ABSTRACT
This study had the objective of evaluating the litter and nutrients transfer to the soil in a second rotation area with Pinus taeda L. forest, during three years (5th to 7th year) in Cambará do Sul, RS. Three plots (48 m x 50 m) were allocated, each one with 5 collectors (1 m2). All the material deposited was collected monthly between April, 2004 and March, 2007. After each collection, the material was identified and sent to the Forest Ecology Laboratory at Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, where it was dried in a stove, weighed, milled and analyzed considering macro and micronutrient amounts. The litter annual average deposition was 4.519,1 kg ha-1, showing to be variable during the three years of study. The total return of macronutrients to the soil (kg ha-1 year-1) was 28,7 of Ca; 27,3 of N; 4,8 of Mg; 4,6 of K; 2,4 of S and 1,8 of P and the total of micronutrients (g ha-1 year-1) was 6.689,7 of Mn; 1.092,9 of Fe; 142,8 of Zn; 60,0 of B and16,7 of Cu.
Keywords:
forest nutrition; forest sustainability; forest production