Skip Navigation

Forestry 1996 69(4):289-302; doi:10.1093/forestry/69.4.289-a
© 1996 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, J. D.
Right arrow Articles by MILLER, H. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Amounts and nutrient weights in litterfall, and their annual cycles, from a series of fertilizer experiments on pole-stage Sitka spruce

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

1Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB9 2QJ, Scotland
2Forestry Department, University of Aberdeen Aberdeen AB9 2UD, Scotland

Litterfall from both control and fertilized (NPK) plots was collected over a 5-year period from trees aged 25–30 in six stands of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) stratified by climatic zones across Scotland and northern England. In addition, soil organic matter was sampled separately as litter and humus at the outset and completion of the experiment. Annual rates of total litterfall (and needle fall) ranged from 2441 (2221) to 4454 (3965) kg–1 ha–1 a–1, with variations between sites being unrelated to either standing volumes or growth rates. The application of NPK did progressively and significantly increase the amount of needle fall at most sites although there was no correlation with growth rates. Across all sites and treatments litterfall transferred 28 kg nitrogen, 2.5 kg phosphorus, 7.6 kg potassium, 18 kg calcium and 2.3 kg magnesium ha–1 a–1 from the trees to the soil. Concentrations of most nutrients in litter were greatest in early May, but the maximum rate of litterfall, and hence rate of transfer of nutrients, occurred in late July and early August. Litter and humus accumulated at these sites ranged from 22.3 to 35.6 t ha–1 from which it was estimated that the turnover time for decomposing litter was generally 8–10 years, rising to more than 13 years at the coldest site; the assumptions behind these figures are discussed.

Received 26 April 1995.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




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.