Summary
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb. Franco) seedlings were grown in a series of 7 sub-irrigated sand culture experiments in which N was supplied from either a nitrate or an ammonium source. The first five experiments were designed to identify factors that influence seedling growth response to N source; the last two were concerned with N uptake from the two different sources under sterile conditions.
In the five non-sterile cultures, seedling growth was generally greater on ammonium than on nitrate-N. In nonsterile cultures, the level of N supply affected response to N source, but greater growth occurred on the ammonium source at all levels despite this interaction. P accumulated in roots and was relatively low in shoots of nitrate seedlings. Different levels of P supply did not affect response to N source. Ca concentration of nitrate-fed seedlings was high compared with ammonium-fed seedlings, and increase in Ca supply caused a small increase in seedling growth on nitrate-N, but not on ammonium-N. Seedling growth response to N source was unaffected by light intensity, but frequency of sub-irrigation had a marked effect. Irrigation once in two days or once a day resulted in greater growth occurring on nitrate-N, whereas irrigation eight times a day or four times a day resulted in greater growth of ammonium-fed seedlings.
In sterile cultures, which were sub-irrigated once a day, seedling growth was greater on nitrate-N than on ammonium-N. Aseptically grown seedlings of three different Douglas-fir provenances accumulated up to seven times the initial seed N content during 12 weeks of growth on nitrate-N. The conclusion was that Douglas-fir seedlings can grow satisfactorily on nitrate-N sources without the intervention of any other organism, and thus must be capable of nitrate reduction. re]19740805
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Van Den Driessche, R., Dangerfield, J. Response of Douglas-fir seedlings to nitrate and ammonium nitrogen sources under various environmental conditions. Plant Soil 42, 685–702 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009952
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00009952