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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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/314151 2024-01-07T09:45:29+01:00 Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif Matkala, Laura Salemaa, Maija Bäck, Jaana Department of Forest Sciences Ecosystem processes (INAR Forest Sciences) Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) 2020-04-17T07:42:15Z 22 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/314151 eng eng COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH 10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 Matkala , L , Salemaa , M & Bäck , J 2020 , ' Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif ' , Biogeosciences , vol. 17 , no. 6 , pp. 1535-1556 . https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 ORCID: /0000-0002-6107-667X/work/72301924 ORCID: /0000-0001-8794-7990/work/72305881 14a9dafa-c997-476f-9d38-ca2a212ec2c3 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/314151 000522156400001 cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess BOREAL DEPOSITION FINLAND GROWTH LITTER ADDITION NORWAY SPRUCE STANDS NUTRIENT STATUS ORGANIC LAYER PLANT SCOTS PINE 4112 Forestry 119 Other natural sciences Article publishedVersion 2020 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:10:49Z 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. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Finland HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Norway Biogeosciences 17 6 1535 1556 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
BOREAL DEPOSITION FINLAND GROWTH LITTER ADDITION NORWAY SPRUCE STANDS NUTRIENT STATUS ORGANIC LAYER PLANT SCOTS PINE 4112 Forestry 119 Other natural sciences |
spellingShingle |
BOREAL DEPOSITION FINLAND GROWTH LITTER ADDITION NORWAY SPRUCE STANDS NUTRIENT STATUS ORGANIC LAYER PLANT SCOTS PINE 4112 Forestry 119 Other natural sciences Matkala, Laura Salemaa, Maija Bäck, Jaana Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif |
topic_facet |
BOREAL DEPOSITION FINLAND GROWTH LITTER ADDITION NORWAY SPRUCE STANDS NUTRIENT STATUS ORGANIC LAYER PLANT SCOTS PINE 4112 Forestry 119 Other natural sciences |
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. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Department of Forest Sciences Ecosystem processes (INAR Forest Sciences) Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matkala, Laura Salemaa, Maija Bäck, Jaana |
author_facet |
Matkala, Laura Salemaa, Maija Bäck, Jaana |
author_sort |
Matkala, Laura |
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 GESELLSCHAFT MBH |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/314151 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Northern Finland |
genre_facet |
Northern Finland |
op_relation |
10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 Matkala , L , Salemaa , M & Bäck , J 2020 , ' Soil total phosphorus and nitrogen explain vegetation community composition in a northern forest ecosystem near a phosphate massif ' , Biogeosciences , vol. 17 , no. 6 , pp. 1535-1556 . https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1535-2020 ORCID: /0000-0002-6107-667X/work/72301924 ORCID: /0000-0001-8794-7990/work/72305881 14a9dafa-c997-476f-9d38-ca2a212ec2c3 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/314151 000522156400001 |
op_rights |
cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1535 |
op_container_end_page |
1556 |
_version_ |
1787427031781212160 |