Vegetation, Biomass, and Nitrogen Pools in a Spruce-Fir Forest of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Pauley, Eric F.; Nodvin, Stephen C.; Nicholas, N. S.; Rose, Anita K.; Coffey, T. B.; Drawer, E; Valley, Tennessee

doi:10.2307/2996781

Cited by 17 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The relative abundance of fir increases with elevation, while that of yellow birch declines. Fraser fir accounts for 56% of the standing dead basal area, indicating the large impact of the adelgid infestation (Pauley et al 1996). Pauley et al (1996) estimated total biomass of live overstory trees at 220 Mg·ha -1 and aboveground N content in live overstory trees at 375 kg·ha -1 , with the highest N on east-facing slopes of the lower watershed.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fifty 20 × 20 m plots were established systematically along nine elevation bands in the NDW (Pauley et al 1996) (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Field Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The only published overstory N uptake estimates for SA spruce-fir forests are in the order of 7 kg·ha -1 ·year -1 and were derived from a total of four plots at only two sites in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) during the Integrated Forest Study (IFS) (Johnson et al 1991;Johnson and Lindberg 1992). While this earlier study alludes to the limited N sink capacity of overstory trees, the question remains if these N uptake estimates can be used for the spruce-fir system at large, especially in light of the ecosystem's recent disturbance history and the ensuing heterogeneity in forest structure (Nicholas et al 1992;Pauley et al 1996). Indeed, little is known about the variation in overstory N uptake on a small spatial scale, the factors controlling it, and its influence on N dynamics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Noland Divide Watershed (NDW), a small, highelevation headwater catchment in GSMNP is well suited to investigate variation in overstory N uptake because of the considerable heterogeneity in stand structure throughout the watershed ), a strong elevational gradient that affects overstory species composition and deposition regime (Lindberg and Owens 1993;Shubzda et al 1995;Pauley et al 1996), and the pre-existing plot infrastructure and available data sets. Furthermore, the watershed is small enough that parent material is not a significant source of variation in the uptake estimates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, the spruce-fir forest has been impacted by an exotic insect infestation, the balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges picea Ratz. ), causing dieback of mature Fraser fir and creating a heterogeneous forest structure with numerous gaps and a large variation in stand age, number of live and dead standing trees, and amount of coarse woody debris on the forest floor Pauley et al 1996;Rose 2000). It is expected that such structural heterogeneity would be reflected in significant spatial variation in N uptake by the overstory trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation in overstory nitrogen uptake in a small, high-elevation southern Appalachian spruce-fir watershed

Barker¹,

Miegroet²,

Nicholas³

et al. 2002

Can. J. For. Res.

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High-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) -Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) forests of the southern Appalachians exhibit considerable spatial heterogeneity in structure, and possibly in N uptake, because of a combination of natural disturbances and heavy fir mortality caused by infestations of the exotic balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz). The objectives of this study are to determine spatial variability in tree N uptake in a small highelevation catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, compare outcomes among calculation methods, and assess the influence of stand and landscape properties on N uptake. Tree N uptake is estimated for fifty 20 × 20 m plots in the Noland Divide Watershed (NDW). Components considered in the calculations are stem growth, foliage increment, and mortality of spruce, fir, and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) from 1993 and 1998 stand inventories; throughfall N flux measured in summers 1998 and 1999; litterfall N return for 1 year in a subset of 12 plots; tissue N analyses; and atmospheric N deposition and root turnover estimates from the literature. Overstory N uptake varies spatially within NDW, with a CV of 9-41% depending on the calculation method. Variability among methods is even higher, with an almost 15-fold difference between the smallest and largest average overstory uptake estimate (5 vs. 74 kg·ha -1 ·year -1 ). Only 5 and 3 kg·ha -1 ·year -1 of N is sequestered in wood and foliar increment, respectively, while 36 kg·ha -1 of N returns annually as aboveground litterfall. Uptake and its components are correlated with measures of stand structure but not with elevation or aspect.Résumé : Des forêts de haute altitude d'épinette rouge (Picea rubens Sarg.) et de sapin Fraser (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) du Sud des Appalaches montrent une hétérogénéité spatiale considérable dans leur structure et probablement dans leur prélèvement en azote du fait d'une combinaison de perturbations naturelles et d'une mortalité importante du sapin causée par des infestations du puceron lanigère du sapin (Adelges piceae Ratz.). Les objectifs de cette étude consistaient à déterminer la variabilité spatiale du prélèvement en azote des arbres dans un petit bassin de haute altitude localisé dans le parc national des Great Smoky Mountains, comparer les résultats entre les méthodes d'estimation et évaluer l'influence des propriétés du peuplement et du paysage sur le prélèvement en azote. Le prélèvement en azote des arbres a été estimé pour 50 placettes de 20 × 20 m dans le bassin du Noland Divide (BND). Les éléments considé-rés dans les calculs sont : la croissance de la tige, la croissance foliaire et la mortalité de l'épinette, du sapin et du bouleau jaune (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) à partir des inventaires de peuplement de 1993 et 1998; le flux d'azote dans le pluviolessivage mesuré pendant les étés 1998 et 1999; le retour en azote par la litière pour une année dans un sous-ensemble de 12 placettes; les analyses d'azote dans les tissus; les dépôts ...

