Variation in Soil Nitrate Concentrations in Two N-Saturated Norway Spruce Forests (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in Southern Bavaria: Implications for the Assessment and Regionalisation of the N Status of Forests

Persistently high Nitrogen (N) deposition may have caused widespread N saturation in Central Europe’s forests. Simple and inexpensive methods are required for estimating the N status. This study suggests that the current N status of forest ecosystems can be estimated by measuring CaCl 2 -extractable...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water, air, and soil pollution air, and soil pollution, 2008, Vol.187 (1-4), p.203-217
Main Authors: Mellert, Karl H., Gensior, Andreas, Göttlein, Axel, Kölling, Christian, Rücker, Gernot
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Biological and medical sciences
Calcium chloride
Case studies
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Coniferous forests
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecosystems
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Environment
Environmental monitoring
Forest ecosystems
Forestry
Forests
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
General forest ecology
Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology
Hydrogeology
Nitrates
Nitrogen
Picea abies
Pine trees
Sampling
Sediments
Soil contaminants
Soil Science & Conservation
Studies
Terrestrial ecosystems
Trees
Variation
Water Quality/Water Pollution
Water seepage
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Summary:Persistently high Nitrogen (N) deposition may have caused widespread N saturation in Central Europe’s forests. Simple and inexpensive methods are required for estimating the N status. This study suggests that the current N status of forest ecosystems can be estimated by measuring CaCl 2 -extractable nitrate concentrations in the soil below the main rooting zone. We tested this possibility using a large number of samples (135 in total) in a nested sampling design in two homogeneous Norway spruce forests in southern Bavaria. This approach was accompanied by a small scale survey with suction cups ( N = 54) in one forest. Nitrate concentrations determined by soil extracts varied widely (coefficients of variance 95 and 125%) and were well comparable with those of the simultaneous investigation of seepage water. Site and stand conditions explained only a small portion (
ISSN:0049-6979
1573-2932
DOI:10.1007/s11270-007-9509-7