Dris Analysis Identifies A Common Potassium Imbalance In Sweetgum Plantations

Abstract

DRIS (Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System) analysis was applied to fast-growing sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) plantations in the southeast United States as a tool for nutrient diagnosis and fertilizer recommendations. First, standard foliar nutrient ratios for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) were established using high-yield stands from a region-wide sweetgum DE-AI09-00SR22188JOURNAL ARTICLE 2003 03-22-P fertilization study. DRIS indices were then calculated for the low-yield stands in the same study and stands from four other studies to evaluate foliar nutritional characteristics. Low-yield stands showed strong negative K imbalance, indicating insufficient K, but also showed strong positive Mg imbalance. Potassium imbalance was also observed in the other four data sets tested. DRIS analysis successfully identified the tendency for K insufficiency to increase from early to late in the growing season, probably due to K foliar leaching and low soil K supply. While insufficient N was common in all the stands tested, the DRIS analysis failed to identify any P imbalance. We recommend that K be applied in N:K ratios less than one to correct K imbalance problems in the studied sweetgum plantations. Supraoptimal Ca and Mg levels are expected to decline once insufficient N and K are corrected. DRIS analysis provides the means for diagnosing nutrient imbalance and a potential basis for prescribing corrective amendments in sweetgum plantations.

The effects of intensive management on the leaf characteristics and growth phenology of young yellow-poplar stems

“…Foliar nutrient concentrations are often used to identify potential nutrient deficiencies, reasons for poor growth, and to quantify fertilization responses (Binkley, 1986). However, there are very few minimum response thresholds that have been studied in detail for naturally regenerated hardwood stands (Mitchell and Chandler, 1939), and well-tested critical values are only available for the more commonly grown plantation species (Coleman et al, 2003;Scott et al, 2004). A challenge in relying on foliar concentrations to diagnose nutrient deficiency is determining whether the resulting elevated nutrient levels are responses to actual deficiencies being corrected through fertilization, or are due to luxury consumption by the plant.…”

The Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) – First Aproach for the Establishment of Norms for Vineyards in Portugal

“…Among all plant tissues, the leaves have the greater potential for diagnosis due to their important role on the main physiological processes of the plants, which makes the leaf analysis the most widely used resource (Malavolta et al, 1997;Coleman et al, 2003). This kind of diagnosis can suit as a complement to soil analysis, allowing greater efficiency in fertilizer applications, including the economic ones (Chapman and Brown, 1950;Malavolta et al, 1997;McCray et al, 2013).…”

“…As a result, plant analysis is a well-accepted tool for diagnosing the nutritional requirements of agricultural and forest crops, since it provides a direct measurement of plant nutritional status (Coleman et al, 2003;Harger et al, 2003). Among all plant tissues, the leaves have the greater potential for diagnosis due to their important role on the main physiological processes of the plants, which makes the leaf analysis the most widely used resource (Malavolta et al, 1997;Coleman et al, 2003).…”

“…Usually, fertilizer recommendations in agriculture are based on soil and plant analyzes (Coleman et al, 2003;Pacheco et al, 2010;McCray et al, 2013). However, since the procedure based on soil analysis has some constraints as the soil samples may not be representative of the portion of soil effectively explored by plants, the identification of nutrients that are really available to plants present some doubts (Meyer, 1981;Coleman et al, 2003;Pacheco et al, 2010;Horneck et al, 2011).…”