N saturation induced by atmospheric N deposition can have serious consequences for forest health in many regions. In order to evaluate whether foliar d 15 N may be a robust, regional-scale measure of the onset of N saturation in forest ecosystems, we assembled a large dataset on atmospheric N deposition, foliar and root d 15 N and N concentration, soil C:N, mineralization and nitrification. The dataset included sites in northeastern North America, Colorado, Alaska, southern Chile and Europe. Local drivers of N cycling (net nitrification and mineralization, and forest floor and soil C:N) were more closely coupled with foliar d 15 N than the regional driver of N deposition. Foliar d 15 N increased non-linearly with nitrification:mineralization ratio and decreased with forest floor C:N. Foliar d 15 N was more strongly related to nitrification rates than was foliar N concentration, but concentration was more strongly correlated with N deposition. Root d 15 N was more tightly coupled to forest floor properties than was foliar d 15 N. We observed a pattern of decreasing foliar d 15 N values across the following species: American beech>yellow birch>sugar maple. Other factors that affected foliar d 15 N included species composition and climate. Relationships between foliar d 15 N and soil variables were stronger when analyzed on a species by species basis than when many species were lumped. European sites showed distinct patterns of lower foliar d 15 N, due to the importance of ammonium deposition in this region. Our results suggest that examining d 15 N values of foliage may improve understanding of how forests respond to the cascading effects of N deposition.
The study examined the relationships between whole tree hydraulic conductance (Ktree) and the conductance in roots (Kroot) and leaves (Kleaf) in loblolly pine trees. In addition, the role of seasonal variations in Kroot and Kleaf in mediating stomatal control of transpiration and its response to vapour pressure deficit (D) as soil-dried was studied. Compared to trunk and branches, roots and leaves had the highest loss of conductivity and contributed to more than 75% of the total tree hydraulic resistance. Drought altered the partitioning of the resistance between roots and leaves. As soil moisture dropped below 50%, relative extractable water (REW), Kroot declined faster than Kleaf. Although Ktree depended on soil moisture, its dynamics was tempered by the elongation of current-year needles that significantly increased Kleaf when REW was below 50%. After accounting for the effect of D on gs, the seasonal decline in Ktree caused a 35% decrease in gs and in its sensitivity to D, responses that were mainly driven by Kleaf under high REW and by Kroot under low REW. We conclude that not only water stress but also leaf phenology affects the coordination between Ktree and gs and the acclimation of trees to changing environmental conditions.
In the early 1980s, nitrogen (N) deposition was first postulated as a cause of N saturation and spruce mortality across the northeastern US. In 1988, a series of high elevation spruce-fir forest N addition plots were established on Mt. Ascutney (southeastern) Vermont to test this hypothesis. The paired plots each received, in addition to ambient N deposition, 15.7 kg N ha-' (low N addition), 31.4 kg N ha-' (high N addition) or no N addition (control) from 1988 to 2002. Over the years, potential and annual in situ forest floor net N mineralization and net nitrification, foliar and forest floor elemental concentrations, and basal area growth by species were measured on each plot. Live basal area decreased by 18% on the low N addition plots, and by 40% on the high N addition plots between 1988 and 2002, while the control plots had a 9% increase in basal area over the same time period. Initially, none of the plots had measurable rates of in situ nitrification, but by 2002,21% of the mineralized N was being annually nitrified on the high N addition plots, compared to no net nitrification on the control plots. We also observed a significant increase in forest floor N concentration on the high N plots from 1988 to 2000. Reductions in live basal area, and increased net nitrification suggest that we induced late stage N saturation on the high N addition plots. The low N addition plots exhibited symptoms of mid-stage N saturation, with a smaller reduction in live basal area and net N mineralization, and a smaller increase in net nitrification compared to the high N addition plot values. Other correlations between forest floor and vegetation composition and function, and N saturation will be discussed in the paper.
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