Effects of plant community type on soil nitrogen availability along a toposequence in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Niwot Ridge LTER/University of Colorado1560 30th Street, CB [e-mail] 2001
• Subjects: NWT; Niwot Ridge LTER Site; LTER; Colorado; Soil organic matter; alpine; aspen; carbon; fertilization plots; fertilization; fir; lodgepole; meadow; mineralization; moisture; nitrogen; organic matter; pH; soil; soil carbon; soil moisture; spruce; subalpine; treeline; tundra; Tundra
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.9427; http://metacat.lternet.edu/knb/metacat/knb-lter-nwt.141.2/xml

This study was initiated to examine the nitrogen content of three montane soils: subalpine, treeline and alpine; and to determine if the differences in soil nitrogen content were attributed to plant community and elevation. Soil organic matter, soil carbon, bulk density, pH and soil moisture were also measured for each site. Soil samples were collected from 64 total plots [22 subalpine, 15 treeline and 27 alpine sites]. The subalpine site plots included aspen, fir, lodgepole, spruce and meadow vegetation cover. The treeline site plots included fir, spruce and meadow vegetation cover. The alpine site plots included dry meadow and mesic meadow fertilization (control, N, P, NP) plots. Soil cores were removed with 3.5-cm interior diameter PVC pipe that was driven into the soil by use of a rubber mallet. The minimum depth of individual cores was 10 cm. Cores were taken at each site three times over the period between 29 June 1999 and 29 July 1999.