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Effects of vegetation patches on soil nutrient pools and fluxes within a mixed-conifer forest

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/1831cp622

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  • At a spatially heterogeneous mixed-conifer forest in the central California Sierras, we quantified total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), inorganic N, and net N mineralization in organic (O) and surface (0–15 cm) mineral soils, and in situ fluxes of inorganic N and ortho-phosphate using resin lysimeters under three patch types: closed canopy conifer, sparsely vegetated open canopy, and Ceanothus cordulatus thickets. In O horizons, total N and C pools ranked: closed canopy Ceanothus open canopy. In mineral soils, total N pools under Ceanothus exceeded those under closed canopy patches by about 30%. For 2 years, nitrate concentrations and rates of net N mineralization in O horizons were 4 greater under Ceanothus than under the other patch types. Similarly, ammonium concentrations and net N mineralization in mineral horizons were more than 80 and 200% greater, respectively, under Ceanothus than under the other patch types. In situ fluxes of nitrate were 4 greater beneath Ceanothus for 1 year, and no differences were found among the patch types for another year. Despite the interannual variability, our data suggest that Ceanothus contributes to a greater proportion of total N mineralized than based on cover alone, and may be important for forest nutrition under current conditions and after forest burning.
  • Keywords: Sierra Nevada Forests, Abies concolor, Soil nitrogen, Soil carbon, Ceanothus, Net nitrogen mineralization
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  • Erickson, H. E., Soto, P., Johnson, D. W., Roath, B., & Hunsaker, C. (2005). Effects of vegetation patches on soil nutrient pools and fluxes within a mixed-conifer forest. Forest Science, 51(3), 211-220.
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  • 51
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