Non-additive effects of litter mixtures on net N mineralization in a southern New England forest

@article{citeulike:1300732, abstract = {In this study, we developed simple, phenomenological models that enabled us to examine whether litter mixtures of differing quality increased, decreased, or had no effect on the rate of net N mineralization relative to a model that extrapolated the expected result assuming no interaction among litters of differing quality. We found that the presence of low quality litter (e.g., litter with a high lignin:N ratio) held the rate of net N mineralization to a uniformly low level until>70\% of the litter mixture was dominated by species of high litter quality. After this point, there was a rapid increase in the rate of net N mineralization. Although there was a relatively small difference in the predicted rate of net N mineralization (1 kg ha-1 28 d-1) between the two models (one assuming an interaction among litter types and the second, no interaction), applied over larger spatial and temporal scales, this relatively subtle difference could lead to considerably different estimated rates of N supply to saplings and canopy trees over the course of forest succession.}, author = {Finzi, Adrien C. and Canham, Charles D. }, citeulike-article-id = {1300732}, journal = {Forest Ecology and Management}, keywords = {mineralization, new\_england, nutrient\_cycling, species}, month = {June}, number = {1-3}, pages = {129--136}, posted-at = {2007-05-16 20:44:25}, priority = {0}, title = {Non-additive effects of litter mixtures on net N mineralization in a southern New England forest}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T6X-3TW8YV6-D/2/f35359eb5804bb9a8acb182fc4dd5951}, volume = {105}, year = {1998} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1300732 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1300732 TI - Non-additive effects of litter mixtures on net N mineralization in a southern New England forest JF - Forest Ecology and Management VL - 105 IS - 1-3 SP - 129 EP - 136 N2 - In this study, we developed simple, phenomenological models that enabled us to examine whether litter mixtures of differing quality increased, decreased, or had no effect on the rate of net N mineralization relative to a model that extrapolated the expected result assuming no interaction among litters of differing quality. We found that the presence of low quality litter (e.g., litter with a high lignin:N ratio) held the rate of net N mineralization to a uniformly low level until>70% of the litter mixture was dominated by species of high litter quality. After this point, there was a rapid increase in the rate of net N mineralization. Although there was a relatively small difference in the predicted rate of net N mineralization (1 kg ha-1 28 d-1) between the two models (one assuming an interaction among litter types and the second, no interaction), applied over larger spatial and temporal scales, this relatively subtle difference could lead to considerably different estimated rates of N supply to saplings and canopy trees over the course of forest succession. KW - mineralization KW - new_england KW - nutrient_cycling KW - species AU - Finzi, Adrien AU - Canham, Charles PY - 1998/06/15/ UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T6X-3TW8YV6-D/2/f35359eb5804bb9a8acb182fc4dd5951 ER -