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SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION
OF WESTERN CONIFERS
RFNRP Repo rt Number 10
1988
Proceedings o f a Workshop held March 30 - 31, 1 9 8 8 a t the
Charles Lathrop P ack Demons tration Fo res t, Eatonvil le, Washington
H . N . Chappe l l and R . E . M i l l er, Compi lers
Col lege o f Fo re s t Res ources Unive r s i ty o f Washington S eattle, Washington 9 8 1 9 5 The compilers are , respec t ive ly , Director , Reg ional Fore s t Nut r i t i on
Re s e arch Project , C o l l ege o f Fore s t Re s ources , Univer s i ty o f Washington , and
P r incipal S o i l S c ient i s t , Pac i fi c Northwe s t Re search S tation , USDA Fo re s t
S ervi ce .
Thanks are due the workshop par tic ipants for the i r c ontribut i ons to
the workshop and the s e proceedings . Mate r ials inc luded in thi s compi lation are
repr o duced without technical review ,
and content and accuracy are the
respons ib i l i ty o f the authors .
Th i s report i s a pub l ication o f the Regional Fo re s t Nut r i t i on Re search
Proje c t , a cooperat ive program ini t i ated in 1 9 6 9 to provide fore s t managers with
accurate growth data for manage d s tands o f Douglas - fi r and we s tern heml ock in
we s tern Oregon and wes tern Washington .
Pac ific Northwe s t fore s t industry
compani es , s tate and federal agenc i e s , and fert i l iz e r manufac turers provide
The RFNRP Repo r t series is intended to
suppor t and direc tion for the Projec t .
enhance communicat ion o f fore s t fer t i l i z at i on research results with in the RFNRP
communi ty .
Prepare d to meet internal RFNRP needs , reports in the s e r i e s may b e
d e s c r ipt ions o f work i n progress a s we l l as final s t atements o f research resul t s .
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .
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1
RESEARCH SUMMA RIES AND NOTES
Sulfur in S o i l s and Fo l i age
The S cycle and S042- adsorption effects on fert i l ity of Northwe s t
forest s o i l s
R.
Harrison A review of organic- N/organic - S ratios in conifers
P. Homann
. . . . . . . . . . .
. .
. .
7
Prescribed fire effects on sulfur in s o i l s
T.
M Ballard .
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9
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Re l at i onship s of sulfur fractions to chemical and b io logical properties in
Oregon s o i l s
R.
P.
2
Dick . 10 S04-su1fur content of western Washington forest s o i l s
J. Shumway . .
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13 Note s: Sulfur def iciency symptoms ; uptake mechani sms
R. B. Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 S ulfur Fertilization Trials
Use of s o i l microb ial b i omass as an indicator of non - resp ons ive s ites to
nitrogen fert i l ization
Nason 16 Dougl as - fir fert i l izat i on deci s ion-making for industrial use
R . Carter and K . Klinka
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17 Douglas - fir and western hemlock fert i l i zation : summary of 5 s tudi e s
M . A . Radwan . . . . . . . . . .
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19 D.
D.
Myrold and T.
E.
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Red cedar operational ferti l ization tr ial
J.
Kumi
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We s tern hemlock - Pacific s i lver fir operational fert i l ization tr ial
J.
Kumi
Re spons e to sulfur in nitrogen ferti l ized Douglas - fir
J.
Blake,
S.
P.
Gessel,
S.
Webster,
and H .
N.
Chappell 27
31 Pre l iminary report on Douglas - f ir growth responses to nitrogen and sulfur
app l ications
B.
Bennett
Characterization of s o i l nitrogen and sulfur ava i l ab i l ity in re l ation to
vo lume res pons e of D ougl as - f ir in Western Ore gon and Washington
J.
Blake .
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RMC ferti l izer p l ot study : nitrogen and sulfur
M.
S.
Meredith and D.
H.
