Canadian Journal of Pure & Applied Sciences

Abstract: This study was conducted at Doba in northern Ghana with the aim of characterizing litter production and decomposition in relation to different natural baobab stands. Purposive sampling technique was used to select baobab trees based on three aggregation regimes of the stands: highly-clumped trees, moderately-clumped trees and isolated trees. Each stand type was replicated three times. In each stand category, four 1x1 m square litter traps were placed in the four cardinal directions under the tree canopies. The accumulated litter in each trap was collected at two-week intervals from January to December, a period of one year. Litter decomposition was carried out using the litter bags technique. Each stand category received a total of 30 nylon litter bags (10 x15 cm) with 1.0 mm mesh size. In each litter bag, 50g of litter was placed and the litter bags buried at a depth of about 20 cm randomly in each respective stand category and litter decomposition determined. The results showed that the total amount of litter produced in one calendar year under isolated, moderately-clumped and the highly-clumped stands were 3146.26gm-2, 2963.04gm-2 and 3859.20 gm-2 respectively. The main litter components were leaf, flower, fruit, bark and twig. Litter decomposition varied significantly (P < 0.001) and the decomposition pattern in the three baobab stands showed an initial lag phase followed by rapid mass loss phase. However, litter decomposition in the highly-clumped stands was faster than those of the moderately-clumped and isolated baobab stands. The results further showed that the decomposition constants (k) obtained for the litter of the isolated and the highly-clumped stands were the same, while that of the moderately-clumped stand was slightly higher.