The increase in soil organic matter mineralization rate in boreal forests that may result from global warming is a major concern as it could release large amounts of C to the atmosphere. On the other hand, this may also release N to the soil and stimulate tree growth, which could partly offset the C losses from the soil. The long-term interaction between increased N deposition and soil warming on soil organic N mineralization and tree growth is still uncertain in the boreal zone. In this study, soil temperature was increased by +2-4 • C from April to July with heating cables for a period of 9 years and N was applied above the canopy of mature stands from June to September for 7-9 years in two eastern Canada boreal forests [Bernatchez (BER) and Simoncouche (SIM)]. We assessed the effects of these treatments on organic N mineralization rate and on the growth, phenology and foliar N of Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. (balsam fir; BF) and Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP (black spruce; BS) seedlings. The soil warming (SW) treatment had no significant effect on N mineralization rates, whereas canopy N addition (CNA) decreased gross N mineralization rate by 23% and forest floor's alkyl/O-alkyl C ratio by ∼15% relative to unfertilized plots. Foliar δ 15 N in the control plots was markedly lower in BS than in BF and at BER than at SIM (-4.8 and-2.9 in BS at BER and SIM, respectively; 1.6 and 3.8 in BF at BER and SIM, respectively) likely due to a higher contribution of 15 N-depleted N derived from mycorrhizal fungi in BS and at BER, the colder and the more N-depleted site. The treatments had non-significant effects on seedling growth and foliar chemistry but SW caused a premature bud outbreak and faster bud development for both species at both sites. Overall, our results show that
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