McNabb
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36 42 43
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Comparative effects of three nitrogen fert i l izers app l i e d in fal l and spring
to a 2 9 - year - o l d Douglas - fir p l antation
R. E. Miller, M. Atherton, and J. Wilcox . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44 Urea p r i l l versus fo l i ar sprays of concentrated s o lutions of nitrogen
R. E. Miller and D. Young
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Effects of fo l i arly app l i e d KS and NS s o lutions
R.
E.
Miller and D.
Young
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46 48 .
Effect of a p otas s ium sulfate s o lution on 8 - year he ight growth of Douglas - fir
previ ous ly fert i l ized with 800 lb s N/acre
50 R. E. Miller and D. Young
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A Dougl as - fir N
W.
Scott .
S fert i l ization trial
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51 .
Effects of pho sphorus and sulfur fertilization on the growth of thinned and
urea fert i l i zed Douglas - fir at Shawnigan Lake , B . C .
H.
Brix,
T.
Trofymow,
A.
Mitchell,
and C.
Preston
Re sp ons e of a p o l e - s ize p ondero s a p ine stand to nitrogen , pho sphorus , and
sulfur
P.
H.
Cochran
Resp ons e of thinned ,
R.
Brockley
immature l odgepo l e p ine to fert i l ization
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52 54 62 D I S CUSS ION S UMMARI ES
Sulfur in S o i l s and Fol iage
R.
Edmonds,
facilitator
63 Sulfur Fert i l ization Trials
S.
Webster,
facilitator
69 WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
71 LITERATURE LIST
73
1
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONI FERS
INTRODUCTION
Sul fur nutr ition of forest trees has rece ived cons iderable inte rest in
Early work in the Pacific Northwe st deve loped relati onships
recent years .
between S and N concentrations in s o i l and fo l iage and tree and stand
responses to N fert i l i z ation , and recent studies have included S fertilizer
app l ic ati ons to test the s e relati onship s .
Field tr ials that included S
fert i l i z ation have produced incons istent re sults , contributing to uncertainty
about the p l ace o f S in ferti l i z ation programs , particularly for coast
Douglas - fi r stands .
In the fall o f 19 8 7 , the Reg ional Forest Nutrition
Rese arch Project Technical Adv i s o ry Committee discus s e d S ferti l i z ation
results from recent RFNRP tr ials , and prop o s e d an informal meeting to
summar i z e work in the region and to outline future needs .
The workshop on Sulfur Nutrition and Ferti l i z ation of We s tern Coni fers
was he l d March 30 - 31 , 19 8 8 at the Unive rs ity of Washington Pack Demonstration
Forest near Eatonvi l l e , Washington .
Partic ipants included researchers
actively invo lved in forest nutrition rese arch .
Each p artic ipant was
requested to provide a summary of research projects and results; a s imp l e form
was distr i buted to aid summary comp i lation .
Additional information, repr ints ,
and notes were we lcomed .
The two - day workshop included individual
presentations of s tatus reports on research projects and p articipation in one
of two discus s ion group s .
Th i s p roceedings includes mate r i al shared at the meeting by p articip ants
o r sent in by tho s e who could not attend and summar ies o f the two discus s i on
s e s s ions .
The comp l eted forms and other materials submitted have been
reproduced without review o r editing , with the objective of documenting the
current status of S nutr ition rese arch in the region and the discus s ions that
took p l ace at the workshop .
Thi s document i s not intended to be a thorough
s cient i fic review o f S nutr ition o f forest tre es , but rather i s a status
report of research in the PNW and a res ource for p l anning additional tr ials
and analys e s .
Reade rs are encouraged to contact authors directly with
que sti ons .
H . N . Chappe l l
College of Forest Resources
University of Washington
R . E . Miller
Pacific Northwest Research Station
USDA Forest Service
2
The S Cycle and S042- Adsorption Effects on Soil Fertility in Northwest Forest Soils Rob Harrison, University of Washington The complexity of the sulfur cycle in forest soils rivals that of the nitrogen cycle, and
estimating the fraction of soil sulfur available for forest growth and the possibility of
response to S fertilizers yields many of the same problems as assessing nitrogen availability
and response. Figure 1, for instance, illustrates some of the complexity of the S cycle in
forest soils. Potential pools include carbon bonded S (with C-S linkages) , ester bonded
sulfate (C-O-S linkages), soluble S042-, sulfate minerals and S042- adsorbed onto mineral
surfaces as well as soluble sulfate in the soil solution.