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Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fifty 20 × 20 m plots were established systematically along nine elevation bands in the NDW (Pauley et al 1996) (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Field Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Variation in overstory nitrogen uptake in a small, high-elevation southern Appalachian spruce-fir watershed

Barker¹,

Miegroet²,

Nicholas³

et al. 2002

Can. J. For. Res.

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Index to American Botanical Literature

et al. 1997

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Succession after stand replacing disturbances by fire, wind throw, and insects in the dark Taiga of Central Siberia

et al. 2005

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The dark taiga of Siberia is a boreal vegetation dominated by Picea obovata, Abies sibirica, and Pinus sibirica during the late succession. This paper investigates the population and age structure of 18 stands representing different stages after fire, wind throw, and insect damage. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the forest dynamics of the Siberian dark taiga is described quantitatively in terms of succession, and age after disturbance, stand density, and basal area. The basis for the curve-linear age/diameter relation of trees is being analyzed. (1) After a stand-replacing fire Betula dominates (4,000 trees) for about 70 years. Although tree density of Betula decreases rapidly, basal area (BA) reached >30 m2/ha after 40 years. (2) After fire, Abies, Picea, and Pinus establish at the same time as Betula, but grow slower, continue to gain height and eventually replace Betula. Abies has the highest seedling number (about 1,000 trees/ha) and the highest mortality. Picea establishes with 100-400 trees/ha, it has less mortality, but reached the highest age (>350 years, DBH 51 cm). Picea is the most important indicator for successional age after disturbance. Pinus sibirica is an accompanying species. The widely distributed "mixed boreal forest" is a stage about 120 years after fire reaching a BA of >40 m2/ha. (3) Wind throw and insect damage occur in old conifer stands. Betula does not establish. Abies initially dominates (2,000-6,000 trees/ha), but Picea becomes dominant after 150-200 years since Abies is shorter lived. (4) Without disturbance the forest develops into a pure coniferous canopy (BA 40-50 m2/ha) with a self-regenerating density of 1,000 coniferous canopy trees/ha. There is no collapse of old-growth stands. The dark taiga may serve as an example in which a limited set to tree species may gain dominance under certain disturbance conditions without ever getting monotypic.

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Vegetation, Biomass, and Nitrogen Pools in a Spruce-Fir Forest of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Cited by 17 publications

References 19 publications

Variation in overstory nitrogen uptake in a small, high-elevation southern Appalachian spruce-fir watershed

Variation in overstory nitrogen uptake in a small, high-elevation southern Appalachian spruce-fir watershed

Index to American Botanical Literature

Succession after stand replacing disturbances by fire, wind throw, and insects in the dark Taiga of Central Siberia

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