Abstract

Because nitrogen is considered to be the major growth-limiting element in boreal forests, the increasing nitrogen availability from deposition should lead to increasing growth. We have tested this assumption by simulating, with a simple model, carbon and nitrogen development in seven long-term fertilization experiments in three Nordic countries. The only differences between sites in the model are climate, the ambient nitrogen deposition, nitrogen fertilization regimes, and the initial conditions at the start of the experiment. The model simulates the observed stand development well as long as nitrogen remains the limiting factor. The simulated retention of deposited nitrogen is in general low (less than 50%), whereas retention of fertilizer nitrogen is higher. This seems to imply that the higher production in the fertilized stands will not be maintained once the fertilization is stopped. The model results also indicate that the major effect of climate on site productivity is through soil processes, not tree physiology

Published in

Ecosystems
2005, Volume: 8, number: 4, pages: 373-381
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Ågren, Göran

  • Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Hallbäcken, Leif

  • Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-003-0103-6

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/7824