Does phosphorus deficiency cause low vitality in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in the Bavarian Alps? | Ist Phosphormangel für die geringe Vitalität von Buchen (Fagus sylvatica L.) in den Bayerischen Alpen verantwortlich?
2000
Ewald, Jörg
An ecologically stratified transect of 49 samples revealed that high crown transparency and slow growth of European beech in the Bavarian Alps were related to soil chemical factors such as low availability of P, Mn and N. Tree vitality was particularly low in immature soils rich in carbonate, while laomy, more acidified sites appeared to be favourable for beech. Nutritional analysis of beech at 8 sites selected from the transect to represent a series of increasing mineral soil developments revealed close relationships between foliar element contents and soil properties: Mn and K were related to the saturation of these cations at exchange sites, but never reached conventional deficiency levels. With regard to foliar P-content the study sites formed two distinct groups: Moderate P-nutrition in well-developed mineral soils and extremely low foliar P-contents (0.6 to 1.0 mg·g⁻¹ DM) in immature carbonate soils with a combination of low total P-stock and very high Ca-saturation. A comparison of leaf size and colour of beeches with low and normal P-content yielded no significant differences. As foliar N exhibited a different pattern most closely related to soil humus stock, extremely wide N/P ratios of ca. 30 were associated with low P-contents. The study indicates that P is a critical element in the nutrition of beech in the Calcareous Alps, which may be partly responsible for poor vitality of this species in mixed mountain forests.
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