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The role of harvest residues to sustain tree growth and soil nitrogen stocks in a tropical Eucalyptus plantation

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Abstract

Aims

Tropical plantations are likely to supply a growing share of the increasing world demand for forest products. We aimed to gain insight into the role of the nitrogen (N) contained in harvest residues (HR) for tree growth and soil N stocks.

Methods

We used 15N-labeled harvest residues to (1) study the dynamic of N release throughout decomposition, (2) determine the vertical transport pathways of N from the forest floor to the upper soil layers, and (3) quantifying the contributions of HR to soil N stocks and the supply of N to young Eucalyptus trees.

Results

Almost all of the 15N initially contained in the HR was recovered 27 months after deposition, with 21 % remaining in HR, 38 % being transferred to the underlying O layer, 21 % being transferred to the 0–15 cm soil layer, and approximately 15 % accumulating in the tree biomass. Our results supported the presence of two pathways of N transfers from the O layer to the mineral soil: (1) the leaching of dissolved 15N from fresh litter during the first year after planting which actively contributed to Eucalyptus N nutrition and (2) the transport of particulate organic matter in percolating water which contributed to maintain N stocks in the first 15 cm of the soil. Approximately 40 % of the N content in 2-year-old Eucalyptus trees was derived from the labeled HR.

Conclusions

The sustainability of fast-growing Eucalyptus trees established on N-poor sandy tropical soils largely relies on organic residues, as an early source of mineral N for tree and as a source of organic N in the top soil.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the research Centre on Sustainability and Productivity of Industrial Plantations (CRDPI), the Republic of the Congo, and Eucalyptus Fiber Congo. We are grateful to T. Matsoumbou, S. Ngoyi, A. Diamesso, and A. Kinana from the CRDPI who performed field measurements; to Christian Hossan, Claude Brechet, and Nicolas Angeli from the Plateau Technique d′Ecologie Fonctionnelle-pôle isotopie of the INRA of Nancy who performed IRMS analyses. We thank Alain Robert for termite identification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIRAD, UMR111, Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Biogéochimie des Sols & Agro-écosystèmes, F34060, Montpellier, France

    Antoine Versini, Louis Mareschal, Laurent Saint-André & Jean-Paul Laclau

  2. Centre de Recherche sur la Durabilité et la Productivité des Plantations Industrielles, BP 1291, Pointe Noire, Congo

    Antoine Versini, Jean-Claude Mazoumbou & Louis Mareschal

  3. INRA, UR1138, Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes forestiers, Champenoux, France

    Antoine Versini, Bernd Zeller, Delphine Derrien, Laurent Saint-André & Jacques Ranger

  4. Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Ecologia, 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jean-Paul Laclau

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  1. Antoine Versini
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  2. Bernd Zeller
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  3. Delphine Derrien
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  4. Jean-Claude Mazoumbou
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  5. Louis Mareschal
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  6. Laurent Saint-André
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  7. Jacques Ranger
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  8. Jean-Paul Laclau
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Correspondence to Antoine Versini.

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Versini, A., Zeller, B., Derrien, D. et al. The role of harvest residues to sustain tree growth and soil nitrogen stocks in a tropical Eucalyptus plantation. Plant Soil 376, 245–260 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1963-y

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