Passive and Active Restoration Strategies to Activate Soil Biogeochemical Nutrient Cycles in a Degraded Tropical Dry Land

Table 5

Indexes calculated for return, retention, and release of nutrients via leaf litter in successional patches of mosquero (SPM) and forest plantations of neem (FPN) (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹).

Indexes	SPM						FPN
	C	P	Ca	Mg	K	N	C	P	Ca	Mg	K	N
PNR	114.4	0.22	8.4	2.8	1.3	5.2	45.9	0.06	4.6	0.9	0.5	2.4
RNSL	67.9	0.18	1.6	0.2	0.9	3.9	18.0	0.03	1.5	0.3	0.1	1.8
𝑘𝑗	0.6	0.55	0.8	0.9	0.6	0.57	0.7	0.68	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.6
MRT	1.6	1.81	1.2	1.1	1.6	1.76	1.4	1.47	1.3	1.3	1.1	1.8
RNR	71.8	0.12	7.04	2.6	0.8	2.94	33.0	0.04	3.5	0.6	0.5	1.4

PNR: potential nutrient return rate (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), RNSL: retention of nutrients in the standing litter (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), 𝑘_𝑗: decomposition coefficient [𝑘_𝑗 = PNR/(PNR + RNS)], MRT: mean residence time [MRT = 1/𝑘_𝑗], RNR: real nutrient return rate [RNR = PNR *  𝑘_𝑗].