Summary
The vertical distribution of inorganic nutrient concentrations in red pine were dependent on the foliage age. Older foliage did not show an average vertical gradient while younger foliage did show a significant gradient. Horizontal gradients across foliage age classes in a branch whorl were consistent for all branch whorls, but the relative difference between the concentration of the current foliage and foliage three years-old or older was dependent on crown position. Coefficients of variation (CV) did not show a variability gradient in the crown for nitrogen and phosphorus. Variability of potassium tended to decrease as foliage age increased.
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Contribution of the University of Florida, Soil Science Department, Gainesville, FL and State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series No. 3017.
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Comerford, N.B. Distributional gradients and variability of macroelement concentrations in the crowns of plantation grownPinus resinosa (AIT.). Plant Soil 63, 345–353 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02370035
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02370035