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Litterfall seasonal dynamics and leaf-litter turnover in cocoa agroforests established on past forest lands or savannah

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Abstract

Nutrient cycling in cocoa agroforestry systems (cAFS) is complex and poorly understood. To better understand the mass flow of carbon and nutrients into the soil sub-system under various contexts we quantified the mass flow of litterfall, its composition and seasonal variations in different agroforestry systems in Bokito (Central Cameroon). We studied litterfall dynamics and in situ leaf-litter cycling of cAFS established on past forest lands (F-cAFS) and savannah (S-cAFS). We also studied the decomposition of cocoa and associated tree leaf-litter in litterbags. Local secondary semi-deciduous forests were included as control. Annual litterfall in full-grown cAFS (> 15 years old) was high (9.4 Mg ha−1 y−1) and represented ca. 67% of litterfall in control forests. In full-grown cAFS, associated tree leaf-litter contributed to litterfall the most and ranged between 60 and 70% of the total amount recorded (6.3 Mg ha−1 y−1). The quantities and dynamics of the litter components monitored were similar in full-grown S- and F-cAFS. The microclimate was best buffered in forests and least buffered in young S-cAFS but could not be linked to leaf-litter decomposition. Forest leaf litterfall was higher and tended to cycle faster than total leaf-litter of cAFS, whose decomposition appeared limited by cocoa leaf-litter quality. Our study underlines (i) the critical contribution of associated trees to the nutrient cycle of agroecosystems established on poor soils and, (ii) the ability of farmers to channel associated tree communities towards similar functioning despite different past land-uses.

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Aknowledgements

This study was supported by the STRADIV (n°1405-018; Agropolis Fondation) project, the CIRAD, the ICRAF Yaoundé and the IRAD. This research was conducted within the “DP Agroforestry Cameroon” Research and Training Platform and within the framework of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). We would like to thank A. Agoume and J.P. Bidias, our field assistants in Bokito, for their contribution to this study. We would also like to thank L. Defaye for her kind revision of the English language of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ABSys, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, CIHEAM-IAMM, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France

    Stephane Saj, Annemarijn Nijmeijer & Pierre-Eric Lauri

  2. UMR ABSys, CIRAD, 97310, Kourou, France

    Stephane Saj & Annemarijn Nijmeijer

  3. Département des plantes stimulantes, IRAD, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Annemarijn Nijmeijer & Jean-Daniel Essobo Nieboukaho

  4. INRAE, IRD, Eco&Sols, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France

    Jean-Michel Harmand

  5. UMR Eco&Sols, CIRAD, Montpellier, France

    Jean-Michel Harmand

  6. World Agroforesty (ICRAF), Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Jean-Michel Harmand

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  1. Stephane Saj
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  2. Annemarijn Nijmeijer
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Correspondence to Stephane Saj.

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Appendices

Appendix A

Mean vegetation characteristics of the cAFS and forest plots studied. F-cAFS: Cocoa agroforestry system established on forest lands. S-cAFS: Cocoa agroforestry system established on savannah. > 15 years: system over 15 years old. [0–15]: system under 16 years old. The letters after the means show significant differences (p < 0.05) after the appropriate post-hoc test (one-way ANOVA or Kruskal–Wallis). Numbers in grey show standard errors (SE). “ind”: individuals.

 

S–cAFS[0–15]

S–cAFS[> 15]

F–cAFS[0–15]

F–cAFS[> 15]

Forest

Mean

SE

Mean

SE

Mean

SE

Mean

SE

Mean

SE

Density (ind ha−1)

Cocoa trees

1181a

484

1172a

364

1048a

383

1288a

449

  

Small trees(< 30 cm DBH)

175bc

120

71c

55

219b

161

166bc

91

533a

88

Large trees(≥ cm DBH)

33b

25

40b

13

54ab

34

35b

10

76a

31

Musa spp.

91

106

15

18

121

173

84

51

  

Oil palm

8ab

9

3b

5

2b

3

3b

4

21a

14

Basal area (m2 ha−1)

Cocoa trees

2.0b

2.2

8.4a

1.7

8.4a

1.7

8.7a

3.7

  

Small trees(< 30 cm DBH)

1.5b

1.3

1.8b

1.3

1.8b

1.3

2.7b

2.5

12.9a

15.8

Large trees(≥ 30 cm DBH)

4.7b

4.8

16.6ab

12.6ab

16.1ab

10.4

20.1ab

11.6

23.6a

6.6

Height (m)

Cocoa trees

2.2c

1.4

4.8a

0.8

3.2bc

2.0

4.7ab

0.7

  

Small trees(< 30 cm DBH)

7.4

2.1

9.6

2.9

9.6

1.9

8.4

1.4

8.1

2.2

Large trees(≥ 30 cm DBH)

13.2b

4.0

19.5ab

5.9

20.4ab

3.8

22.6a

5.2

23.1a

3.8

Shanon index of associated trees

1.621b

0.650

1.736b

0.257

1.914b

0.601

1.650

0.249

2.727a

0.173

Appendix B

Sørensen indices comparing tree beta diversity between plots. F-cAFS: Cocoa agroforestry system established on forest lands. S-cAFS: Cocoa agroforestry system established on savannah.

Sϕrensen index

Full grown F- versus S-cAFS

0.628

Full grown S-cAFS versus forest

0.478

Full grown F-cAFS versus forest

0.646

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Saj, S., Nijmeijer, A., Nieboukaho, JD.E. et al. Litterfall seasonal dynamics and leaf-litter turnover in cocoa agroforests established on past forest lands or savannah. Agroforest Syst 95, 583–597 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-021-00602-0

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