PRODUCCIÓN DE HOJARASCA EN Pinus halepensis Mill. Y Pinus cembroides Zucc. Y SU RELACIÓN CON ALGUNOS FACTORES CLIMÁTICOS.

Litterfall production is a measurement of net primary productivity, which is also related to carbon stores in the soil. The objective of this investigation was to quantify during one year the litterfall of a population of Pinus cembroides Zucc. (685 trees ha-1 of 60 years) and one of P. halepensis Mill. (3760 trees ha-1 of 20 years), located in the same site in the Sierra of Arteaga, Coahuila, México, and correlate it with the environmental factors. The collections were made monthly from March 2010 to February 2011. The Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test (95 %) indicated that litterfall was statistically higher (p£0.0001) in P. halepensis (27.21±22.11 g m-2 month-1) than in P. cembroides (8.19±10.75 g m-2 month-1), represented 2697.41 and 922.75 kg ha-1 year-1 and varied in time; tree density was a determining factor of these differences. In agreement with other studies, needlefall of P. cembroides presented low correlation with environmental factors, in contrast with P. halepensis, which is susceptible to changes of precipitation and temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]