Effect of fertilization on biomass and nutrient content of fine roots in a beech-birch-maple stand

Safford, L. O.

doi:10.1007/bf00011517

Cited by 48 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…These data suggest that under ambient light conditions an increasing fraction of N was derived from fixation in T. pratense but that an increasing fraction of N was derived from the decomposition of SOM in F. virginiana. • Fertilization and irrigation tend to increase root proliferation in surface soil (Safford 1974;Prior et al 1994). Surface pools of SOM are more depleted in 15 N relative to deeper soil horizons, thus if greater N uptake occurred in the top of the soil profile in the PMoFe treatment, we would expect the foliage of T. pratense to be depleted in foliar d 15 N relative to the control treatments, the opposite of what was observed (Fig.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 68%

Bottom-up rather than top-down processes regulate the abundance and activity of nitrogen fixing plants in two Connecticut old-field ecosystems

Finzi

Rodgers

2009

Biogeochemistry

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The maintenance of nitrogen limitation in terrestrial ecosystems remains a central paradox in biogeochemistry. Although plants that form a symbiotic association with nitrogen fixing bacteria should be at a competitive advantage over non-fixing plant species in N limited environments, N 2 fixing plants are uncommon in most mid-to high-latitude ecosystems. Theory and observation suggest that preferential grazing on N-rich tissues by herbivores, resource limitations to growth, reproduction and N 2 fixation, and temperature limitations to the activity of the N 2 fixing enzyme nitrogenase, explain the rarity of N 2 fixing plants. These ideas, however, have never been confronted by multifactor experiments in the field. In a 3 year field experiment, we found that the abundance, growth, reproductive output and fraction of plant-N derived from N 2 fixation in temperate, old-field ecosystems was constrained by the availability of phosphorus (P). Although the availability of light was crucial to the performance of old-field N 2 fixing plants, the largest gains in biomass and the rate of N 2 fixation were observed in the plots fertilized with P. By contrast, herbivory had no effect on the abundance, biomass and activity of N 2 fixing plants and inconsistent effects on foliar nitrogen concentrations (opposing directions, depending upon year), suggesting that herbivores do not affect the ecology of N 2 fixing plants in old field ecosystems, at least not over the course of 3 years. Together with a recent study demonstrating that C limitation explains the absence of N 2 fixing trees in temperate forests our analysis suggests that stand replacing disturbances shift the limitation on the abundance and activity of N 2 fixing plants from P early in secondary succession to light later in succession, as the forest canopy closes and incident light levels decline precipitously.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 68%

Bottom-up rather than top-down processes regulate the abundance and activity of nitrogen fixing plants in two Connecticut old-field ecosystems

Finzi

Rodgers

2009

Biogeochemistry

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“…Some studies imply that fine root biomass increases in nutrient rich zones, while some species also have a high fine root biomass in nutrient poor zones. The average of fine root biomass of the forest ecosystems in this study (1.214 g (100cm 3 ) -1 ) was substantially lower than estimates from Safford (1974), but not all temperate forest ecosystems. It is likely that gravels constitute the large portion of soil profiles in Jiufeng area: 10% in the top soil of 15 cm, 15% to a soil depth of 30 cm and 20% at soil depths below 30 cm.…”

Section: Role Of Root Biomass In Soil Preferential Flow Of Forest Ecocontrasting

confidence: 77%

“…It is likely that gravels constitute the large portion of soil profiles in Jiufeng area: 10% in the top soil of 15 cm, 15% to a soil depth of 30 cm and 20% at soil depths below 30 cm. However, gravels constituted only 9% of the soil profiles studied by McClaugherty et al (1984) and Safford (1974) did not state gravels.…”

