Role of six European tree species and land‐use legacy for nitrogen and water budgets in forests

Abstract

Water and nutrient fluxes for single stands of different tree species have been reported in numerous studies, but comparative studies of nutrient and hydrological budgets of common European deciduous tree species are rare. Annual fluxes of water and inorganic nitrogen (N) were established in a 30-year-old common garden design with stands of common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata Mill.), sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) and Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) replicated at two sites in Denmark, Mattrup and Vall during 2 years. Mean annual percolation below the root zone (mm yr À1 AE SE, n 5 4) ranked in the following order: maple (351 AE 38)4lime (284 AE 32), oak (271 AE 25), beech (257 AE 30), ash (307 AE 69) ) spruce (75 AE 24). There were few significant tree species effects on N fluxes. However, the annual mean N throughfall flux (kg N ha À1 yr À1 AE SE, n 5 4) for spruce (28 AE 2) was significantly larger than for maple (12 AE 1), beech (11 AE 1) and oak (9 AE 1) stands but not different from that of lime (15 AE 3). Ash had a low mean annual inorganic N throughfall deposition of 9.1 kg ha À1 , but was only present at Mattrup. Annual mean of inorganic N leaching (kg ha À1 yr À1 AE SE, n 5 4) did not differ significantly between species despite of contrasting tree species mean values; beech (25 AE 9)4oak (16 AE 10), spruce (15 AE 8), lime (14 AE 8) ) maple (1.9 AE 1), ash (2.0 AE 1). The two sites had similar throughfall N fluxes, whereas the annual leaching of N was significantly higher at Mattrup than at Vall. Accordingly, the sites differed in soil properties in relation to rates and dynamics of N cycling. We conclude that tree species affect the N cycle differently but the legacy of land use exerted a dominant control on the N cycle within the short-term perspective (30 years) of these stands.

Dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen leaching from Scots pine, Norway spruce and silver birch stands in southern Sweden

“…This difference in water flux is related to differences in leaf area, which has a large influence on transpiration and interception loss and was greatest for spruce. Low water flux under spruce stands is also in accordance with other Scandinavian studies (Christiansen et al 2006(Christiansen et al , 2010. The relative difference in DOC flux from the O horizon between tree species was thus lower than the relative difference in concentrations from the same horizon, but there were still larger fluxes from the coniferous stands compared to the birch stands.…”

Tree Species Identity Shapes Earthworm Communities

“…We combined existing data on various leaf litter quality characteristics and forest floor turnover rates with new data on soil biogeochemistry and earthworm communities to broaden the understanding of plant-soil interactions in this well-studied common garden experiment [35][36][37]. We found that total earthworm biomass in Fraxinus, Acer and Tilia stands was, on average, two times higher than in Quercus and Fagus stands and eight to ten times higher than in Picea stands.…”

“…We used a 36-year-old common garden experiment with sites distributed across Denmark to verify how the identity of tree species results in very different earthworm community assemblages. This replicated common garden experiment has previously revealed tree species effects on C and N stocks in the forest floor and mineral soil [35], soil respiration and soil organic C turnover [36] and on N cycling and leaching and the water budget [37]. We aim to broaden the understanding of plant-soil interactions in this common garden experiment by combining existing data on various litter quality characteristics and forest floor turnover rate with new data on soil biogeochemistry and earthworm communities.…”

Tree species identity mediates mechanisms of top soil carbon sequestration in a Norway spruce and European beech mixed forest

“…Indeed, bioturbation has been identified as a key factor controlling the incorporation of SOC into the mineral soil (Vande Walle et al 2001) through the transformation of litter into fecal matter and the transport into deeper mineral soil horizons by endogeic earthworm species (Marhan and Scheu 2006). Moreover, the general higher packing of Norway spruce stands can intercept higher amount of solar radiation and rainfall (Christiansen et al 2010), which can further slowdown decomposition through diminishing the activity of soil biota.…”