Table 3 The C stored in the various component of litter layer and woody debris of Eucalyptus and Acacia plantations (t·ha⁻¹).

Type	Period	Leaf	Brach	Bark	Fruit	Litter layer	Snags	logs	WD	C stock of ecosystem
Eucalyptus	Young	0.49 ± 0.14Aa	0.29 ± 0.26a	0.05 ± 0.04a	0.08 ± 0.07a	0.91 ± 0.40A	—	—	—	29.75 ± 17.42a
	Middle-aged	1.37 ± 0.43a	1.26 ± 0.75b	0.22 ± 0.11ab	0.12 ± 0.08a	2.97 ± 0.66Ba	0.40 ± 0.20	0.18 ± 0.14	0.58 ± 0.23	75.67 ± 12.44b
	Mature	2.73 ± 1.02Bb	1.07 ± 0.20ab	0.39 ± 0.32b	0.16 ± 0.14a	4.34 ± 0.63Bb	0.46 ± 0.36	0.75 ± 0.06	1.21 ± 0.30	103.16 ± 3.69c
Acacia	Young	1.55 ± 0.09Aa	0.28 ± 0.06Aa	0.05 ± 0.01a	0.02 ± 0.02a	1.91 ± 0.17A	0.10 ± 0.05A	0.33 ± 0.10a	0.43 ± 0.13A	43.84 ± 2.70a
	Middle-aged	3.42 ± 0.78Ab	2.04 ± 0.48Bb	0.15 ± 0.09ab	0.11 ± 0.05b	5.73 ± 1.12Ba	2.76 ± 1.04Ba	1.80 ± 1.33ab	4.56 ± 1.11B	70.53 ± 13.02b
	Mature	5.83 ± 1.21B	1.43 ± 0.68Ab	0.22 ± 0.06b	0.09 ± 0.07ab	7.57 ± 0.95Bb	3.94 ± 1.01Ba	2.74 ± 1.30b	6.68 ± 0.38C	94.47 ± 11.95c
Forest types		**	ns	ns	ns	*	**	**	**	ns

Note: Values are shown as mean ± SD; different lower case (P < 0.05) and upper case (P < 0.01) letters within a column indicate a significant difference between the various ages of a given forest type; for instance, for C stored in leaf in Acacia plantations, the only significant difference (P < 0.05) was presented between young plantations and middle-aged plantations, while an extremely difference (P < 0.01) was observed between young plantations and mature plantations; ns: not significant, *significant difference (P < 0.05), **extremely significant difference (P < 0.01) between the Eucalyptus and Acacia plantations. The C stock of the ecosystem was obtained by multiplying the mass of each component by its C concentration. Thus, the ecosystem’s C stock represents the sum of the C stock of the canopy layer, the understory layer, the litter layer and the woody debris.

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