Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seedling growth response of two tropical tree species to nitrogen deposition in southern China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Forest Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Seedling growth response of two tropical tree species (Schima superba and Cryptocarya concinna) to simulated N deposition was studied during a period of 11 months. One-year-old seedlings were grown in forest soil treated with N as NH4NO3 at Control–no N addition, N5–5, N10–10, N15–15, and N30–30 g N m−2 year−1. The objective was to examine the effects of N addition on seedling growth and compare this effect between the two tropical tree species of different species-N-requirement. Results showed that both species responded significantly to N addition and exhibited positive effect to lower rate of N addition and negative effect to higher rate of N addition on growth parameters (height and stem base diameter, biomass production, and net photosynthetic rate). The highest values were observed in the N10 plots for S. superba and in the N15 plots for C. concinna, but the lowest values were observed in the N30 plots for both species. However, the reduction in the N30 plots was more pronounced for S. superba than for C. concinna relative to the control plots. Our findings suggest that response of seedling growth of tropical tree species to atmospheric N deposition may vary depending on rate of N deposition and species-N-requirement.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aber JD, Nadelhoffer KJ, Steudler P, Melillo JM (1989) Nitrogen saturation in Northern forest ecosystems. Bioscience. 39:378–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aber JD, Magill A, Mcnulty SG, Boone RD, Nadelhoffer KJ, Downs M, Hallet R (1995) Forest biogeochemistry and primary production altered by nitrogen saturation. Water Air Soil Poll 85:1665–1670

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Aber JD, McDowell W, Nadelhoffer KJ, Magill A, Berntson G, Kamakea M, McNulty S, Currie W, Rustad L, Fernandez I (1998) Nitrogen saturation in Northern forest ecosystems, hypotheses revisited. BioScience 48:921–934

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aerts R, Boot RGA, vander Aart PJM (1991) The relation between above- and belowground biomass allocation patterns and competitive ability. Oecologia 87:551–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JM, Ingram JSI (1989) Tropical soil biology and fertility: a handbook of methods. CAB International, Wallingford

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger TW, Glatzel G (2001) Response of Quercus petraea seedlings to nitrogen fertilization. Forest Ecol Manage 149:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berntson GM, Farnsworth EJ, Bazzaz FA (1995) Allocation, within and between organs, and the dynamics of root length changes in two birch species. Oecologia 101:139–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boxman AW, Blanck K, Brandrud TE, Emmett BA, Gundersen P, Hogervorst RF, Kjonaas OJ, Persson H, Timmermann V (1998) Vegetation and soil biota response to experimentally-changed nitrogen inputs in coniferous forest ecosystems of the NITREX project. Forest Ecol Manage 101:65–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brække FH (1996) Needle analyses and graphic vector analyses of Norway spruce and Scots pine stands. Trees 11:23–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bremner JM, Mulvaney CS (1982) Nitrogen-total. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis, Part 2: chemical and microbial properties, Agronomy Monograph 9. Agronomy Society of America, Madison, pp 595–624

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown KR, Thompson WA, Camm EL (1996) Effects of N addition rates on the productivity of Picea Sitchensis, Thuja plicata, and Tsuga heterophylla seedlings. II. Photosynthesis, 13C discrimination and N partitioning in foliage. Trees 10:198–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen XY, Mulder J, Wang YH, Zhao DW, Xiang RJ (2004) Atmospheric deposition, mineralization and leaching of nitrogen in subtropical forested catchments, South China. Environ Geochem Hlth 26:179–186

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Emmett BA, Reynolds B, Silgram M, Sparks TH, Woods C (1998) The consequences of chronic nitrogen addition on N cycling and soilwater chemistry in a Sitka spruce stand North Wales. For Ecol Manage 101:165–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson T (1995) Growth and shoot/root ratio of seedlings in relation to nutrient availability. Plant Soil 168:205–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang H, Mo JM, Peng SL, Li ZA, Wang H (2007) Cumulative effects of nitrogen additions on litter decomposition in three tropical forests in southern China. Plant Soil 297:233–242

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Galloway JN, Aber JD, Erisman JW, Seitzinger SP, Howarth RW, Cowling EB, Cosby BJ (2003) The nitrogen cascade. BioScience 53:341–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galloway JN, Dentener FJ, Capone DG, Boyer EW, Howarth RW, Seitzinger SP, Asner GP, Cleveland CC, Green PA, Holland EA, Karl DM, Michaels AF, Porter JH, Townsend AR, Vorosmarty CJ (2004) Nitrogen cycles: past, present, and future. Biogeochemistry 70:153–226

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guan LL, Zhou GY, Zhang DQ, Liu JX, Zhang QM (2004) Twenty years of litterfall dynamics in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests at the Dinghushan forest ecosystem research station. Acta Phytoecol Sin 28:449–456 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall SJ, Matson PA (1999) Nitrogen oxide emissions after nitrogen additions in tropical forests. Nature 400:152–155

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haase DL, Rose R (1995) Vector analysis and its use for interpreting plant nutrient shifts in response to silvicultural treatments. Forest Sci 41:54–66

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZF, Fan ZG (1982) The climate of Ding Hu Shan. Trop Subtrop Forest Ecosyst 1:11–23 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZL, Ding MM, Zhang ZP, Yi WM (1994) The hydrological processes and nitrogen dynamics in a monsoon evergreen broad-leafed forest of Dinghu shan. Acta Phytoecol Sin 18:194–199 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong GH, Huang ZL, Zhang QM, Liu SZ, Mo JM, He DQ (1997) Type, structure, dynamics and management of the lower subtropical evergreen broad-leafed forest in the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve of China. Tropics 6:335–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krupa SV (2003) Effects of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) on terrestrial vegetation: a review. Environ Pollut124:179–221

