Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A nitrogen budget for late-successional hillslope tabonuco forest, Puerto Rico

  • Chapter
New Perspectives on Nitrogen Cycling in the Temperate and Tropical Americas

  • 366 Accesses

Abstract

Nitrogen budgets of late successional forested stands and watersheds provide baseline data against which the effects of small- and large-scale disturbances may be measured. Using previously published data and supplemental new data on gaseous N loss, we construct a N budget for hillslope tabonuco forest (HTF) stands in Puerto Rico. HTF stands are subject to frequent hurricanes and landslides; here, we focus on N fluxes in the late phase of inter-disturbance forest development. N inputs from atmospheric deposition (4–6 kg N/ha/yr) are exceeded by N outputs from groundwater, gaseous N loss, and particulate N loss (6.3–15.7 kg N/ha/yr). Late-successional HTF stands also sequester N in their aggrading biomass (8 kg N/ha/yr), creating a total budget imbalance of 8.3–19.7 kg N/ha/yr. We surmise that this imbalance may be accounted for by unmeasured inputs from above- and belowground N-fixation and/or slow depletion of the large N pool in soil organic matter. Spatial and temporal variability, especially that associated with gaseous exchange and soil organic matter N-mineralization, constrain the reliability of this N budget.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adams MA & Attiwill PM (1992) Nutrient balance in forests of northern Tasmania: Atmospheric inputs and within-stand cycles. Forest Ecology and Management 44: 93–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakwin PS, Wofsy SC, Fan SM & Keller M (1990) Emission of nitric oxide (NO) from tropical forest soils and exchange of NO between the forest canopy and the atmospheric boundary layers. J. Geophys. Res. 95: 16755–16763

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Belillas CM & Roda F (1991) Nutrient budgets in a dry heathland watershed in northeastern Spain. Biogeochemistry 13: 137–158

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bormann FH, Likens GE & Melillo JM (1977) Nitrogen budget for an aggrading northern forest ecosystem. Science 196: 981–983

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bormann BT, Bormann FH, Bowden WB, Pierce RS, Hamburg SP, Snyder DW, Snyder MC, Li CY & Ingersoll RC (1993) Rapid N2 fixation in pines, alder, and locust: evidence from the sandbox ecosystem study. Ecology 74: 583–598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowden WB, McDowell WH, Asbury CE & Finley AM (1992) Riparian nitrogen dynamics in two geomorphologically distinct tropical rain forest watersheds: nitrous oxide fluxes. Biogeochemistry 18: 77–79

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Breznak JA & Brill WJ (1973) Nitrogen fixation in termites. Nature 244: 577–579

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown S, Lugo AE, Silander S & Liegel L (1983) Research history and opportunities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest. U.S. Forest Service General Technical Report SO-44, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruijnzeel LA (1991) Nutrient input-output budgets of tropical forest ecosystems: A review. J. Tropical Ecology 7: 1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crow TR (1980) A rainforest chronicle: a 30-year record of change in structure and composition at El Verde, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 12: 42–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cushon GH & Feller MC (1989) Asymbiotic nitrogen fixation and denitrification in a mature forest in coastal British Columbia. Can. J. Forest Res. 19: 1194–1200

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlgren RA (1994) Soil acidification and nitrogen saturation from weathering of ammoniumbearing rock. Nature 368: 838–841

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll CT in prep. Edmisten J (1970) Soils studies in the El Verde Rain Forest. In: Odum HT & Pigeon RF (Eds) A Tropical Rain Forest (pp 15–20). NTIS, Virginia, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Eklund TJ, McDowell WH & Pringle CM (1997) Seasonal variation of tropical precipitation chemistry: La Selva, Costa Rica. Atmospheric Environment 31: 3903–3910

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson H, et al. in prep. Forman RT (1975) Canopy lichens with blue-green algae: A nitrogen source in a Colombian rain forest. Ecology 56: 1176–1184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer T, Bergmann C & Huettl RF (1996) Soil carbon and nitrogen budget in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands along an air pollution gradient in eastern Germany. Water Air and Soil Pollution 85: 1671–1676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedland AJ, Miller EK, Battles JJ & Thorne JF (1991) Nitrogen deposition, distribution and cycling in a subalpine spruce-fir forest in the Adirondacks, New York, USA Biogeochemistry 14: 31–55

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Martinó AR, Warner GS, Scatena FN & Civco DL (1996) Rainfall, runoff and elevation relationships in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Caribbean J. Science 32: 413–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Holdridge LR (1967) Life zone ecology. Tropical Science Center, San Jose, Costa Rica

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson DW, Van Miegroet H, Lindberg SE, Todd DE & Harrison RB (1991) Nutrient cycling in red spruce forests of the Great Smoky Mountains (North Carolina, USA). Canadian J. Forest Research 21: 769–787

