Abstract
In the U.S., high elevation spruce-fir forests receive greater amounts of nitrogen deposition relative to low elevation areas. At high elevations the cycling of nitrogen is naturally low due to slower decomposition and low biological N demand. The combination of these factors make spruce-fir ecosystems potentially responsive to changes in N inputs.
Excess nitrogen deposition across the northeastern United States and Europe has provided an opportunity to observe ecosystem response to changing N inputs. Effects on foliar and forest floor chemistry were examined in a field study of 161 spruce-fir sites across a longitudinal (west-to-east) N deposition gradient. Both foliar elemental concentrations and forest floor elemental concentrations and rates of potential N mineralization were correlated with position along this gradient.
Nitrogen deposition was positively correlated with potential forest floor nitrification and mineralization, negatively correlated with forest floor C:N and Mg concentrations and with spruce foliar lignin, lignin:N and Mg:N ratios. Foliar lignin:N and forest floor C:N were positively correlated and both were negatively correlated with nitrification and mineralization. Correlations found between forest floor and foliar N and Mg concentrations support the theory of nutrient imbalance as a potential cause of forest decline.
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McNulty, S.G., Aber, J.D. & Boone, R.D. Spatial changes in forest floor and foliar chemistry of spruce-fir forests across New England. Biogeochemistry 14, 13–29 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000884
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000884