Bioassay of forest floor nitrogen supply for plant growth

1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1320-1326 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Van Cleve ◽  
O. W. Heal ◽  
D. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
N Supply ◽  
Paper Birch ◽  
Forest Floors ◽  
P Supply

Using a bioassay approach, this paper considers the nitrogen-supplying power of forest floors from examples of the major forest types in interior Alaska. Yield and net N uptake by paper birch seedlings grown in standardized mixtures of quartz sand and forest floor organic matter, and separate incubation estimates of N mineralization and nitrification for the forest floors, were employed to evaluate potential N supply. Black spruce and floodplain white spruce forest floors supplied only one-fifth the amount of N taken up by seedlings growing in other forest floors. Incubation estimates showed these forest floors yielded 4 and 15 times less extractable N, respectively, than the more fertile birch forest floors. In comparison with earlier estimates of P supply from these same forest floors, the upland types showed greater deficiency of N whereas floodplain types showed greater deficiency of P in control of seedling yield. The latter condition is attributed to the highly calcareous nature of the floodplain mineral soil, the consequent potential for P fixation, and hence greater potential deficiency of the element compared with N in mineralizing forest floors. Nitrogen concentration of the forest floors was the best predictor of bioassay response.

The effect of wildfire on soil chemistry in four forest types in interior Alaska

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1389-1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. T. Dyrness ◽  
K. Van Cleve ◽  
J. D. Levison
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Soil Chemistry ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Available P ◽  
Ph Effects ◽  
Quaking Aspen ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Surface Mineral

Soil chemical properties were studied after a wildfire in stands of white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss), black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), paper birch (Betulapapyrifera Marsh.), and quaking aspen (Populustremuloides Michx.). Samples of the forest floor and surface 5 cm of mineral soil were collected from burned sites and unburned controls and analyzed soon after the fire. With the exception of soil pH, effects of the fire on soil chemistry differed among the four forest types. Generally, amounts of exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg did not appreciably increase in the forest floor and surface mineral soil except in heavily burned areas in white spruce and black spruce. Fire reduced amounts of N by about 50% in white spruce, aspen, and birch forest floors. In black spruce, quantities of N were slightly higher in heavily burned locations. Forest floor C:N ratios were substantially lower in heavily burned locations in white spruce and black spruce than in unburned controls. Burning did not have a marked influence on supplies of available P in the forest floor, except in heavily burned black spruce, where average amounts were 12.50 g/m2 versus only 0.46 g/m2 in the control. Burning caused more moderate gains in available P in surface mineral soils under aspen and white spruce. We concluded that fire caused marked short-term changes in soil chemistry in the four forest types. How long these changes will persist is unknown.

Productivity and nutrient cycling in taiga forest ecosystems

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 747-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Van Cleve ◽  
Lola Oliver ◽  
Robert Schlentner ◽  
Leslie A. Viereck ◽  
C. T. Dyrness
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Lignin Content ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Interior Alaska ◽  
Taiga Forest ◽  
Tree Production

This paper considers the productivity and nutrient cycling in examples of the major forest types in interior Alaska. These ecosystem properties are examined from the standpoint of the control exerted over them by soil temperature and forest-floor chemistry. We conclude that black spruce Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P. occupies the coldest, wettest sites which support tree growth in interior Alaska. Average seasonal heat sums (1132 ± 32 degree days (DD)) for all other forest types were significantly higher than those encountered for black spruce (640 ± 40 DD). In addition, black spruce ecosystems display the highest average seasonal forest-floor and mineral-soil moisture contents. Forest-floor chemistry interacts with soil temperature in black spruce to produce the most decay-resistant organic matter. In black spruce the material is characterized by the highest lignin content and widest C/N (44) and C/P (404) ratios. Across the range of forest types examined in this study, soil temperature is strongly related to net annual aboveground tree production and the annual tree requirement for N, P, K, Ca, and Mg. Forest floor C/N and C/P ratios are strongly related to annual tree N and P requirement and the C/N ratio to annual tree production. In all cases these controls act to produce, in black spruce, the smallest accumulation of tree biomass, standing crop of elements, annual production, and element requirement in aboveground tree components.

Bioassay of forest floor phosphorus supply for plant growth

1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Van Cleve ◽  
F. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
P Deficiency ◽  
Interior Alaska ◽  
Rooting Medium ◽  
Forest Floors ◽  
Work Supports ◽  
Plant Bioassays

This paper considers the extent to which phosphorus (P) supply for plant use is controlled by the chemical quality of forest floor organic matter, independent of climate. Using plant bioassays, forest floor materials from representative examples of each of the major forest types in interior Alaska were examined for nutrient supplying power. The work supports conclusions reached in earlier studies which indicated that black spruce forest floors were highly nutrient limited compared with those of other interior Alaska forest types. In addition, floodplain white spruce forests may experience marked P deficiency because of dilution of the element by periodic siltation. Potential phosphorus supply for seedling growth was best described by P concentration of the rooting medium. The supply also was related to the concentrations of lignin and tannin which control forest floor decomposition and recycling of P within the microbial population.