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu GS, Jiang NH, Zhang LD, Liu ZL (1996) Soil physical and chemical analysis and description of soil profiles. Standards Press of China, Beijing, pp 121–265 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald JA, Dise NB, Matzner E, Armbruster M, Gundersen P, Forsius M (2002) Nitrogen input together with ecosystem nitrogen enrichment predict nitrate leaching from European forests. Glob Change Biol 8:1028–1033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magill AH, Aber JD, Currie WS, Nadelhoffer KJ, Martin ME, McDowell WH, Melillo JM, Steudler PA (2004) Ecosystem response to 15 years of chronic nitrogen additions at the Harvard Forest LTER, Massachusetts, USA. Forest Ecol Manag 196:7–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matson PA, McDowell WH, Townsen AR, Vitousek PM (1999) The glogalization of N deposition: ecosystem consequences in tropical environments. Biogeochemistry 46:67–83

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matson PA, Lohse KA, Hall SJ (2002) The globalization of nitrogen deposition: consequences for terrestrial ecosystems. Ambio 31:113–119

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McNulty SG, Aber JD, Newman SD (1996) Nitrogen saturation in a high elevation New England spruce-fir stand. Forest Ecol Manag 84:109–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mo JM, Brown S, Lenart M, Kong G (1995) Nutrient dynamics of a human-impacted pine forest in a MAB reserve of subtropical China. Biotropica 27:290–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mo JM, Zhang DQ, Huang ZL, Yu QF, Kong GH (2000) Distribution pattern of nutrient elements in plants of Dinghushan lower subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest. J Trop Subtrop Bot 8:198–206 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mo JM, Brown S, Peng SL, Kong GH (2003) Nitrogen availability in Disturbed, Rehabilitated and Mature Forests of Tropical China. Forest Ecol Manage 175:573–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mo JM, Brown S, Xue JH, Fang YT, Li ZA (2006) Response of litter decomposition to simulated N deposition in disturbed, rehabilitated and mature forests in subtropical China. Plant Soil 282:135–151

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakaji T, Fukami M, Dokiya Y, Izuta T (2001) Effects of high nitrogen load on growth, photosynthesis and nutrient status of Cryptomeria japonica and Pinus densiflra seedlings. Trees 15:453–461

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakaji T, Takenaga S, Kuroha M, Izuta T (2002) Photosynthetic response of Pinus densiflora seedlings to high nitrogen load. Environ Sci 9:269–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Nihlgård B (1985) The ammonium hypothesis. An additional explanation to the forest die back in Europe. Ambio 14:2–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Ren R, Mi F, Bai N (2000) A chemometrics analysis on the data of precipitation chemistry of China. J Beijing Polytechnic Univ 26:90–95 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schaberg PG, Perkins TD, McNulty SG (1997) Effects of chronic low-level N additions on foliar elemental concentrations, morphology, and gas exchange of mature montane red spruce. Can J For Res 27:1622–1629

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schulze ED (1989) Air pollution and forest decline in a spruce (Picea abies) forest. Science 244:776–783

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sikström U, Nohrstedt H, Pettersson F (1998) Stem-growth response of Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies to nitrogen fertilization as related to needle nitrogen concentration. Trees 12:208–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Z, He D, Song S, Chen S, Chen D, Tu M (1982) The vegetation of Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve. Trop Subtrop Forest Ecosyst 1:77–141 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang JR, Hawkins CDB, Letchford T (1998) Relative growth rate and biomass allocation of paper birch (Betula papyrifera) populations under different soil moisture and nutrient regimes. Can J For Res 28:44–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu YG., Zhou GY, Lou TS, Wu ZM, He ZC (2001) Soil solution chemistry and element budget in the forest ecosystem in Guangzhou. Acta Ecol Sin 21:1760–1861 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu GL, Mo JM, Fu SL, Gundersen P, Zhou GY, Xue JH (2007) The response of soil fauna to simulated nitrogen deposition-a nursery experiment in subtropical China. J Environ Sci 19:603–609

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YM, Zhou GY, Wen DZ, Zhang DQ, Zhang QM (2002) Biomass dynamics of the Castanopsis chinensis–Schima superba–Cryptocarya concinna community of monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest in Dinghushan Reserve. Trop Subtrop Forest Ecosyst 9:10–17 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng X, Fu C, Xu X, Xiaodong Y, Huang Y, Chen G, Han S, Hu F (2002) The Asian nitrogen cycle case study. Ambio 31:79–87

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou GY, Yan JH (2001) The influence of region atmospheric precipitation characteristics and its element inputs on the existence and development of Dinghushan forest ecosystems. Acta Ecol Sin 21:2002–2012 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the constructive comments, from two anonymous reviewers and the editor, which have greatly improved the quality of the paper. This study was founded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40730102, 30670392) and Key Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences Knowledge Innovation Program (KZCX2-YW-432).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dinghu, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, 526070, China

    Jiangming Mo & Dejun Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Dejun Li

  3. Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning, University of Copenhagen, Hoersholm Kongevej 11, 2970, Hoersholm, Denmark

    Per Gundersen

Authors
  1. Jiangming Mo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dejun Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Per Gundersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiangming Mo.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Merino.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mo, J., Li, D. & Gundersen, P. Seedling growth response of two tropical tree species to nitrogen deposition in southern China. Eur J Forest Res 127, 275–283 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-008-0203-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-008-0203-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation