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SEASONAL NUTRIENT DYNAMICS IN THE VEGETATION ON A SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN WATERSHED
Author(s) -
Day Frank P.,
Monk Carl D.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1977.tb10803.x
Subject(s) - nutrient , understory , evergreen , perennial plant , biology , vegetation (pathology) , nutrient cycle , productivity , ecosystem , agronomy , standing crop , canopy , environmental science , ecology , biomass (ecology) , medicine , macroeconomics , pathology , economics
Nutrient dynamics in vegetation play an important role in determining the circulation and storage of nutrients in an ecosystem. The major objectives of this study were to estimate the plant nutrient pools (K, Ca, Mg, and Na) on a hardwood forest watershed at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, North Carolina, on a seasonal basis and to relate any observed trends to seasonal productivity and phenology. Late‐summer nutrient standing crops in the vegetation were calculated to be 551 kg/ha Ca, 233 kg/ha K, 48 kg/ha Mg, and 48 kg/ha Na. Nitrogen, P, and K concentrations in the leaves decreased seasonally, whereas Ca concentrations increased and Mg and Na concentrations remained relatively constant. Nutrient concentrations in the woody portion of the plants remained relatively constant. Standing crops of all nutrients increased seasonally with slight decreases of N and K in the leaves in the fall. Major conclusions of the study were 1) individual species and different plant components have nutrient storage‐pool turnover times ranging from one year to several hundred years. Canopy species are important in long and short term nutrient cycles; nutrient‐rich understory species such as Cornus florida are important in the annual cycle; and evergreen species are important in cycles of intermediate length because of nutrient storage in their perennial leaves. 2) Even though most of the annual nutrient uptake is recycled the same season (92%, 79%, 93% and 68% of K, Ca, Mg, and Na uptake, respectively), the total accumulation of nutrients is considerable in a mature forest stand.