Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif
The relationship of the community composition of forest vegetation and soil nutrients were studied near the Sokli phosphate ore deposit in northern Finland. Simultaneously, the effects of the dominant species and the age of trees, rock parent material and soil layer on these nutrients were examined....
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ae18079716574be0895761339aa8ef1c 2023-05-15T17:42:51+02:00 Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif L. Matkala M. Salemaa J. Bäck 2020-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 https://doaj.org/article/ae18079716574be0895761339aa8ef1c EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.biogeosciences.net/17/1535/2020/bg-17-1535-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/ae18079716574be0895761339aa8ef1c Biogeosciences, Vol 17, Pp 1535-1556 (2020) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 2022-12-31T00:06:10Z The relationship of the community composition of forest vegetation and soil nutrients were studied near the Sokli phosphate ore deposit in northern Finland. Simultaneously, the effects of the dominant species and the age of trees, rock parent material and soil layer on these nutrients were examined. For this purpose, 16 study plots were established at different distances from the phosphate ore along four transects. Phosphate mining may take place in Sokli in the future, and the vegetation surveys and soil sampling conducted at the plots can be used as a baseline status for following the possible changes that the mining may cause in the surrounding ecosystem. The total phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) contents of the soil humus layer were positively related with species number and abundance of the understorey vegetation, and the correlation was slightly higher with P than N. This is interesting, as N usually has the most important growth-limiting role in boreal ecosystems. The spatial variation in the content of soil elements was high both between and within plots, emphasizing the heterogeneity of the soil. Dominant tree species and the soil layer were the most important environmental variables affecting soil nutrient content. High contents of P in the humus layer (maximum 2.60 g kg −1 ) were measured from the birch-dominated plots. As the P contents of birch leaves and leaf litter were also rather high (2.58 and 1.28 g kg −1 , respectively), this may imply that the leaf litter of birch forms an important source of P for the soil. The possible mining effects, together with climate change, can have an influence on the release of nutrients to plants, which may lead to alterations in the vegetation community composition in the study region. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Finland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Biogeosciences 17 6 1535 1556 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 L. Matkala M. Salemaa J. Bäck Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The relationship of the community composition of forest vegetation and soil nutrients were studied near the Sokli phosphate ore deposit in northern Finland. Simultaneously, the effects of the dominant species and the age of trees, rock parent material and soil layer on these nutrients were examined. For this purpose, 16 study plots were established at different distances from the phosphate ore along four transects. Phosphate mining may take place in Sokli in the future, and the vegetation surveys and soil sampling conducted at the plots can be used as a baseline status for following the possible changes that the mining may cause in the surrounding ecosystem. The total phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) contents of the soil humus layer were positively related with species number and abundance of the understorey vegetation, and the correlation was slightly higher with P than N. This is interesting, as N usually has the most important growth-limiting role in boreal ecosystems. The spatial variation in the content of soil elements was high both between and within plots, emphasizing the heterogeneity of the soil. Dominant tree species and the soil layer were the most important environmental variables affecting soil nutrient content. High contents of P in the humus layer (maximum 2.60 g kg −1 ) were measured from the birch-dominated plots. As the P contents of birch leaves and leaf litter were also rather high (2.58 and 1.28 g kg −1 , respectively), this may imply that the leaf litter of birch forms an important source of P for the soil. The possible mining effects, together with climate change, can have an influence on the release of nutrients to plants, which may lead to alterations in the vegetation community composition in the study region. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. Matkala M. Salemaa J. Bäck |
author_facet |
L. Matkala M. Salemaa J. Bäck |
author_sort |
L. Matkala |
title |
Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
title_short |
Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
title_full |
Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
title_fullStr |
Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
title_full_unstemmed |
Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
title_sort |
soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 https://doaj.org/article/ae18079716574be0895761339aa8ef1c |
genre |
Northern Finland |
genre_facet |
Northern Finland |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 17, Pp 1535-1556 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.biogeosciences.net/17/1535/2020/bg-17-1535-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/ae18079716574be0895761339aa8ef1c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1535 |
op_container_end_page |
1556 |
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1766144777089187840 |