Abstract
Temporal changes in the nitrogen (N) and 15N content of various components of six-year-old kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa ‘Hayward’) vines which had received 15N-labelled ammonium fertilizer were measured. The fertilizer was applied singularly at 100 or 200 kg N ha−1 in early spring (two weeks before bud burst) or split with 100 kg N ha−1 (unlabelled) in early spring and 100 kg N ha−1 (15N-labelled) ten weeks later. All treatments were applied to vines with a history of either 50 or 200 kg N ha−1 yr−1.
The N concentration of leaf and fruit tissue was generally lower in the 100 kg N ha−1 treatment than in the 200 kg N ha−1 treatments and this effect was greater than that of N fertilizer history. During the first 8 weeks after bud burst there was a rapid accumulation of N in leaves (ca. 80 kg N ha−1). Analysis of xylem sap at 4 weeks after bud burst revealed that about 60% of the N utilised for new growth was from remobilisation of N stored within the vines and about 40% from soil and fertilizer N. This was unaffected by rate of N application.
Plant uptake of added 15N was rapid and almost complete within 10 weeks of application in either early spring or early summer. Initially, most 15N was present in the leaf and root components but these subsequently declined due to translocation into other components of the vine. The decline in leaf 15N coincided with an equivalent accumulation of 15N in the fruit.
The 15N enrichment of the ‘annual’ components (leaves, fruit and current-season's shoots) was about twice that of the structural components (one-year-old shoots, cordon, stem and structural roots) during the first year after application. By the third year the 15N concentration of the annual components had declined to similar levels to that of the structural components. These changes were used to estimate the annual throughput of N from soil in vines which received no N fertilizer in years 2 and 3 at 50% of total above-ground N and only 7% in roots. This was equivalent to about 120 kg N ha−1 yr−1. Where fertilizer N (200 kg ha−1) was applied in year 2 the annual throughput of N from soil and fertilizer was about 170 kg N ha−1.
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Ledgard, S.F., Smith, G.S. Fate of 15N-labelled nitrogen fertilizer applied to kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) vines. Plant Soil 147, 59–68 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009371
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009371