Shoestring2014 3-tree growth
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Transcript of Shoestring2014 3-tree growth
Looking for a growth response in three
MELNHE stands
Do fertilized trees grow faster?
Shoestring REU
Eli Egan-Anderson
Cornell ‘15
Background
Nitrogen (N) is one of the major limiting
nutrients for net primary production (NPP)
and is required in large amounts by plants
(Vitousek and
Howarth 1991)
It is one of the
requirements of
photosynthesis
Co-limitation
Multiple Element Limitation (MEL) describes
plants effort allocation for acquiring different
nutrients (Rastetter 1997)
Phosphorus (P) has been found to be a major
limiting factor when N is available in large
quantities (Walker and Syers 1976)
In N+P plots there are larger amounts of
organically available N than in plots where just
N was added (Fisk et al 2014)
Predictions for the Study
I expect to see positive growth in all stands
where fertilizer has been added
More growth in N plots of younger stands
I expect the most growth will be found in N+P
plots at young ages
Methods
Diameter growth inventory stands
C1, C2 and C6
C1 last cut in 1990
C2 last cut in 1988
C6 last cut in 1975
All trees with diameters over 10
cm in 2011 were measured and
recorded
Methods Cont.
Nail was placed at 1.57 m
and a 20 cm dowel was
hung from the nail to
measure below at DBH
Compared findings to pre-
treatment data from 2011
2014 Basal Area per hectare
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35C
on
tro
l N
N +
P P Ca
Co
ntr
ol N
N +
P P
Co
ntr
ol N
N+P P C
a
C1 C2 C6
Bas
al A
rea
(m2
/he
ctar
e)
Basal Area per Hectare
YB
WB
STM
SM
RS
RO
RM
PC
HEM
FIR
BE
BA
ASH
10
7
13
15
19
5
104
2
21
23 22 22 12
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Control N P N+P Ca
Basal
Are
a G
row
th (
cm
2/y
ear)
White Birch Basal Area Growth
C1
C2
C6
White Birch Results
o C1 p=0.21
o C2 p=0.04
o C6 p=0.94
Pin Cherry Results
o C1 p= 0.39
o C2 p= 0.72
o C6 p= 0.35
4
5
8
5
13
3
2
8
1
26
7
1
6
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
Control N P N+P Ca
Ba
sa
l A
rea
Gro
wth
(c
m2
/ye
ar)
Pin Cherry Basal Area Growth
C1
C2
C6
Red Maple Results
o C2 p=0.78
o C6 p=0.24
12
17
12
101531 15
30
14
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Control N P N+P Ca
Ba
sa
l A
rea
Gro
wth
(c
m2
/ye
ar)
Red Maple Basal Area Growth
C2
C6
American Beech Results
o C2 p = 0.12
o C6 p = 0.56
1
8
11
3
12
16
17
18
18
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
Control N P N+P Ca
Basal
Are
a G
row
th (
cm
2/y
ear)
American Beech Basal Area Growth
C2
C6
Discussion
Only white birches in C2 have shown significant growth from fertilizer treatments
Young stands react more strongly to N
White birch is an early successional tree
Small sample sizes in some plots make for weak comparison tests 0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Control N N+P P
Basal
Are
a G
row
th (
cm
2)
C2 White Birch Basal Area Growth
p=0.04
Implications of the Study
Help us to understand nutrient limitations of
the Northern forests
Addresses factors we may see with an
increase in N deposition
Helps to understand cost benefit of fertilizers
as an option for silvicultural practices
We will be remeasuring in August to see
growth and measuring additional stands
Acknowledgements and
Citations
Our glorious leader (Adam Wild)
Shinjini Goswami
Ruth Yanai
Fisk M. Ratliff T. Goswami, S and Yanai, R (2014). Synergistic soil
response to nitrogen plus phosphorus. fertilization in hardwood forests.
Biogeochemistry DOI 10.1007/s10533-013-9918-1
Rastetter, E. B., G. I. Ågren and G. R. Shaver. 1997. Responses of N-
limited ecosystems to increased CO2: A balanced-nutrition, coupled-
element-cycles model. Ecological Applications 7:444-460.
Vitousek, P. M., and R. W. Howarth. 1991. Nitrogen limitation on land
and in the sea—How can it occur. Biogeochemistry 13:87–115.
Walker, T and Syers, J. 1976. The fate of phosphorus during
pedogenesis. Geoderma 15(1): 1-19
Timothy Fahey
Matt Vadeboncoeur
Shoestringers