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson CE, Driscoll CT, Fahey TJ, Siccama TG & Hughes JW (1995) Carbon dynamics following clear-cutting of a northern hardwood forest. In: McFee WW & Kelly JM (Ed.) Carbon forms and functions in forest soils (pp 463–488). Soil Science Society of America, Inc. Madison WI, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan CF, Caskey W, Escalante G, Herrera R, Montagnini F, Todd R & Uhl C (1982) The nitrogen cycle in a “Terra Firme” rainforest on oxisol in the Amazon territory of Venezuela. Plant and Soil 67: 325–332

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan WA, Wofsy SC, Keller M & da Costa JM (1988) Emission of NO and deposition of O3 in a tropical forest system. J. Geophys. Res. 93: 1389–1395

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keller M, Kaplan WA & Wolfsy SC (1986) Emissions of N2O, CH4 and CO2 from tropical forest soils. J. Geophys. Res. 91: 11791–11802

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keller M & Reiners WA (1994) Soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, and methane under secondary succession of pasture to forest in the Atlantic Lowlands of Costa Rica. Global Biogeochemistry 8: 399–409

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Langford AO & Fehsenfeid FC (1992) Natural vegetation as a source or sink for atmospheric ammonia: A case study. Science 255: 581–583

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Likens OE, Bormann FH, Pierce RS, Eaton JS & Johnson NM (1977) Biogeochemistry of a Forest Ecosystem. Spingier-Verlag, New York, New York, USA

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lodge DJ, Scatena FN, Asbury CE & Sanchez MJ (1991) Fine litterfall and related nutrient inputs resulting from Hurricane Hugo in subtropical wet and lower montane rain forests of Puerto Rico. Biotropica 23: 336–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovett GM & Lindberg SE (1993) Atmospheric deposition and canopy interactions of nitrogen in forests. Can. J. Forest Res. 23: 1603–1616

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lugo AE & Scatena FN (1996) Background and catastrophic tree mortality in tropical moist, wet and rain forests. Biotropica 28: 585–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martius C (1994) Diversity and ecology of termites in Amazonian forests. Pedobiologia 38: 407–428

    Google Scholar 

  • McClaugherty CA, Aber JD & Melillo JM (1982) The role of fine roots in the organic matter and nitrogen budgets of two forested ecosystems. Ecology 63: 1481–1490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell WH, Bowden WB & Asbury CE (1992) Riparian nitrogen dynamics in two geomorpholoically distinct tropical rain forest watersheds: subsurface solute patterns. Biogeochemistry 18: 53–75

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell WH & Asbury CE (1994) Export of carbon, nitrogen, and major ions from three tropical montane watersheds. Limnology and Oceanography 39: 111–125

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell WH, Gines-Sanchez C, Asbury CE & Ramos-Perez CR (1990) Influence of sea salt aerosols and long range transport on precipitation chemistry at El Verde, Puerto Rico. Atmospheric Environment 24A: 2813–2821

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell WH (1998) Internal nutrient fluxes in a tropical rain forest. J. Tropical Ecology 14: 521–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, WH, McSwiney, CP & Bowden WB (1996) Effects of hurricane disturbance on groundwater chemistry and riparian function in a tropical rain forest. Biotropica 28: 577–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell MJ, Foster NW, Shepard JP & Morrison IK (1992) Nutrient cycling in Huntington Forest and Turkey Lakes deciduous stands: Nitrogen and sulfur. Can. J. Forest Res. 22: 457–464

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell MJ, Raynal DJ & Driscoll CT (1996) Biogeochemistry of a forested watershed in the central Adirondack Mountains: Temporal changes and mass balance. Water Air and Soil Pollution 88: 355–369

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monk CD & Day FP Jr (1988) Biomass, primary production, and selected nutrient budgets for an undisturbed watershed. In Swank WT & Crossley DA Jr (Eds) Forest Hydrology and Ecology at Coweeta (pp 151–159). Springer-Verlag, New York, USA

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mosier AR & Klemedtsson L (1994) Measuring denitrification in the field. In: Weaver RW, Angle S, Bottomley P, Bezdicek D, Smith S, Tabatabai A, and Wollum A (Eds) Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 2, Microbiological and Biochemical Properties (pp 1047–1065). Soil Science of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons WFJ, Mitre ME, Keller M & Reiners WA (1993) Nitrate limitation of N2O production and denitrification from tropical pasture soils. Biogeochemistry 22: 179–193

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry DA, Chogquette C & Schroeder P (1987) Nitrogen dynamics in conifer-dominated forests with and without hardwoods. Can. J. Forest Res. 17: 1434–1441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry DA (1994) Forest Ecosystems. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Quails RG & Haines BL (1991) Geochemistry of dissolved organic nutrients in water percolating through a forest ecosystem. Soil Science Society of America J. 55: 1112–1123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quails RG, Haines BL & Swank WT (1991) Fluxes of dissolved organic nutrients and humic substances in deciduous forest. Ecology 72: 254–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raghubanshi AS (1992) Effect of topography on selected soil properties and nitrogen mineralization in a dry tropical forest. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 24: 145–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson GP, Huston MA, Evans FC & Tiedje JM (1988) Spatial variability in a successional plant community: Patterns of nitrogen availability. Ecology 69: 1517–1524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy S & Singh JS (1995) Seasonal and spatial dynamics of plant-available N and P pools and N-mineralization in relation to fine roots in a dry tropical forest habitat. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 27: 33–40

