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Fertilizer was applied on snow in January 1981 at 100 kg N•ha−1 as [15N]urea, 15NH4NO3, and NH415NO3 to 11-year-old lodgepole pine (Pinuscontorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) at Spillimacheen in the British Columbia interior and as [15N]urea (200 kg N•ha−1) to 13-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) at Green Mountain, a coastal site in British Columbia. Recovery of labelled N after one growing season was determined in soil and biomass at both sites, and it was also monitored during the growing season in snow and soil at Spillimacheen. At Green Mountain, 5.5% of urea N was recovered in tree biomass, 10.8% in understory, and 33.4% in soil organic N (total recovery 49.7%). Leaching may have contributed to N losses at Green Mountain, but was probably not a direct consequence of the application on snow. At Spillimacheen, total recovery of [15N]urea was 93.3%, with 10.1% in tree biomass, 2.4% in understory, and 80.8% in soil. For 15NH4NO3, recoveries were 5.3% in tree biomass, 2.9% in understory, and 87.0% in soil, for a total of 95.2%. For NH415NO3, recoveries were 1.9% in tree biomass, 3.4% in understory, and 39.1% in soil, for a total of 44.4%. At Spillimacheen, the performance of 15NH4NO3 was comparable to that of urea in tree uptake and soil retention. There were large losses with the NH415NO3 source, however, most likely due to leaching and denitrification during snowmelt. For this reason, fertilization with nitrate on snow is not recommended because of nitrate's susceptibility to leaching, but urea and ammonium sources may be applied under these conditions.

We studied the distribution and retranslocation of N in 11-year-old Pinus contorta Dougl. trees following a winter application of N at 100 kg ha(-1) as (15)N-urea, (15)NH(4)NO(3) or NH(4) (15)NO(3). In all treatments, there was little uptake of (15)N after the first growing season although labeled N was still present in the soil. In subsequent years, (15)N in the trees was partly retranslocated, and, at the same time, it was diluted by uptake of unlabeled N from the soil. Between Years 1 and 8 after N fertilization, net retranslocation of (15)N from the lower crown (branches formed before fertilization) was 14%, and 18-25% of the (15)N in the trees was translocated to the upper and mid-crown. Overall, uptake of (15)N from nitrate was less than from urea or ammonium. However, when compared with the urea- and ammonium-N sources, (15)N from the nitrate source initially moved as rapidly into the foliage, but a greater proportion of it was retranslocated from the foliage during the second growing season. Nitrogen in foliage and wood formed in the growing season following fertilization was more highly labeled (measured as % N derived from the fertilizer) than in recently formed tissues. Labeling was substantially higher in foliage formed before fertilization than in wood of a similar age. In contrast, N in foliage formed after fertilization had only slightly higher labeling than wood of a similar age, indicating a relatively stable labeling throughout the trees once (15)N uptake had ceased. The concentrations of total and labeled N were substantially higher in foliage than in either wood or bark. There was evidence of N movement into wood tissues formed before fertilization, presumably along rays, and also of N retranslocation out of xylem cells as they matured. This study of internal N cycles was facilitated by the use of (15)N labeling because there was little uptake of labeled N after the first growing season, whereas interpretation based on total N was obscured by substantial uptake of N from the soil. We conclude that retranslocation studies based on measurements of total N content should be avoided.