Table 1 Direct and indirect effect of litter production and decomposition on the physical and chemical environment

• Reduce the thermal amplitude in the soil

• Accumulation of litter intercept light, shading seeds and seedlings, which in turn decreases soil temperature (Krishna and Mohan 2007).

• Reduce evapotranspiration (ET) from the soil

• Reduce maximum soil temperatures

• Creates a barrier to water vapor diffusion (Argao et al. 2009).

• Diminish water availability

• Litter may retain a large proportion of rainfall (Vitousek and Sanford 1986).

• Reduce seed germination and seedling emergences

• Creates a barrier for sprouts and seedling emergence and prevent seeds to reach soils (Chapman and Koch 2007).

• Patchy accumulation of plant litter may alter community structure

• Litter of one species may affect the performance of a second species (Chapman and Koch 2007).

• Litter produced by one species may alter the interaction between a second and a third species (Melo et al. 2013).

• Increase CO₂ efflux

• Microbial decomposition can add more than 20% CO₂ efflux to the soil (Krishna and Mohan 2007).

• Increase nutrient return to the soil

• Litterfall is a crucial pathway for nutrient return to the soil (Krishna and Mohan 2007).