Nitrogen deposition and soil nitrogen dynamics in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved stands along an age-sequence

In order to reveal the effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on forest ecosystems, we investigated the soil N dynamics across a chronosequence of subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest stands in eastern China for two years. Current atmospheric N deposition was 18 kg ha-1 year-1. Nitrogen fluxes in throughfall varied from 17 to 23 kg ha-1 year-1 with an increasing trend with stand age. The total N fluxes ranged from 7.3 to 9.3 kg ha-1 year¹ under the forest floor and from 1.2 to 2.5 kg ha-1 year¹ at 30-cm soil depth with the high values in the older stand. The net mineralization potentials in the old stands ranged from 19 to 24 mg kg-1 month-1, and were 30-55% higher than those in the young stands. The inorganic N concentration and flux at 30-cm soil depth were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with net mineralization potential. The potential N transformation rates were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with soil C/N ratio and DON while not with forest floor C/N ratio. Input-output budget suggests that the forest at our site is a finer buffering system to N deposition and is far from N saturation.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhao,H.F, Yao,X.J, Wang,Q, Chen,Y.S, Xu,X.N
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Chilean Society of Soil Science / Sociedad Chilena de la Ciencia del Suelo 2013
Online Access:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-95162013000200001
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