Downslope fertilizer movement in arctic tussock tundra

• Published in: Ecography
• Main Authors: Kummerow, J., Mills, J. N., Ellis, B. A., Hastings, S. J., Kummerow, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1987
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic; Northern Foothills; Brooks Range; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1987.tb00774.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0587.1987.tb00774.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1987.tb00774.x

Slow release fertilizer pellets (NPK) were spread in June and July 1985, on the frost surface under an 8–20 cm thick layer of thawed tundra in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska. The fertilizer was applied at a rate of 3.8 kg N, 1.2 kg P 2 O 5 , and 2.4 kg K to two, 10 × 0.75 m tussock bands. These bands were placed parallel to the contour lines in the middle of a uniform 10° slope. The purpose of the experiment was to test the hypothesis that fertilizer moves at a measurable rate downslope, affecting the vegetation in its course. The results support this hypothesis. One year after fertilizer application, plants collected 2 to 6 m downslope from the fertilizer band had significantly larger leaves and significantly higher nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations than those upslope from fertilizer application. It is concluded that nutrient‐releasing tundra perturbations affect the downslope tundra vegetation.