The effects of experimental fires on black spruce forest floors in interior Alaska

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 879-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. T. Dyrness ◽  
Rodney A. Norum
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Available P ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Total N ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Forest Floors ◽  
Surface Mineral ◽  
Total P

Seven units (about 2 ha each) of black spruce – feather moss forest were experimentally burned over a range of fuel moisture conditions during the summer of 1978. Surface woody fuels were sparse and the principal carrier fuel was the forest floor (largely mosses and their decomposition products). Forest floors after burning comprised a small-scale mosaic of unburned, scorched, lightly burned, moderately burned, and heavily burned (organic materials entirely consumed) conditions. Percentage of the unit area in the moderately and heavily burned condition ranged from 11.2 to 77.2% and percent decrease in forest-floor thickness varied from 27.4 to 63.1% in the seven units. Forest-floor consumption was most closely correlated with the moisture content of lower moss (01 horizon) and lower duff layers (022 horizon) at the time of burning. For the first 3 years after fire, biomass production was greater on heavily burned than on lightly burned sites (58 vs. 37 g/m2 on an annual basis). Heavily burned sites were completely dominated by the invading species Epilobiumangustifolium L., Ceratodonpurpureus (Hedw.) Brid., and Marchantiapolymorpha L., whereas lightly burned plots were occupied by sprouting species such as Calamagrostiscanadensis (Michx.) Beauv., Vacciniumuliginosum L., and Ledumgroenlandicum Oeder. Soil pH and amounts of total P and available P in the forest floor increased significantly as a result of burning; and in all cases, increases reached a maximum in moderately and heavily burned areas. Total N in the forest floor increased significantly in moderately burned, but decreased slightly in heavily burned areas. Total N and total P showed smaller increases in the surface mineral soil as a result of burning. Supplies of available P in the mineral soil increased almost 4-fold in moderately burned and over 16-fold in heavily burned areas.

Soil chemistry changes after 27 years under four tree species in southern Ontario

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 1648-1650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Anne France ◽  
Dan Binkley ◽  
David Valentine
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Soil Chemistry ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Stand Development ◽  
Acid Neutralization ◽  
White Pine ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Silver Maple ◽  
Paper Birch

After 27 years of stand development, the accumulated forest floor under replicated plots of white pine (Pinusstrobus L.), white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss), paper birch (Betulapapyrifera Marsh.), and silver maple (Acersaccharinum L.) ranged from 240 g/m2 under maple to 3680 g/m2 under white pine. Forest floor pH ranged from a low under maple of 3.7 to a high under white spruce of 5.9. No significant differences were found in pH in 0–15 cm depth mineral soil; however, substantial differences in the acid neutralization capacities were evident among species, with soils under maple showing the lowest capacity to resist further acidification.

Nitrogen transformations in feather moss and forest floor layers of interior Alaska black spruce ecosystems

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Weber ◽  
K. Van Cleve
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Nitrogen Transformations ◽  
Organic Matter Quality ◽  
Available N ◽  
Moss Species ◽  
Feather Moss ◽  
Interior Alaska

Permafrost-free and permafrost-dominated black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) ecosystems in interior Alaska were treated with low addition levels of high enrichment isotope (<1% of the total nitrogen pool with 99 at.% excess 15N) to describe nitrogen dynamics through pools of selected forest floor components. A thick carpet of mosses, made up primarily of the feather moss species Hylocomiumsplendens (Hedw.) B.S.G. and Pleuroziumschreberi (B.S.G.) Mitt, seemed to play a vital role in the nitrogen economy of the forest floor. Nitrogen, quickly immobilized in the moss layers (green, brown) and retained there, was released very slowly to the lower organic layers (021 + 022) where most of the vascular plant roots were located. 15N uptake by the vascular understory was minimal, as was15Nexport via the soil solution. Periodic mineralization episodes, more frequent and dynamic at the permafrost-free site (where C/N ratios were lower), were largely restricted to the moss layers since available N fractions in deeper forest floor layers incorporated little label over the 3-year period. In the lower layers of the forest floor (021 + 022) temperature rather than organic matter quality appeared to be the overriding factor controlling N flow.

