Effects of sulphur pollution on rates of litter decomposition in a pine forest

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
pp. 1436-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy E. Prescott ◽  
Dennis Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Elemental Sulphur ◽  
Litter Fall ◽  
Litter Accumulation ◽  
Plant Decomposition ◽  
Fall Rates ◽  
Sour Gas

Litter decomposition was measured at three "ecologically analogous" pine (Pinus contorta × Pinus banksiana) stands located 2.8 (site 1), 6.0 (site 2), and 9.6 km (site 3) from a sour gas plant in west-central Alberta which has been emitting sulphur dioxide since 1959 and elemental sulphur dust since 1979. Respiration of intact forest floor cores and separated forest floor layers was consistently lowest at site 1 and highest at site 3. Rates of mass loss and respiration of pine needles decomposing in litterbags for 17 months also increased with distance from the gas plant. Decomposition of needles in exchanged litterbags was related primarily to the site of origin during the first few months of decomposition and to the site of placement thereafter. Litter fall rates did not bear any relation to sulphur loading; however, litter accumulation and residence times were greatest at the site nearest the gas plant. These findings indicate that an inhibition of decomposition has occurred in response to elevated levels of sulphur pollution near the gas plant.

The Natural Addition of Nitrogen, Potassium and Calcium to a Pinusbanksiana Lamb. Forest Floor

1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. W. Foster ◽  
S. P. Gessel
Keyword(s):  
Small Proportion ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Major Contributor ◽  
Litter Fall ◽  
Autumn Period ◽  
Tree Litter

Nitrogen (N), potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) in litter-fall, throughfall and stemflow were measured over a 24-week summer-autumn period in a 30-year-old Pinus banksiana Lamb, stand. Litter-fall from the forest canopy was the major contributor of N; whereas throughfall contributed the most K to the forest floor during the study period. Stemflow accounted for a very small proportion of the nutrients received by the forest floor. Additions of K and Ca from through fall were greater than those from litter-fall in July and August, a period of low organic additions to the forest floor. Tree litter-fall increased in the autumn. Nitrogen concentration of this litter-fall decreased from a high of 0.92% in early summer to a low of 0.21% in autumn; whereas Ca concentration increased from a July low of 0.16% to an autumn high of 0.57%.During September–November, overstory and understory vegetation contributed the greatest quantities of N; the overstory gave the most Ca, and the overstory, understory, and throughfall all added large amounts of K to the forest floor.

Spatial Patterns of Chloroplast DNA and Cone Morphology Variation within Populations of a Pinus banksiana-Pinus contorta Sympatric Region

1991 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Wagner ◽  
Zhong-Xu Sun ◽  
Diddahally R. Govindaraju ◽  
Bruce P. Dancik
Keyword(s):  
Chloroplast Dna ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Cone Morphology

Forest floor mass and nutrients in two chronosequences of plantations: Jack pine vs. black spruce

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Krause
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Natural Forests

The purpose of this study was to determine whether change of forest cover had an effect on the development of the organic surface horizons, particularly on those variables that influence nutrient cycling and forest productivity. Jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) plantations were selected from among the youngest to oldest (2–16 yr) within a 100 km2 area in southeastern New Brunswick. Natural forests were also included as benchmark sites. The forest floor and tree foliage was sampled and trees measured on 0.05-ha plots. The forest floor samples were used to determine organic mass, nutrient contents and pH. In pine plantations, organic matter accumulated rapidly during the period of exponential tree growth, but leveled off at about 45 Mg ha–1. This was within the range of benchmark sites with mixed conifer-hardwood cover. In spruce plantations, the forest floor mass ranged upward to 77 Mg ha–1. Development was strongly influenced by the nature of the previous forest. Spruce forest floors were on average more acid and had lower nutrient concentrations, particularly N and Ca. The observed differences suggest that nutrients are recycled more rapidly in the pine plantations, partly explaining the superior growth of the latter. Key words: Forest floor, Kalmia angustifolia L., Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P., Pinus banksiana Lamb., nutrient cycling, plantation forest

The Importance of Elemental Sulphur, Mercury and Condensate Identification in Sour Gas Field Development Project: Case Study

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ardian Nengkoda ◽  
Mofeed Awwami ◽  
Xiaolong Cai ◽  
Jamal Mufleh ◽  
Bader Harbi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Development Project ◽  
Elemental Sulphur ◽  
Gas Field ◽  
Field Development ◽  
Sour Gas

scholarly journals Thinning and Burning Effects on Long-Term Litter Accumulation and Function in Young Ponderosa Pine Forests

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 761-769
Author(s):  
Matt Busse ◽  
Ross Gerrard
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Litter Accumulation ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Essential Components

