Forest edges bordering on pasture were created by cutting and burning thesurrounding Amazonian lowland rain forest in the dry season (June) of1990. Litterfall was measured for 3.5 y along transects 10, 50, 100 and250-m into the forest from the forest edge. Litterfall along the 10-mtransects increased by up to 2.5 times that on spatial controls (250-mtransects) inthe dry season in which the edge was created. In the second dry seasonafter edge creation litterfall at 10-m was lower than on controls, afterwhich it returned to control rates in the second wet season, 1.5 y afteredge creation. Litterfall 50-m into the forest was less affected; therewas a smaller rise in the dry season in which the edge was cut, and nosignificant effects after that. At100-m there was no effect of edge creation on litterfall. Phosphorusconcentrations in litterfall were elevated along 10-m transects,10–12 wk after edge creation, possibly because of reducedretranslocation prior to abscission. The changes in litterfall describedhere are inextricably linked to the biomass collapse, which occurs nearforest-fragment edges in the same area.
