ISSN:
1435-0661
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
Acer saccharum Marshall)–red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and sugar maple–basswood (Tilia americana L.) ecosystems are Lake States forests that differ in net nitrification (5 and 15 g N m−2 yr−1, respectively), but experience equivalent rates of NO− 3 leaching following clear-cut harvest (≈5 g N m−2 yr−1). Our objectives were to determine whether high rates of N leaching are sustained following harvest and whether ecosystem-specific patterns of biomass accumulation influence NO− 3 loss. We studied two stands in each ecosystem and established four research plots in each stand; two plots were clear-cut in 1991 and two were controls. In 1996, we measured soil solution NO− 3 concentration (1-m depth) and calculated areal losses by a water balance method. We used allometric equations to estimate woody biomass in clearcut plots; herbaceous biomass was clipped. In the sugar maple–red oak ecosystem, NO− 3 leaching from 5-yr-old clear-cut plots (0.56 g N m−2 yr−1) was significantly greater than leaching from control plots (0.05 g N m−2 yr−1). In contrast, NO− 3 leaching did not differ between control (0.41 g N m−2 yr−1) and 5-yr-old clear-cut (0.02 g N m−2 yr−1) in the sugar maple–basswood ecosystem; however, loss from these clear-cut plots was significantly lower than that from clear-cut sugar maple–red oak plots. Five years after harvest, 7.1 Mg ha−1 of aboveground biomass accumulated in clear-cut sugar maple–basswood plots, almost twice that of clear-cut sugar maple–red oak plots (3.9 Mg ha−1). Five years after harvest, the highest rates of NO− 3 loss occurred in the sugar maple–red oak ecosystem, in which aboveground biomass accumulation was least.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
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