NUTRIENT INPUT IN LITTERS AND SOIL OF <em>BAMBUSA</em> <em>VULGARIS</em> STANDS IN A SECONDARY RAINFOREST, ILE-IFE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Nutrient contents in litter and soil were assessed in four 0.06 ha plots of Bambusa vulgaris stands in a secondary rainforest at Ile-Ife, Nigeria, with a view to providing information on nutrient availability that was generally lacking in the forest ecosystem. The collected litter were sorted into leaves and twigs, oven-dried at 70 °C to a constant weight, ground and analysed for nutrients. Leaf litter had higher concentration of Ca, K, Na, P, Mn, Zn and Cu, while C, Mg, Fe and N were higher in twig litter fall fraction. Exchangeable cations, pH, sand content and organic C were significantly lower (p < 0.05), while total N, available P, silt and clay contents were higher in the soil dominated by bamboo stands. Bambusa vulgaris is a better conserver of C, N and P compared to areas dominated by trees and shrubs species in the secondary forest.