Decomposição da serapilheira foliar e liberação de nutrientes em Eucalyptus dunnii no Bioma Pampa

The release of nutrients by leaf litter decomposition is a significant part of biogeochemical cycling. The decomposition and nutrient release from leaf litter of Eucalyptus dunnii located in the Pampa Biome was evaluated. After closing of the canopy (18 months old), 648 litterbags were distributed in three plots on the soil; and, 18 samples per month during 36 months were collected. For each sample, the remaining mass was weighed and the concentration of nutrients determined. The remaining leaf mass after three years was 27.4%. The decomposition coefficient (k) was 0.37 with a half-life time (t(1/2)) of 1.55 years. The leaf litter after two years decomposition released more than 50% of the initial amount of each nutrient evaluated, except for the Fe, Cu and Zn. Potassium was the nutrient with the highest percentage of release during the initial months of decomposition of leaf litter, with 60% in the first month and more than 80% at three months. For other nutrients release was slow and gradual, as seen mainly for N and P, with 19 and 39% after 12 months and 60 and 67% at the end of 36 months of decomposition of leaf litter, respectively.