Nowadays, forests fragmentation is one of the main impacts in the natural communities and can lead to extinction of many species and modifications in many ecological processes. The present work aimed to evaluate the influence of the size and the edge of forest fragments in the production and accumulation of litter and in the canopy openness of four different-size forest fragments of the Atlantic Forest. The litter production was bigger in the larger fragment (8.90 t ha-1 year-1 in the interior and 8.76 t ha-1 year-1 in the edge) than in the three smaller fragments (7.29 t ha-1 year-1 in the interior and 7.27 t ha-1 year-1 in the edge), however the thickness of the litter layer deposited on the ground and the canopy openness of the forest had no relation with the size of the fragments. No difference was found in the production and accumulation of litter and canopy openness between areas of edge and interior. The dry season had a direct influence in the increase of the litter production. Concerning the fragment area, we can infer that the difference between litterfall and accumulation on the ground might be related with the greater decomposition rates in the larger fragment, due to the higher humidity. No relation between litter production and canopy openness was found, probably because of the great spatial heterogeity caused by the frequency of gap formation and structural complexity and deciduousness of the forest.
Atlantic rain forest; canopy openness; edge effects; forest fragments; litter
