Litter production and seed rain in semideciduous forest fragments at different successional stages in the western part of the state of Parana, Brazil

We documented litter production and seed rain in fragments of semideciduous forest (SDF) in the western part of the state of Parana, Brazil: a late successional fragment (LF); an early successional fragment (EF); and a reforested late successional fragment (RLF). In each fragment, we established three permanent plots with four litter traps each, corresponding to 12 litter traps per fragment. Botanical material was collected monthly between June 2011 and May 2012. We sorted the material by category: leaves; branches; reproductive structures; and miscellaneous. We analyzed the seed rain using the reproductive structures. Annual production was highest (11,560 kg.ha(-1)) in the LF, followed by the RLF, with 9330 kg.ha(-1), and the EF, with 7838 kg.ha(-1). The RLF yielded 7167 diaspores, from 33 species, compared with 4751 diaspores, from 38 species, for the EF; in both fragments, pioneer and anemochorous species predominated. The LF yielded 2173 diaspores, from 49 species, among which late secondary and climax species with zoochorous dispersal predominated. We observed asynchrony in the frequency of diaspore production of trees and lianas. Our data describe the dynamics of plant assemblages in SDF fragments and provide information on successional stages, dispersion syndromes, patterns of asynchrony, deciduousness, reproductive periods, and resource availability for frugivores.