Seasonal Nutrient Dynamics of Foliage and Litterfall on Walker Branch Watershed, a Deciduous Forest Ecosystem

摘要

A detailed twelve-month study of litterfall, live foliage biomass, and seasonal nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sodium, and magnesium) dynamics in tree components was performed for forest types on Walker Branch Watershed, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Biomass and nutrient content of foliage, reproductive parts and branches were examined for ten dominant trees in order to assess the relative importance of litterfall in returning nutrients to the forest floor in four different forest types. Litterfall, measured in pine, pine-oak-hickory, oak-hickory, and mesophytic hardwood forests, was separated into three components (leaves, reproductive parts, and branches). Seasonal comparisons of those forest types were made for biomass and nutrient inputs for each component and for total litterfall. (ERA citation 01:014433)