Abstract
In this synthesis chapter, we will show that nitrogen input in a taiga black spruce forest is probably critical to the plant community, even though the overall rates are low. In common with other poorly drained high-latitude systems, the primary study site for our work appears to be accumulating organic matter due to low decomposition rates (Van Cleve and Alexander 1981). Recycling of nutrients under these low-temperature, permafrost-dominated conditions is extremely slow. Any input of nutrients can be of vital significance, even when the levels might appear to be quantitatively insignificant.
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References
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Alexander, V., Billington, M.M. (1986). Nitrogen Fixation in the Alaskan Taiga. In: Van Cleve, K., Chapin, F.S., Flanagan, P.W., Viereck, L.A., Dyrness, C.T. (eds) Forest Ecosystems in the Alaskan Taiga. Ecological Studies, vol 57. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4902-3_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4902-3_8
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