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Solution Chemistry in a Red Pine Plantation Thirty‐Nine Years after Potassium Fertilization
Author(s) -
Shepard James P.,
Mitchell Myron J.
Publication year - 1991
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/sssaj1991.03615995005500050041x
Subject(s) - throughfall , stemflow , leaching (pedology) , nutrient , chemistry , potassium , lessivage , human fertilization , deciduous , precipitation , soil chemistry , agronomy , environmental chemistry , environmental science , soil water , botany , soil science , biology , physics , meteorology , organic chemistry
Accelerated leaching of nutrient cations has been hypothesized as a potential effect of acidic deposition. Nutrient‐cation deficiencies resulting from accelerated cation leaching have been proposed as a contributing factor in forest decline in Europe. The objective of this study was to intensively characterize the solution chemistry of a forest ecosystem in order to assess the status of its nutrient‐cation losses. Precipitation, throughfall, stemflow, and soil solution chemistry were monitored for 3 yr in a red pine ( Pinus resinosa Ait.) plantation established in 1930 at the Pack Forest in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Plots fertilized with 0, 59, and 118 kg K ha −1 in 1948 (designated C, L, and H, respectively) were studied to compare K leaching in systems of different K status and to assess the longevity of K‐fertilization effects on solution chemistry. The concentration of K in throughfall and stemflow was higher in the two fertilized plots relative to the control although 39 yr had elapsed since K fertilization. Fertilized plots generally had higher K concentrations in soil solution in the 0‐ to 8‐ and 8‐ to 15‐cm depths, whereas no differences were found among plots in the 15‐ to 45‐cm depth. Input‐output budgets indicated that much less H, NO 3 , and SO 4 were leached below the rooting zone (0–45 cm) than were received from atmospheric (including dry) deposition. Net losses were observed for K, Ca, and Mg of 64, 294 and 17 mol c ha −1 yr −1 (15, 3, and 1% relative to the exchangeable pools), respectively. These losses were not large compared with other forests in the USA.