Availability of nitrogen and phosphorus in the forest floors of Rocky Mountain coniferous forests

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy E. Prescott ◽  
John P. Corbin ◽  
Dennis Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Ammonium Phosphate ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Supply Rate ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Forest Floors ◽  
P Supply ◽  
Floor Material

Nutrient supply rate and limitation were measured in forest floors of lodgepole pine, white spruce–lodgepole pine, and Engelmann spruce–subalpine fir (pine, spruce, and fir forests, respectively) forests in the Kananaskis Valley of southwestern Alberta. Earlier analyses of the nutrient content of foliage and litter indicated low N and P supply in the pine forest, high P supply in the spruce forest, and high N–low P supply in the fir forest. Measurements of nutrient supply (insitu rates of net mineralization, extractable P, and uptake of N and P from the forest floor in pot trials) confirmed the differences in N and P supply among the forests and indicated that nutrient concentrations in needle litter were useful as an index of nutrient supply rate. Subtractive tests were useful in identifying the most limiting nutrients in each forest: lodgepole pine seedlings grown in forest floor material from the pine and spruce stands responded with increased growth to the addition of N; those in fir forest floor material responded to P addition. Vector analysis of N and P concentrations and contents in needles from trees fertilized with ammonium phosphate sulphate showed responses to both N and P in the pine site, no response at the spruce site, and response to P at the fir site.

Organic matter and nitrogen content of the forest floor in even-aged northern hardwoods

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 763-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Anthony Federer
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Content ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Organic Content ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Mature Forest ◽  
Forest Floors

Organic content of the forest floor decreases for several years after clear-cutting, and then slowly recovers. Thickness, bulk density, organic matter, and nitrogen content of forest floors were measured for 13 northern hardwood stands in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Stands ranged from 1 to about 100 years in age. Forest-floor thickness varied significantly with stand age, but bulk density, organic fraction, and nitrogen fraction were independent of age. Total organic content of the forest floor agreed very well with data from Covington's (W. W. Covington 1981. Ecology, 62: 41–48) study of the same area. Both studies indicated that mature forest floors have about 80 Mg organic matter•ha−1 and 1.9 Mg nitrogen•ha−1. Within 10 or 15 years after cutting, the organic matter content of the floor decreases to 50 Mg•ha−1, and its nitrogen content to 1.1 Mg•ha−1. The question whether the decrease is rapid and the minimum broad and flat, or if the decrease is gradual and the minimum sharp, cannot be answered. The subsequent increase to levels reached in mature forest requires about 50 years. Some of the initial decrease in organic matter and nitrogen content of the forest floor may be caused by organic decomposition and nitrogen leaching, but mechanical and chemical mixing of floor into mineral soil, during and after the harvest operation, may also be important. The difference is vital with respect to maintenance of long-term productivity.

Relationships between cellulose decomposition, Jenny's k, forest-floor nitrogen, and soil temperature in Alaskan taiga forests

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 789-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Fox ◽  
Keith Van Cleve
Keyword(s):  
Decomposition Rate ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Decomposition Rates ◽  
Cellulose Decomposition ◽  
Taiga Forest ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cellulose Filter

Forest-floor decomposition is compared among 16 Alaskan taiga forest stands. These include black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss), and birch (Betulapapyrifera Marsh.), aspen {Populustremuloides Michx.), and balsam poplar (Populusbalsamifera L.) types, spanning a wide range in decomposition rates, forest-floor microclimates, and litter quality. Jenny's index of decomposition rate, k, is reasonably well correlated with annual cellulose (filter-paper) decomposition differences among stands. Both estimates of decomposition rate are correlated with forest-floor heat sum and forest-floor nitrogen concentration. These between-site correlations support inferences based upon experimental work claiming that temperature and forest-floor chemical quality have a major influence upon the level of decomposition in a particular stand. Inferences about the factors regulating decomposition rate around an average level within one stand cannot legitimately be made from the same correlations. Moisture has not been considered in this analysis, but could also be important to between-stand differences in decomposition rate.

Soil oxygen within boreal forests across an age gradient

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Fenton ◽  
S. Légaré ◽  
Y. Bergeron ◽  
D. Paré
Keyword(s):  
Water Table ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Methodological Issue ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Forest Region ◽  
Feather Mosses ◽  
Spruce Stands ◽  
Potential Factors

Globally, soil anoxia and water table rise play a role in the development of peatlands from forests. Cited causes have included a diversity of internal and external mechanisms, including Sphagnum and feather mosses, hardpan development, and peatland expansion. The objectives of this study were to examine water table depth in black spruce stands of the Clay Belt of Quebec and Ontario, and to associate changes with potential stand scale causal factors (primarily biological). A methodological issue, the link between oxygen zone and water table, was also addressed. Within stands less than 100 yr post-fire, oxygen zone and water table position were only loosely related, and no other potential factors were significantly correlated. Across a chronosequence of stands, while oxygen zone thickness in the soil profile was relatively constant, its position relative to the mineral soil changed, as it rose from the mineral soil into the forest floor. Forest floor thickness was the dominant explanatory factor in oxygen zone position, suggesting that in these forests other postulated mechanisms are less important. At the landscape level, the movement of the oxygen zone into the forest floor has important consequences for the long-term productivity of this intensively exploited forest region. Key words: Water table, black spruce, paludification, forest floor, Clay Belt, Sphagnum

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