ISSN:
1573-515X
Keywords:
fertilizer study
;
Hawaii
;
montane tropical forest
;
nitrogen
;
phosphorus
;
primary succession
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Geosciences
Notes:
Abstract We applied fertilizers in a 23complete factorial design to determine the effects of nutrient amendments on plant growth in Hawaiian montane forests growing on two different volcanic substrates: ‘a‘ā and pāhoehoe lava. Both sites were about 140 years old and their overstories were nearly monospecific stands of Metrosideros polymorpha. Fertilizer applications included N, P, a mixture of essential macro- and micronutrients excepting P and N, and all combinations thereof in each of four blocks. Additions of nutrients other than N or P had no significant effects on measured plant-growth variables. In contrast, additions of either N or P significantly increased tree height growth, diameter increments, biomass growth, and height growth of the understory fern Dicranopteris linearis in both sites. The effect of N was greater than that of P. Greatest growth rates occurred in plots receiving both N and P, and signficant N*P interactions occurred in several cases, suggesting a synergistic effect between these two elements. Plant growth on these young, poorly weathered, basaltic lavas is colimited by N and P availability. Growth in a similar-aged stand growing on a mixture of volcanic ash and cinders is N but not P limited, indicating that the texture of the parent material influences nutrient-availability patterns during early primary succession.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00001529
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