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roy S & Singh JS (1994) Consequences of habitat heterogeneity for availability of nutrients in a dry tropical forest. J. Ecology 82: 503–509

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scatena FN & Lugo AE (1995) Gcomorphology, disturbance, and the soil and vegetation of two subtropical wet steepland watersheds of Puerto Rico. Geomorphology 13: 199–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scatena FN, Silver W, Siccama T, Johnson A & Sanchez MJ (1993) Biomass and nutrient content of the Bisley experimental watersheds, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, before and after Hurricane Hugo, 1989. Biotropica 25: 15–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scatena FN (1990) Watershed scale rainfall interception on two forested watersheds in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. J. Hydrology 113: 89–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scatena FN, Moya S, Estrada C & Chinea JD (1996) The first five years in the reorganization of aboveground biomass and nutrient use following Hurricane Hugo in the Bisley Experimental Watersheds, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 28: 424–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver WL & Vogt KA (1993) Fine root dynamics following single and multiple disturbances in a subtropical wet forest ecosystem. J. Ecology 81: 729–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver WL, Scatena FN, Johnson AH, Siccama TG & Sanchez MJ (1994) Nutrient availability in a montane wet tropical forest: Spatial patterns and methodological considerations. Plant and Soil 164: 129–145

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silver WL, Scatena FN, Johnson AH, Siccama TG & Watt F (1996) At what scale does disturbance affect belowground nutrient pools? Biotropica 28: 441–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sollins P, Grier CC, McCorison FM, Cromack K Jr & Fogel R (1980) The internal element cycles of an old-growth Douglas-Fir ecosystem in western Oregon. Ecological Monographs 50: 261–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steudler PA, Melillo JM, Bowden RD, Castro MS & Lugo AE (1991) The effects of natural and human disturbances on soil nitrogen dynamics and trace gas fluxes in a Puerto Rican wet forest. Biotropica 23: 356–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson FJ (1986) Cycles of Soil. John Wiley & Sons. New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Triska FJ, Sedell JR, Cromack K Jr, Gregory SV & McCorison FM (1984) Nitrogen budget of a small coniferous forest stream. Ecological Monographs 54: 119–140

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Veldkamp E & Keller M (1997) Nitrogen oxide emissions form a banana plantation in the humid tropics. J. Geophys. Res. 102: 15889–15898

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Van Cleve K, Balakrishnan N, Mueller Dombois D (1983) Soil development and nitrogen turnover in montane rainforest soils in Hawaii. Biotropica 15: 268–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt KA, Vogt DJ, Asbjorsen H & Dahlgren RA (1995) Roots, nutrients and their relationship to spatial patterns. Plant and Soil 168-169: 113–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt KA, Vogt DJ, Boon P, Covich A, Scatena FN, Asbjorsen H, O’Hara JL, Siccama TG, Bloomfield J & Ranciato JF (1996) Litter dynamics along stream, riparian, and upslope areas following Hurricane Hugo, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 28: 458–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker LR, Brokaw NVL, Lodge DJ & Waide RB (1991) Ecosystem, plant, and animal responses to hurricanes in the Carribean. Biotropica 23: 313–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker LR, Zarin DJ, Fetcher N, Myster RW & Johnson AH (1996) Ecosystem development and plant succession on landslides in the Caribbean. Biotropica 28: 566–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver PL & Murphy PG (1990) Forest Structure and Productivity in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo Mountains. Biotropica 22: 69–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zarin DJ & Johnson AH (1995) Nutrient accumulation during primary succession in a montane tropical forest, Puerto Rico. Soil Science Society of America J. 59: 1444–1452

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman JK, Pulliam WM, Lodge DJ, Quinones-Orfila V, Fetcher N, S. Guzman-Grajales, Parrota JA, Asbury CE, Walker LR & Waide RB (1995) Nitrogen immobilization by decomposing woody debris and the recovery of tropical wet forest from hurricane damage. Oikos 72: 314–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zou X, Zucca CP, Waide RB & McDowell WH (1995) Long-term influence of deforestation on tree species composition and litter dynamics of a tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico. Forest Ecology and Management 78: 147–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resources, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, 03824, USA

    Tamara J. Chestnut, Daniel J. Zarin & William H. Mcdowell

  2. International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, PO Box 25000, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 00928-2500

    Michael Keller

Authors
  1. Tamara J. Chestnut
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel J. Zarin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. William H. Mcdowell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael Keller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Alan R. Townsend

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Chestnut, T.J., Zarin, D.J., Mcdowell, W.H., Keller, M. (1999). A nitrogen budget for late-successional hillslope tabonuco forest, Puerto Rico. In: Townsend, A.R. (eds) New Perspectives on Nitrogen Cycling in the Temperate and Tropical Americas. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4645-6_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4645-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5961-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4645-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation