Modeling forest floor contribution to phosphorus supply to maritime pine seedlings in two-layered forest soils

Mathieu Jonard, Laurent Augusto, Emmanuel Hanert, David L. Achat, Mark R. Bakker, Christian Morel, Alain Mollier and Sylvain Pellerin

Ecological Modelling, 2010, vol. 221, issue 6, 927-935

Abstract: The quantitative contribution of the forest floor to P nutrition of maritime pine seedlings was experimentally determined by Jonard et al. (2009) in a greenhouse experiment using the radio-isotopic labeling. To extend the results of the experiment on a known mineral soil, a modeling approach was developed to predict P uptake of maritime pine seedlings growing in a mineral soil covered with a forest floor layer. The classical nutrient uptake model based on the diffusion/mass-flow theory was extended to take into account mineralization of P in dead organic matter, microbial P immobilization and re-mineralization and P leaching. In addition, the buffer power characterizing the P retention properties of the mineral soil was allowed to vary with time and with the P-ion concentration in solution. To account for increasing root competition with time, a moving boundary approach was implemented. According to the model, the forest floor contributed most of the P supply to the seedlings (99.3% after 130 days). Predicted P uptake was consistent with observed P uptake and modeling efficiency was 0.97. The uptake model was then used to evaluate the impact of the P retention properties of the mineral soil on the contribution of the forest floor to P uptake. Simulations showed that the contribution of the forest floor was much lower in the quasi non-reactive soil (45.7%) but rapidly increased with soil P reactivity.

Keywords: Diffusion/mass-flow theory; Pinus pinaster; P retention properties; Seedlings; P uptake; P nutrition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:221:y:2010:i:6:p:927-935

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.12.017

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