Changes in ecosystem carbon and nitrogen in a loblolly pine plantation over the first 18 years
- University of Nevada, Reno
- ORNL
Eighteen years after the establishment of a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation, ecosystem C content had approximately tripled (from 54 to 161 Mg C ha{sup -1}) primarily because of increases in tree biomass. Ninety-three percent of the net ecosystem C accumulated in biomass (100 Mg C ha{sup -1}) and 6% of net ecosystem C accumulated in the forest floor (13 Mg C ha{sup -1}). No statistically significant changes in soil C were found. Growth responses to fertilization noted in Year 4 were no longer statistically significant in Year 18. Nitrogen accumulation in aboveground biomass and forest floor were approximately equal (averaging approximately 270 kg N ha{sup -1} each) and could have come from a combination of atmospheric deposition, soil N mineralization, and, in the treated plots, fertilizer input. No statistically significant changes in soil N content were found. The results of this study are similar to those from a previous study in a loblolly pine plantation in South Carolina but contrast with those in nearby deciduous forests where substantial changes in soil C and N over similar time periods have been noted.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 978227
- Journal Information:
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 67, Issue 5; ISSN 0361-5995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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