Skip Navigation

Forestry 1992 65(1):15-33; doi:10.1093/forestry/65.1.15
© 1992 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by MILLER, H. G.
Right arrow Articles by MILLER, J. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Response of Pole-stage Sitka Spruce to Applications of Fertilizer Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium in Upland Britain

H. G. MILLER1, J. M. COOPER2 and J. D. MILLER2

1Department of Forestry, University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, AB9 2UD, Scotland
2Scottish Agricultural Statistics Service and Soils & Soil Microbiology Division, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen, AB9 2QJ, Scotland

Although there are many reports of growth responses to fertilizer N, P or K in young stands, and to fertilizer N in old stands, there are relatively few reported responses in pole-stage or middle-aged stands. Among reasons for this may be lack of experimental interest in stands of this age or a relatively scarce occurrence of a need for additional fertilizer inputs at a time when nutrient cycling, both within the tree and through the litter layer, is very efficient. To explore this, fertilizers were applied to six stands of spruce, aged 25 or 30 years, in contrasting regions of Scotland and North England. In four experiments no growth response was recorded, either to a single dressing of up to 400 kg N ha–1, 200 kg P ha–1 or 300 kg K ha–1, or various combinations of levels of these elements, or to subsequent heavier applications. In a further experiment on peat there was a weak response to P. In the remaining experiment a short-term response to PK was recorded but it is suggested that this was due to transient nutrient stress as the trees recovered from thinning. The pattern of responses, other than the last mentioned, accorded with predictions based on foliar analysis. Taken together these results seem to confirm the supposition that efficient nutrient cycling in middle-aged stands means that fertilizer responses are unlikely (but not impossible) at this stage.

Received 3 August 1990.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 The HoloceneHome page
T. M. Mighall, T. M. Mighall, J. G. A. Lageard, F. M. Chambers, M. H. Field, and P. Mahi
Mineral deficiency and the presence of Pinus sylvestris on mires during the mid- to late Holocene: palaeoecological data from Cadogan's Bog, Mizen Peninsula, Co. Cork, southwest Ireland
The Holocene, January 1, 2004; 14(1): 95 - 109.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.