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Decades of atmospheric deposition have not resulted in widespread phosphorus limitation or saturation of tree demand for nitrogen in southern New England

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Abstract

It is commonly assumed that nitrogen (N) is the primary mineral resource limiting the productivity of temperate forests. Sustained inputs of N via atmospheric deposition are altering the N status of temperate forests raising the possibility that nutrients such as phosphorus (P) are increasingly limiting productivity. The objective of this study was to determine whether P availability limits tree growth alone or in combination with N. This study was conducted in two forest types common throughout the New England landscape of the northeastern United States; in sugar maple and white ash dominated stands growing on base rich parent material characterized by rapid rates of N cycling and high N availability, and in red oak–beech–hemlock dominated stands growing on base-poor parent material characterized by slow rates of N cycling and low N availability. Starting in 2004, N and P were added to replicate plots in each forest type in factorial combination at a rate of 150 and 50 kg ha−1 year−1, respectively. Diameter growth rates of all trees >10 cm DBH were measured in 2005 and 2006 using dendrometer bands and converted into units of basal area increment (BAI) and wood production. Following 2 years of fertilization, basal area increment in the sugar maple–white ash forests remained strongly N limited. Fertilization with P did not significantly increase BAI alone, although both N and P fertilization tended (P < 0.10) to increase diameter growth in white ash. Wood production in the N-fertilized plots increased by 100 g C m−2 year−1, roughly doubling production in the non-fertilized plots. In the red oak–beech–hemlock stands, there was no overall effect of N or P fertilization on BAI or wood production because BAI in some species was stimulated by fertilization with N alone (e.g., black cherry, red oak), while in other species BAI was unaffected (e.g., red maple, beech) or negatively affected by fertilization with N or P (e.g., eastern hemlock). Given that BAI in several tree species responded to fertilization with N alone and that only one species responded to P fertilization once N was added, this study suggests that decades of atmospheric N deposition have not (yet) resulted in widespread P limitation or saturation of tree demand for N.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks the Great Mountain Forest Corporation and the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Natural Area Preserves Program for permission to work in their forestlands. Thanks also to Jody Bronson who helped with the logistical support for this research at the Great Mountain Forest. Edward Brzostek set up and fertilized the research plots and also made repeated dendrometer band measurements; his help was invaluable. Christy Goodale, Matthew Weand and Ruth Yanai provided helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. This research was supported by the USDA-CSREES (2001-00782).

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  1. Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Adrien C. Finzi

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Correspondence to Adrien C. Finzi.

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Table 6 Selected properties of each study site
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Finzi, A.C. Decades of atmospheric deposition have not resulted in widespread phosphorus limitation or saturation of tree demand for nitrogen in southern New England. Biogeochemistry 92, 217–229 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-009-9286-z

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