Nutrient translocation in the outer canopy and understory of an eastern deciduous forest

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1981 · For. Sci.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5761285

Luxmoore, R J; Grizzard, T; Strand, R H

The translocation of nutrients into and out of outer canopy leaves of ten eastern deciduous forest species was calculated from the temporal patterns of foliar nutrient pools sampled through a growing season. The calculations accounted for average chemical leaching effects due to rainfall. There were no significant differences in translocation rate between species within the evergreen, understory, or overstory-deciduous tree groups. Evergreen species had lower translocation rates than deciduous trees. Translocation rates into leaves of deciduous species showed a very rapid increase during spring; however, by late May, foliar phosphorus was being translocated at a slow rate back to stems. A similar trend was established for nitrogen by mid-June. An internal storage pool is suggested as the major source of foliar nitrogen during the spring flush since a simulation of nitrogen uptake from soil could only account for one-fourth of the quantity of nitrogen transported to leaves by the end of May. Simulation further showed that trace levels of soluble nitrogen (0.01 ppm) in soil were sufficient to supply a deciduous forest with an estimated nitrogen uptake of 100 kg N ha/sup -1/ year/sup -1/.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5761285
• Journal Information: For. Sci.; (United States), Vol. 27:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
CALCIUM
TRANSLOCATION
MAGNESIUM
NITROGEN
PHOSPHORUS
POTASSIUM
SODIUM
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
FORESTS
KINETICS
LEACHING
LEAVES
PRODUCTIVITY
SPECIES DIVERSITY
STIMULATION
TREES
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
METALS
NONMETALS
PLANTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SIMULATION
VARIATIONS
550500* - Metabolism