Biomass, litter production and nutrients

This research work was carried out to investigate standing biomass, litter dynamics, net primary productivity and cycling of nutrients in Bruguiera parviflora dominated natural mangrove forest ecosystem in Kuala Selangor Nature Park, Malaysia. The total above and below-ground biomass of B. parviflora seedlings, saplings and trees were 144.47 t/ha and 19.93 t/ha, respectively, and the net primary productivity of this forest was 27.44 t/ha/yr. The annual amount of small litter production and small litter standing crop were 1035 g/m2 and 337.72 g/m2, respectively. Bruguiera parviflora leaf litter showed higher microbial degradation (60% of initial dry mass) in wet months than the dry month (20.17% of initial dry mass), but leaf litter loss due to feeding plus mechanical breakdown did not vary in dry and wet months