Variation in foliar nitrogen and aboveground net primary production in young postfire lodgepole pine

Abstract

Understanding nutrient dynamics of young postfire forests may yield important insights about how stands develop following stand-replacing wildfires. We studied 15-year-old lodgepole pine stands that regenerated naturally following the 1988 Yellowstone fires to address two questions: (1) How do foliar nitrogen (N) concentration and total foliar N vary with lodgepole pine density and aboveground net primary production? (2) Is foliar N related to litter production and to rates of gross production, consumption, and net production of soil NH4+ and NO3–? Foliar N concentration of new lodgepole pine needles averaged 1.38%; only stands at very high density (>80 000 trees·ha–1) approached moderate N limitation. Foliar N concentration in composite (all-age) needles averaged 1.08%, varied among stands (0.87%–1.39%), and declined with increasing tree density. The foliar N pool averaged 48.3 kg N·ha–1, varied among stands (3.6–218.4 kg N·ha–1), and increased with aboveground net primary production. Total foliar N was not related to laboratory estimates of net production of NH4+ or NO3– in soils. Lodgepole pine foliage is a strong N sink, and N does not appear to be limiting at this early successional state. The initial spatial patterns of postfire tree density strongly influence landscape patterns of N storage.