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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2007

2006

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Abstract

N saturation induced by atmospheric N deposition can have serious consequences for forest health in many regions. In order to evaluate whether foliar d15N may be a robust, regional-scale measure of the onset of N saturation in forest ecosystems, we assembled a large dataset on atmospheric N deposition, foliar and root d15N and N concentration, soil C:N, mineralization and nitrification. The dataset included sites in northeastern North America, Colorado, Alaska, southern Chile and Europe. Local drivers of N cycling (net nitrification and mineralization, and forest floor and soil C:N) were more closely coupled with foliar d15N than the regional driver of N deposition. Foliar d15N increased non-linearly with nitrification:mineralization ratio and decreased with forest floor C:N. Foliar d15N was more strongly related to nitrification rates than was foliar N concentration, but concentration was more strongly correlated with N deposition. Root d15N was more tightly coupled to forest floor properties than was foliar d15N. We observed a pattern of decreasing foliar d15N values across the following species: American beech>yellow birch>sugar maple. Other factors that affected foliar d15N included species composition and climate. Relationships between foliar d15N and soil variables were stronger when analyzed on a species by species basis than when many species were lumped. European sites showed distinct patterns of lower foliar d15N, due to the importance of ammonium deposition in this region. Our results suggest that examining d15N values of foliage may improve understanding of how forests respond to the cascading effects of N deposition.