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Nutrient acquisition from different soil depths by pedunculate oak

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Abstract

Eight oak trees (Quercus robur L.) received 32P at a soil depth of 50 cm and 33P at a soil depth of 15 cm at the end of June 2002 through plastic tubes inserted into the mineral soil. The phosphorus uptake from different soil depths was estimated by analysing the concentration of 32P and 33P in the foliage of oak growing in a mixed stand in southern Sweden. 32P and 33P were recovered in the leaves/needles after 21 and 39 days. The recovery of labelled P in oak was higher from 15 cm soil depth than from 50 cm, however, more than 4% of the total amount of labelled P was taken up from 50 cm. This indicates that oak can utilize deep soil layers for nutrient uptake. A study on the uptake of Cs (as an analogue to K) and 15N into the leaves was performed on the same trees and detectable amounts of 15N and Cs were recovered in leaves and buds. This indicates that 15N and Cs can be used to study nutrient uptake of mature trees from the mineral soil.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Cecila and Rolf Roth for letting us perform this study in their beautiful forest, and for interesting discussions about forest management. Thanks to P.-O. Brandtberg for discussions about the method, and to Anders Jonshagen and Maria Tholin for assistance in the field and Louise Hathaway for correcting the language. This study was performed within the SUFOR project (Sustainable Forestry in Southern Sweden), which is financed by MISTRA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Ecology and Systematics, Lund University, Ecology Building, SE-223 64, Lund, Sweden

    Hans Göransson, Ulrika Rosengren & Ann-Mari Fransson

  2. Department of Microbial Ecology, Lund University, Ecology Building, SE-223 64, Lund, Sweden

    Håkan Wallander

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Gunnar Thelin

Authors
  1. Hans Göransson
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  2. Ulrika Rosengren
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  3. Håkan Wallander
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  4. Ann-Mari Fransson
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  5. Gunnar Thelin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans Göransson.

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Communicated by R. Matyssek

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Göransson, H., Rosengren, U., Wallander, H. et al. Nutrient acquisition from different soil depths by pedunculate oak. Trees 20, 292–298 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-005-0034-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-005-0034-2

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