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Element interactions in forest ecosystems: succession, allometry and input-output budgets

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Abstract

Element interactions within forests differ from those in other major ecosystems for three major reasons: — a greater allocation of carbon to structural material; — a greater element storage within biomass; and — the diversity of carbon- and nutrient-containing metabolites produced. The most important of these differences is structural material, which can lead to C: element ratios in biomass (as a whole) 100 × greater than those in unicellular organisms. Stand allometry causes the amount of carbon stored and C:element ratios in biomass to change in predictable ways in the course of secondary succession. Such changes affect microbial dynamics and C: element interactions within soils. Bicarbonate, organic acids, nitrate, phosphate, and sulfate are major anions within forest soils: they control leaching of both anions and cations. Biotic interactions of C, N, P, and S during both uptake and mineralization control the potential for production of these anions within forests, and geochemical interactions regulate their mobility and loss.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Peter M. Vitousek

  2. Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Timothy Fahey

  3. Environmental Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA

    Dale W. Johnson

  4. Biological Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Michael J. Swift

Authors
  1. Peter M. Vitousek
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  2. Timothy Fahey
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  3. Dale W. Johnson
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  4. Michael J. Swift
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Vitousek, P.M., Fahey, T., Johnson, D.W. et al. Element interactions in forest ecosystems: succession, allometry and input-output budgets. Biogeochemistry 5, 7–34 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02180316

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