Fine litter chemistry, early-stage decay, and nitrogen dynamics under plantations and primary forest in Lowland Amazonia

One year field exposures of leaf litter from replicated plots of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis Barrett and Golfari, Carapa guianensis Aubl., Euxylophora paraensis Hub., a Leguminosae combination (Dalbergia nigra Fr. All., Dinizia excelsa Ducke, Parkia multijuga Benth.), and adjacent upland (terra firme) forest at the Curuá-Una Forest Reserve, Pará, Brazil were used to examine the factors controlling leaf litter decay and N dynamics in a lowland tropical environment. Initial leaf litter N concentrations ranged from 4.4 (P. caribaea) to 16.3 mg g−1 dry matter (Leguminosae), and initial lignin concentrations from 190.8 (Leguminosae) to 459.3 mg g−1 dry matter (forest). Pinus caribaea leaf litter lost the least mass (28%), and the Leguminosae leaf litter the most (61%), during the year long incubations. Initial and 1-y proximate C fractions, N concentrations and polyphenol concentrations were not related to mass loss. Annual N accumulation or depletion from leaf litter under the plantations and forest was related to C loss (R2=0.93, P=0.007) and holocellulose loss (R2=0.84, P=0.02). When leaf litter was placed outside its stand of origin, there was a significant location effect on decay rates, indicating that differences in the physical and biological microenvironments under the monospecific plots affected litter decomposition.