Abstract We measured forest-floor accumulation in ponderosa pine forests of central Oregon and asked whether selected ecological functions of the organic layer were altered by thinning and repeated burning. Experimental treatments included three thinning methods applied in 1989 (stem only, whole tree, no thin—control) in factorial combination with prescribed burning (spring 1991 and repeated in 2002; no burn—control). Forest-floor depth and mass were measured every 4–6 years from 1991 to 2015. Without fire, there was little temporal change in depth or mass for thinned (270 trees ha−1) and control (560–615 trees ha−1) treatments, indicating balanced litterfall and decay rates across these stand densities. Each burn consumed 50–70 percent of the forest floor, yet unlike thinning, postfire accumulation rates were fairly rapid, with forest-floor depth matching preburn levels within 15–20 years. Few differences in forest-floor function (litter decay, carbon storage, physical barrier restricting plant emergence, erosion protection) resulted from thinning or burning after 25 years. An exception was the loss of approximately 300 kg N ha−1 because of repeated burning, or approximately 13 percent of the total site N. This study documents long-term forest-floor development and suggests that common silvicultural practices pose few risks to organic layer functions in these forests. Study Implications: Mechanical thinning and prescribed fire are among the most widespread management practices used to restore forests in the western US to healthy, firewise conditions. We evaluated their effects on the long-term development of litter and duff layers, which serve dual roles as essential components of soil health and as fuel for potential wildfire. Our study showed that thinning and burning provided effective fuel reduction and resulted in no adverse effects to soil quality in dry ponderosa pine forests of central Oregon. Repeated burning reduced the site carbon and nitrogen pools approximately 9–13 percent, which is small compared to C located in tree biomass and N in mineral soil. Litter accumulation after burning was rapid, and we recommend burning on at least a 15–20-year cycle to limit its build-up.

scholarly journals Effect of biochar addition on leaf-litter decomposition at soil surface during three years in a warm-temperate secondary deciduous forest, Japan

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukiya Minamino ◽  
Nobuhide Fujitake ◽  
Takeshi Suzuki ◽  
Shinpei Yoshitake ◽  
Hiroshi Koizumi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Leaf Litter Decomposition ◽  
Dry Conditions

AbstractThe addition of biochar to the forest floor should facilitate efficient carbon sequestration. However, little is known about how biochar addition effects litter decomposition, which is related to carbon and nutrient dynamics in forest ecosystems. This study evaluated the effect of biochar addition on leaf litter decomposition in a forest ecosystem. To examine whether leaf litter decomposition was stimulated above and below biochar, litterbag experiments were carried out for about 3 years in a field site where biochar was added at the rate of 0, 5 and 10 t ha−¹ (C0, C5 and C10 plots) to the forest floor in a temperate oak forest, Japan. Biochar addition at C10 significantly enhanced litter decomposition below biochar for 2 years after treatment and above biochar for 1 year after treatment. Litter water content in biochar plots tended to increase under dry conditions. Biochar addition enhanced litter decomposition because of increased microbial activity with increased moisture content and accelerated the decomposition progress rather than changing the decomposition pattern. However, the carbon emission through changing leaf litter decomposition was small when compared with the carbon addition by biochar, indicating that biochar could be an effective material for carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems.

Soil nitrogen and lodgepole pine seedling responses to five years of legume cover

1998 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 578-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Kranabetter ◽  
R. Trowbridge
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nitrogen ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Pinus Contorta ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Seeding Density ◽  
Total N ◽  
Pine Seedlings ◽  
Key Words Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Key Words Nitrogen

Legumes were tested for their ability to increase soil N content and improve growth of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) seedlings in west-central British Columbia. A trial with alsike clover at varying densities were tested at one site, while three legume species (alsike clover, birdsfoot trefoil, and white clover) were tested on a second site. After five years of legume cover, mineralizable N mass of the forest floor were 0.5 to 4.5 times those of controls. Total N of the forest floor more than doubled in the seeding density study compared with controls, but was insignificant in the multiple species study. Despite observed increases in soil nitrogen, lodgepole pine growth was not enhanced by the legume treatments. Factors such as N immobilization, root distribution, low S levels, and competition for B may have limited the response of lodgepole pine seedlings to additions of biologically fixed-N. Key words: nitrogen-fixation, legumes, lodgepole pine, soil nitrogen

Leaf-litter accretion and decomposition in interior and coastal old-growth redwood stands

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 552-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Pillers ◽  
John D. Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Balance Method ◽  
Litter Fall ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Litter Bag ◽  
Mass Balance Method ◽  
Balance Analysis ◽  
Average Relative Humidity ◽  
Mass Balance Analysis

Litter fall and litter decomposition were measured in old-growth coastal redwood (Sequoiasempervirens (D. Don) Endl.) forests. Hillside and bottomland areas at inland and coastal locations were selected as representative sites. Both litter-bag and insitu mass-balance analyses were used to determine decomposition rates. Average annual litter fall at the four sites ranged from 3120 to 4690 kg•ha−1•year−1. Decomposition rate constants (k) calculated from the mass-balance analysis ranged from 0.117 to 0.238 year−1. Values of k estimated from the litter-bag analysis ranged from 0.273 to 0.405 year−1. Equilibrium litter loads from mass-balance analysis ranged from 15 700 to 30 000 kg•ha−1. Equilibrium litter loads estimated from litter-bag analysis ranged from 7760 to 14 500 kg•ha−1. Litter-layer equilibrium was between 12 and 26 years using the mass-balance analysis and between 7 and 11 years with the litter-bag study. The mass-balance method for calculating decomposition constants showed that litter at coastal sites decomposed faster than at inland sites. There were no differences between upland and bottomland sites. The litter-bag method, in contrast, indicated that litter at inland sites decomposed faster than at coastal sites. Significant regressions of litter decomposition constants as functions of summer average relative humidity, temperature, vapor-pressure deficit, and litter moisture were found with the mass-balance method. There were no significant regressions of temperature and moisture variables with litter decomposition constants calculated with the litter-bag analysis.

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