Section: Role Of Root Biomass In Soil Preferential Flow Of Forest Ecomentioning

confidence: 88%

Effects of fine root length density and root biomass on soil preferential flow in forest ecosystems

et al. 2015

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Aim of study: The study was conducted to characterize the impacts of plant roots systems (e.g., root length density and root biomass) on soil preferential flow in forest ecosystems.Area of study: The study was carried out in Jiufeng National Forest Park, Beijing, China.Material and methods: The flow patterns were measured by field dye tracing experiments. Different species (Sophora japonica Linn, Platycladus orientalis Franco, Quercus dentata Thunb) were quantified in two replicates, and 12 soil depth were applied. Plant roots were sampled in the sieving methods. Root length density and root biomass were measured by WinRHIZO. Dye coverage was implied in the image analysis, and maximum depth of dye infiltration by direct measurement.Main results: Root length density and root biomass decreased with the increasing distance from soil surface, and root length density was 81.6% higher in preferential pathways than in soil matrix, and 66.7% for root biomass with respect to all experimental plots. Plant roots were densely distributed in the upper soil layers. Dye coverage was almost 100% in the upper 5-10 cm, but then decreased rapidly with soil depth. Root length density and root biomass were different from species: Platycladus orientalis Franco > Quercus dentata Thunb > Sophora japonica Linn.Research highlights: The results indicated that fine roots systems had strong effects on soil preferential flow, particularly root channels enhancing nutrition transport across soil profiles in forest dynamics.Key words: soil preferential flow; preferential pathways; soil matrix; root length density; root biomass.

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“…The relatively small contribution of fine roots to Ca 2+ flux can be explained in part by the turnover rate. The concentration of Ca in fine roots is similar to that of other northern hardwood forests (Safford 1974), but are less than one-half the concentration found for other forests where data on fine root turnover are available (Joslin and Henderson 1987). Nevertheless, most of this decrease in Ca 2+ was due to uptake by the vegetation and subsequent recycling by canopy leaching and litter inputs.…”

Section: Calciummentioning

confidence: 64%

Seasonal and spatial patterns of S, Ca, and N dynamics of a Northern Hardwood forest ecosystem

Mitchell

Burke²,

Shepard

1992

Biogeochemistry

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Abstract. Seasonal dynamics of S, Ca and N were examined at the Huntington Forest, a northern hardwood ecosystem in the central Adirondacks of New York for a period of 34 months (1985)(1986)(1987)(1988). Solute concentrations and fluxes in bulk precipitation, throughfall (TF) and leachates from the forest floor, E horizon and B horizon were quantified. Both above and below-ground elemental fluxes mediated by vegetation (e.g. uptake, litter inputs, and fine roots production) were also determined. The roles of abiotic and biotic processes were ascertained based on both changes in solute concentrations through the strata of the ecosystem as well as differences between dormant and growing seasons. Concentrations of SOl-, NOT, NH + and Ca 2+ were greater in TF than precipitation. Forest floor leachates had greater concentrations of SO]-, NO 7 + NH + and Ca 2+ (9, 6 and 77 kteq L -1, respectively) than TF. There were differences in concentrations of ions in leachates from the forest floor between the dormant and growing seasons presumably due to vegetation uptake and microbial immobilization. Concentrations and fluxes of NO7 and NH + were greatest in early spring followed by a rapid decline which coincided with a demand for N by vegetation in late spring. Vegetation uptake (44.7 kg N ha -1 yr -1) could account for the low leaching rates of NO3. Within the mineral soil, changes with soil depth and the absence of seasonal patterns suggest that cation exchange (Ca 2+) or anion sorption (SO]-) are primarily responsible for regulating solute concentrations. The increase in SO4 z-concentration after leachates passed through the mineral soil may be attributed to desorption of sulfate that was adsorbed during an earlier period when SO]-concentrations would have been greater due to elevated S inputs.

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Effect of fertilization on biomass and nutrient content of fine roots in a beech-birch-maple stand

Cited by 48 publications

References 2 publications

Bottom-up rather than top-down processes regulate the abundance and activity of nitrogen fixing plants in two Connecticut old-field ecosystems

Bottom-up rather than top-down processes regulate the abundance and activity of nitrogen fixing plants in two Connecticut old-field ecosystems

Effects of fine root length density and root biomass on soil preferential flow in forest ecosystems

Seasonal and spatial patterns of S, Ca, and N dynamics of a Northern Hardwood forest ecosystem

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