Abstract
We followed the movements of 15N-labelled nitrate additions into biomass and soil pools of experimental plots (15×15 m each) in a mid-successional beech-maple-birch-spruce forest in order to identify sinks for nitrate inputs to a forest ecosystem. Replicate plots (n=3) were spray-irrigated with either 28 or 56 kg N ha−1 year−1 using 15N-labelled nitric acid solutions (δ15N = 344‰ ) during four successive growing seasons (April–October). The 15N contents of foliage, bolewood, forests floor and mineral soil (0–5 cm) increased during the course of treatments. Mass balance calculations showed that one-fourth to one-third of the nitrate applied to forest plots was assimilated into and retained by above ground plant tissues and surface soil horizons at both rates of nitrate application. Plant and microbial assimilation were of approximately equal importance in retaining nitrate additions to this forest. Nitrate use among tree species varied, however, with red spruce showing lower rates of nitrate assimilation into foliage and bolewood than American beech and other deciduous species.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aber JD, Nadelhoffer KJ, Steudler PA, Melillo JM (1989) Nitrogen saturation in forest ecosystems. BioScience 39: 378–386
Breemen N van, Dijk HFG van (1988) Ecosystem effects of atmospheric deposition in the Netherlands. Atmos Pollut 54: 249–274
Buchmann N, Gebauer G, Oren R, Schulze E-D (1993) 15N application to a 12-year-old Norway spruce plantation in the Fichtelgebirge, NE-Bavaria, FRG-pathways and dynamics. In: Rasmussen L, Brydges T, Mathy P (eds) Experimental manipulations of biota and biogeochemical cycling in ecosystems: approach, methodologies, findings (CEC Ecosystems Research Report no. 4). ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels Luxembourg, pp 173–181
Buchmann N, Schulze E-D, Gebauer G (1995) 15N-ammonium and 15N-nitrate uptake of a 15-year-old Picea abies plantation. Oecologia, (in press)
David MB, Fuller RD, Fernandez IJ, Mitchell MJ, Rustad LE, Vance GF, Stam AC, Nodvin SC (1990) Spodosol variability and assessment of response to acidic deposition. J Soil Sci Soc Am 54: 541–548
Davidson EA, Hart SC, Firestone MK (1992) Internal cycling of nitrate in soils of a mature coniferous forest. Ecology 73: 1148–1156
Downs MR, Nadelhoffer KJ, Melillo JM, Aber JD. Nitrate immobilization by decomposing litter in a beech-maple-red spruce forest. Oecologia (in press)
Driscoll CT, Yatsko CP, Unangst FJ (1987) Longitudinal and temporal trends in the water chemistry of the North Branch of the Moose River. Biogeochemistry 3: 37–62
Ellenberg H (1977) Stickstoff als Standortsfaktor, insbesondere für mitteleuropäische Pflanzengesellschaften. Oecol Plant 12: 1–22
Eno CF (1960) Nitrate production in the field by incubating the soil in polyethelene bags. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 24: 277–279
Fry B (1991) Stable isotope diagrams of freshwater foodwebs. Ecology 72: 2293–2297
Fry B, Brand W, Mersch FJ, Tholke K, Garritt R (1992) Automated analysis system for coupled 301-1 and 301-2 measurements. Anal Chem 64: 288–291
Garten CT (1993) Variation in foliar 15N abundance and the availability of soil nitrogen on Walker Branch Watershed. Ecology 74: 2098–2113
Gebauer G, Schulze E-D (1991) Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in different compartments of a healthy and a declining Picea abies forest in the Fichtelgebirge, NE Bavaria. Oecologia 87: 198–207
Gosz JR, Likens GE, Bormann FH (1973) Nutrient release from decomposing leaf and branch litter in the Hubbard Brook Forest, New Hampshire. Ecol Monogr 43: 173–191
Hauhs M, Wright RF (1986) Regional pattern of acid deposition and forest decline along a cross section through Europe. Water Air Soil Pollut 42: 183–201
Kahl JS, Norton SA, Fernandez IJ, Nadelhoffer KJ, Aber JD (1993) Experimental inducement of nitrogen saturation at the watershed scale. Environ Sci Technol 27: 565–568
McNulty SG, Aber JD, Boone RD (1991) Spatial changes in forest floor and foliar chemistry of spruce-fir forests across New England. Biogeochemistry 14: 13–29
Melillo JM, Aber JD, Muratore JF (1982) Nitrogen and lignin control of hardwood leaf litter decomposition dynamics. Ecology 63: 621–626
Murdoch PS, Stoddard JL (1992) The role of nitrate in the acidification of streams in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Water Resources Res 28: 2707–2720
Nadelhoffer KJ, Fry B (1988) Controls on natural nitrogen-15 and carbon-13 abundances in forest soil organic matter. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52: 1633–1640
Nadelhoffer KJ, Fry B (1994) Nitrogen isotope studies in forest ecosystems. In: Lajtha K, Michener R (eds) Stable isotope studies in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 22–44
Nadelhoffer KJ, Aber JD, Downs MR, Fry B, Melillo JM (1993) Biological sinks for nitrogen additions to a forested catchment. In: Rasmussen L, Brydges T, Mathy P (eds) Experimental manipulations of biota and biogeochemical cycling in ecosystems: approach, methodologies, findings (CEC Ecosystems Research Report no. 4). ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels Luxembourg, pp 64–70
Rustad LE, Fernandez IJ, Fuller RD, David MB, Nodvin SC, Halteman WA (1993) Soil solution response to acidic deposition in a northern hardwood forest. Agric Ecosys Environ 47: 117–134
Schimel JP, Firestone MK (1989) Nitrogen incorporation and flow through a coniferous forest profile. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53: 779–784
Schulze E-D (1989) Air pollution and forest decline in a spruce (Picea abies) forest. Science 244: 776–783
Tamm CO (1991) Nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems: questions of productivity, vegetational changes and ecosystem stability (Ecological Studies vol 81). Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Veen JA van, Ladd JN, Martin JK, Amato M (1987) Turnover of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus through the microbial biomass in soils incubated with 14C-, 15N- and 32P-labelled bacterial cells. Soil Biol Biochem 19: 559–565
Wright RF, Lotse E, Semb A (1988) Reversibility of acidification shown by whole catchment experiments, Nature 334: 670–675
Zak DR, Groffman PM, Pregitzer KS, Christensen S, Tiedje JM (1990) The vernal dam: plant-microbe competition for nitrogen in northern hardwood forests. Ecology 71: 651–656
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nadelhoffer, K.J., Downs, M.R., Fry, B. et al. The fate of 15N-labelled nitrate additions to a northern hardwood forest in eastern Maine, USA. Oecologia 103, 292–301 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328617
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328617