**1. Introduction**

The Atlantic Forest biome is currently at an advanced change process from its original and primitive form, due to intensive occupation and exploitation over the past five centuries. The

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

devastation ofthe Atlantic Forest, atlarge, has been attributed to intensive use oftimber species of interest (mainly *Caesalpinia echinata*, popularly known as Brazilwood), and the establishment of areas for agriculture, pasture and urbanization. The advancement and establishment of agricultural areas and, consequently, fallen forests have reduced native forest massifs to fragmented forests, which has greatly compromised biological diversity and conservation of these forest ecotypes [1]. Even with the intense land‐use change, with only 12.5% of the original cover remaining (only fragments larger than 3.0 ha), the Atlantic Forest currently shows more than 15,000 plant species and more than 2000 species of vertebrate animals [2]. The biome has high diversity of endemic species, and is considered a priority area for conservation (hotspots). In it, 383 species of animals threatened with extinction are found [2].

Studies on native forests are of vital importance for a better understanding of the behavior of intrinsic characteristics to the ecosystem and must be performed before these ecosystems have all their original area changed by men [3]. The understanding of intrinsic characteris‐ tics aids to adopt proper programs for the recovery of degraded ecosystems. Therefore, a significant part of the areas that were changed due to changes in land use can be recovered. They can present again the ecological interactions necessary to ensure the biodiversity of fauna and flora. The recovery of ecosystems as a strategy to reverse the degradation process and enhance biodiversity conservation and provide ecosystem goods and services is already being implemented [4].

Mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, it is of utmost importance to have further infor‐ mation concerning the dynamics of nutrients in different compartments of a forest ecosystem. It is important in order to employ silvicultural practices to effectively ensure sustainable long‐ term management of altered ecosystem by land‐use change. Nutrient cycling occurs naturally, in part, by the throughfall of tree canopies and trunks by rainfall and through the deposition of senescent tissues (litter) and after their decomposition [5]. This process, nutrient cycling (plant‐soil‐plant), enables the development of forests in soils with low nutritional levels [6]. The organic material that accumulates under the forest works as a big sponge able to retain water, reduce evaporation and sudden variations of soil temperature, thus preventing erosion, improving soil structure and promoting the cycling of nutrients [7].

In addition to these benefits, the understanding of nutrient cycling through litterfall in forests is one of the key aspects to be studied for planning the use of tree species to recover degraded areas or for timber production [7]. The content of nutrients supplied to the forest soil can influence production capacity as well as the potential of environmental recovery, because the nutrients resulting from organic material cause changes to the chemical and physical charac‐ teristics of the soil [3].

In this chapter, we will present some information about the nutrients cycling in the Atlantic Forest biome, the most important biome in socio‐economic terms of Brazil. We will show the current status and characterization of existing forest types in the biome, description of nutrient cycles and factors affecting cycling in forests and indication and analysis of results of studies carried out throughout the biome and the potential of practical use of the data in areas with land‐use change.
