Abstract
A field experiment was initiated in March 1986 in central Portugal to evaluate the influence of water and nutrient supply on the productivity of E. globulus. The treatments applied were, irrigation plus fertiliser, irrigation and the application of fertilisers in rainfed plots. The control received neither fertilisers nor irrigation. The annual pattern litterfall was measured over a period of 5 years and the litter layer was quantified 6 years after planting. The amount of litterfall varied with the treatments. Simultaneous water and nutrient supply increased significantly litterfall, in respect to control. In rainfed conditions the timing of the maximum of litterfall was anticipated relative to the irrigated plots. However, the time of maximum litterfall did not coincide with the dry season but rather with period of maximum growth in each treatment. The N and P concentration was higher in the litterfall of the two fertilised treatments than in the others. The lowest concentrations of N and P in the leaf litter were coincident with the summer period in all treatments. The withdrawal of N and P ranged between 32 and 65% according to treatment and season. The deliverance of nutrients through litterfall was strongly increased by simultaneous water and nutrient supply. The supply of fertilisers in rainfed conditions promoted higher deliverance of nutrients than in the plots irrigated only. The mass of the litter layer was significantly increased by simultaneous water and nutrient supply. Application of fertilisers induced an increase in N and P concentration and a decrease in C/N ratio of the litter layer. Treatments and C/N values did not influence apparently the proportion of carbon, N and P released through mineralization from the litter layer. The non-fertilized treatments showed a more efficient N cycling than the others.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Araújo M C, Pereira J S and Pereira H 1989 Biomass production by Eucalyptus globulus. Effects of climate mineral fertilization and irrigation. In Biomass for energy and Industry. Eds. G Grassi, G Gosse and G dos Santos. Vol. 1, pp 446–452. Elsevier Appl. Sci., London.
Attiwill P M 1979 Nutrient cycling in a Eucalyptus obliqua (L’Hérit) forest III. Growth biomass and net primary production. Aust. J. Bot. 27, 439–458.
Atiwill P M and Leeper G W 1987 Forest Soils and Nutrient Cycles. Melbourne University Press, Australia. 202 p.
Carvalho P O, Caldeira M C, Millard P and Pereira J S 1993 Growth, nitrogen uptake and internal cycling in Eucalyptus globulus seedlings in relation to nitrogen supply. In Optimization of Plant Nutrition. Eds. M A C Fragoso and M L van Beusichem. pp 629–634. Kluwer Academic Publ, Dordrecht.
Cromer R N, Ryan P A, Booth T H, Cameron D M and Rance S J 1991 Limitation to productivity of Eucalyptus grandis plantations in subtropical Australia. In Productivity in Perspective. Third Australian Forest Soils and Nutrition Conference. Ed. P J Ryan. pp 33–146. Forest Commission of NSW, Sydney.
Cromer R N and Williams E R 1982 Biomass and nutrient accumulation in a planted E. globulus (Labill) fertilized trial. Aust. J. Bot. 311, 265–278.
Ericsson T 1991 Mineral nutrient requirement of Eucalyptus gobulus seedling. Swedish University of Agricultural Scienccs, Department of Ecology and Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Uppsala. 11p.
Ericsson T, Rytter L and Under S 1993 Nutritional dynamics and requirements of short rotation forest. In Ecophysiology of Short Rotation Forest Crops. Eds. C P Mitchel, J B Ford-Robertson, T Hinkley and L Sennerby-Forsse. pp 35–65. Elsevier Applied Science, London.
Fabiäo A M D 1986 Contribuiçăo para o estudo da dinâmica da biomassa e da produtividade primária liquida em eucaliptais. Regiao Litoral do Centro de Portugal. Doctor Thesis. Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisboa.
Fabião A, Madeira M, Steen E, Kätterer T, Ribeiro C and Araújo C 1995 Development of root biomass in an Eucalyputs globulus plantation under different water and nutrient regimes. Plant and Soil 168/169.
Ingestad T 1988 New concepts on soil fertility and plant nutrition as illustrated by research on forest trees iand stands. Geoderma 40, 237–252.
Madeira M 1991 Influence of mineral nutrients redistribution in Eucalyptus plantations on soil properties. In Diversity of Environmental Biogeochemistry. Ed. J Berthelin. pp 485–494. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Madeira M and Pereira J S 1990/91 Productivity, nutrient immobilization and soil chemical properties in Eucalyptus globulus plantation under different irrigation and fertilization regimes Water. Air Soil Pollut. 54, 621–634.
Miller H G 1989 Internal and external cycling of nutrients in forest stands. In Biomass Production by Fast-Growing Trees. Eds. J S Pereira and J J Landsberg, pp 73–80. Kluwer, Dordrecht.
Myers B J 1988 Water stress integral — a link between short-term stress and long-term growth. Tree Physiol 4, 15–323.
O’Connel A M and Grove T S 1991 Processes contributing to the nutritional resilience or vunerability of jarrah and karri forests in western Australia. In Productivity in Perspective. Third Australian Forest Soils and Nutrition Conference. Ed. Philip J Rayn. pp 180–198. Forestery Comnission of NSW, Sydney.
Pereira J S 1993 Gas Exchange and Growth In Ecophysiology of Photosynthesis. Eds. E D Schulze and M M Caldwell. Ecol. Studies Vol. 100, Springer-Verlag. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York (In press).
Pereira J S, Linder S, Araújo M C, Pereira H, Ericsson T, Borralho N and Leal L C 1989 Optimization of biomass production in Eucalyptus gobulus plantations — a case study. In Biomass Production by Fast-Growing Trees. Eds. J S Pereira and J J Landsberg, pp 101–121. Kluwer, Dordrecht.
Pereira J S, Tenhunen J D, Lange O L, Beyschlag W, Meyer A and David M M 1986 Seasonal and diurnal patterns in leaf gas exchange of Eucalyptus globulus trees growing in Portugal. Can. J. For. Res. 16, 177–184.
Pereira J S, Linder S, Araúijo M C, Tomé M, Madeira M V and Ericsson T 1993 Biomass production with optimized nutrition in Eucalyptus globulus plantations. In Eucalyptus for Biomass Production. The State of the Art. Eds. J S Pereira and H Pereira. CEC, Brussels (In press).
Raison R J, Khanna P K, Benson M L, Myers B J, McMurtie R E and Lang R A G 1992 Dynamics of Pinus radiata foliage in relation to water and nitrogen stress: II Needle loss and temporal changes in total foliage means. For. Ecol. Manage. 52, 159–178.
Ross S 1989 Soil Process. A Systematic Approach. Routledge, London. 444 p.
Steel R J D and Torrie J H 1980 Principles and Procedures of Statistics. A Biometrical Approach. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, Singapore.
Thomas H 1992 Canopy survival. In Crop Photosynthesis: Spatial and Temporal Determinants. Eds. N R Baker and H Thomas. pp 11–41. Elsevier Sci. Publ. B. V. Amsterdam.
Watanabe F S and Olsen S R 1965 Test of an ascorbic acid method for determining phosphorus in water and NaHCO3 extracts from soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 29, 677–678.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Madeira, M., Araújo, M.C., Pereira, J.S. (1995). Effects of water and nutrient supply on amount and on nutrient concentration of litterfall and forest floor litter in Eucalyptus globulus plantations. In: Nilsson, L.O., Hüttl, R.F., Johansson, U.T. (eds) Nutrient Uptake and Cycling in Forest Ecosystems. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 62. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0455-5_33
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0455-5_33
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4204-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0455-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive