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Three-year growth response of young Douglas-fir to nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and blended fertilizers in Oregon and Washington

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Title Three-year growth response of young Douglas-fir to nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and blended fertilizers in Oregon and Washington
Names Mainwaring, Douglas B. (creator)
Maguire, Douglas A. (creator)
Perakis, Steven S. (creator)
Date Issued 2014-09-01 (iso8601)
Note To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/forest-ecology-and-management.
Abstract Studies of nutrient limitation in Douglas-fir forests of the Pacific Northwest focus predominantly on
nitrogen, yet many stands demonstrate negligible or even negative growth response to nitrogen fertilization.
To understand what nutrients other than nitrogen may limit forest productivity in this region, we
tested six fertilizer treatments for their ability to increase stem volume growth response of dominant
and co-dominant trees in young Douglas-fir plantations across a range of foliar and soil chemistry in western
Oregon and Washington. We evaluated responses to single applications of urea, lime, calcium chloride,
or monosodium phosphate at 16 sites, and to two site-specific nutrients blends at 12 of these sites.
Across sites, the average stem volume growth increased marginally with urea, lime, and phosphorus fertilization.
Fertilization responses generally aligned with plant and soil indicators of nutrient limitation.
Response to nitrogen addition was greatest on soils with low total nitrogen and high exchangeable calcium
concentrations. Responses to lime and calcium chloride additions were greatest at sites with low
foliar calcium and low soil pH. Response to phosphorus addition was greatest on sites with low foliar
phosphorus and high soil pH. Blended fertilizers yielded only marginal growth increases at one site, with
no consistent effect across sites. Overall, our results highlight that calcium and phosphorus can be important
growth limiting nutrients on specific sites in nitrogen-rich Douglas-fir forests of the Pacific
Northwest.
Genre Article
Topic Douglas-fir
Identifier Mainwaring, D. B., Maguire, D. A., & Perakis, S. S. (2014). Three-year growth response of young Douglas-fir to nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and blended fertilizers in Oregon and Washington. Forest Ecology and Management, 327, 178-188. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2014.05.005

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