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Availability of residual fertilizer 15 N from forest floor and mineral soil to Douglas-fir seedlings ten years after fertilization

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Abstract

Background and aims

As low initial uptake and essentially zero later uptake limit efficacy of N fertilization for temperate conifers, we investigated factors limiting long-term tree uptake of residual 15 N-labeled fertilizer.

Methods

We used a pot bioassay to assess availability of 15 N from soil sampled 10 years after fertilization of a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stand with 15 N-urea (200 kg N ha−1). Douglas-fir seedlings were grown for 2 years in organic (designated LFH) and mineral soil (0–10 cm) layers reconstructed from control and fertilized plots; residual fertilizer N amounted to 10 % of LHF and 5 % of MIN N.

Results

Percentage recovery of residual 15 N in seedlings was not affected by the original season of fertilization (spring vs. fall), but differed by the source of 15 N excess. LFH was a better source of residual 15 N; 12.4 % of residual LFH 15 N was taken up by seedlings and 7.6 % transferred to soil, whereas mineral soil yielded only 8.3 % of residual 15 N to seedling uptake and 2.4 % to LFH. Extractable inorganic N was 2–3 orders of magnitude higher in fallow pots.

Conclusions

Ten-year residual fertilizer 15 N was clearly cycling between LFH and mineral soil and available to seedlings, indicating that other factors such as denitrification, leaching, and asynchrony of soil N mineralization and tree uptake limit long-term residual N fertilizer uptake in the field.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Mel Scott, Forestry Consultant, for additional information on forest N fertilization in BC. Lisa Ganio, Oregon State University, kindly provided statistical advice and guidance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Research Station, US Forest Service, 410 MacInnes Drive, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Christopher W. Swanston

  2. Pacific Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada, 506W. Burnside Rd, Victoria, BC, V8Z1M5, Canada

    Caroline M. Preston

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  1. Christopher W. Swanston
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  2. Caroline M. Preston
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Correspondence to Caroline M. Preston.

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Responsible Editor: Stefano Manzoni.

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Swanston, C.W., Preston, C.M. Availability of residual fertilizer 15 N from forest floor and mineral soil to Douglas-fir seedlings ten years after fertilization. Plant Soil 381, 381–394 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2132-7

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