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Nutrient Cycling in a Red Pine Plantation Thirty‐Nine Years after Potassium Fertilization
Author(s) -
Shepard James P.,
Mitchell Myron J.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1990.03615995005400050037x
Subject(s) - nutrient , human fertilization , stemflow , cycling , agronomy , nutrient cycle , soil fertility , litter , biomass (ecology) , fertilizer , throughfall , zoology , environmental science , botany , biology , ecosystem , soil water , forestry , ecology , geography
Abstract Red pine ( Pinus resinosa Ait.) plantations planted in the late 1920s and early 1930s at the Pack Forest near Warrensburg, NY, showed severe nutrient deficiency symptoms after a few years. Numerous investigations revealed the soil to be extremely K deficient, due to a century of agricultural use. The present study was undertaken to describe long‐term effects of K fertilization and to more completely characterize nutrient cycling in K‐fertilized plantations and thus describe mechanisms responsible for the longevity of the K‐fertilization response. In 1948, three 0.04‐ha plots were established; two were fertilized with either 59 or 118 kg ha −1 K (designated LO and HI, respectively) and the third left untreated (CTL). Fertilization increased radial increment for ∼10 yr and resulted in increased basal area and tree height. In 1987 (39 yr after fertilization), soil exchangeable K in the upper 15 cm of the mineral soil remained greater in fertilized plots. Aboveground biomass in 1987 was 129, 164, and 190 Mg ha −1 , respectively in CTL, LO, and HI. In LO and HI, the N, P, Ca, Mg, and Na contents were 20 to 50% greater than in CTL. There was twice as much K in the aboveground vegetation of LO and HI than CTL, due primarily to increased foliar biomass. This was reflected in the greater litterfall as well as throughfall and stemflow fluxes of K in LO and HI relative to CTL. Fertility of the plots was maintained by the efficient cycling of nutrients, especially K, in the ecosystem.