production (total and fractions) was estimated in four alluvial rainforest sites on the middle Xingu River over an annual cycle, and examined the effect of seasonal flooding cycle. The sites included two marginal flooded forests of insular lakes (Ilha Grande and Pimentel) and two flooded forests on the banks of the Xingu itself (Boa Esperança and Arroz Cru). Total litterfall correlated with rainfall and river levels, but whereas the leaf and fruit fractions followed this general pattern, the flower fraction presented an inverse pattern, peaking in the dry season. The litterfall patterns recorded in the present study were consistent with those recorded at other Amazonian sites, and in some other tropical ecosystems.