Like N, much of the soil S is often associated with organic matter, the organic
fraction of S in soils often comprising the bulk of total soil S. However, unlike the weakly
held N03- ion, the S042- ion is strongly retained inorganically by adsorption/precipitation
mechanisms in many soils, particularly in subsoils containing large amounts of
reprecipitated and amorphous Fe and Al oxides and hydroxides. Sulfate adsorption creates
an additional mechanism for sulfate retention in soils in addition to the organic cycling of S.
It also creates a potential pool for supply of tree nutritional needs.
The occurance of a high fraction of inorganic S in subsoils is commonly seen in
coniferous stands, particularly those with low N fertility. For instance, Figure 2 shows
organic, P04 soluble, and water soluble S pools in a contrasting N-poor Douglas-ftr and an
N-rich red alder stand that regenerated at the same time on the same soil series (a clearcut
Douglas-fIr stand) . Note that the bulk of soil S is in the organic fraction for the soil "AI"
and "A2" horizons in both stands. However, in the Douglas-fir "B2I" and "B22" soil
horizons much of the soil S is in the P04 soluble inorganic S04 form. The high N status
of the red alder site may have allowed more of the soil S to be retained organically. The
Red alder soil also contained a much higher C content than the Douglas-fir soil in all
horizons.
The inorganic S pool is the most water soluble; thus it would be the primary supply
of additional S for increased forest growth when a stand has been fertilized with N and
additional S is incorporated into organic matter. The soil solution S04 as well as the
amount of inorganically retained S is often seen to decrease when N becomes more
available in a forest ecosystem, including situations where N is supplied by fertilization,
mineralization following forest cutting, or inputs from N-ftxing species such as legumes.
3
The availability of the adsorbed S04 pool is typically estimated by extracting a soil
with an orthophosphate solution such as the KH2P04 extraction utilized by the RFNRP.
The utility of this extraction in estimating the availability of adsorbed soil S04 is
questionable, however, since the desorption of adsorbed S04 to the soil solution and the
ability of this flux to maintain an adequate concentration for optimum tree growth is
ultimately the controlling mechanism in regulating plant availibility of S04. Since tree
uptake is continually depleting the soil solution S04 pool, and this pool is relatively small
in relation to total plant requirements, the flux from larger pools to the soil solution is
equally as important at controlling S fertility as the measured pools themselves.
The chemistry and plant availability of S has often been compared to P chemistry and
plant availability; but there are two very important distinctions that act to counterbalance
each other in terms of S fertility. First, S04 is much more soluble in soils than P04, and
the two anions compete for essentially the same retention sites. The lower solubility of
P04 is one reason P04 solutions are often used to displace adsorbed S04, such as in the
RFNRP studies. On the other hand, plants are not nearly so efficient at scavenging S04 as
P04 from soil solution. With P, soil solution concentrations as low as 0.03 ppm P are
sufficient for maximum growth for many plants, provided the soil can maintain soil
solution concentration by flux from other pools.
Less data is available on critical soil solution concentrations of S, but in one study of
S in nutrient cultures 10 ppm S concentration was required for maximum plant growth. A
critical concentration of 1 or 2 ppm S in solution seems more appropriate for many tree
species. Thus, the equilibrium soil solution concentration of S04 is just as important as the
flux from labile pools to soil solution. If a soil does not maintain a sufficient soil solution
concentration, reduced growth will occur regardless of the measured pool of "available"
S04 measured by P04 extraction.
Many northwestern soils tend to maintain relatively low soil solution S04
concentrations. Figure 3, for instance, shows the equilibrium concentrations of sulfate in a
Northwest Spodosol "Findley Lake B2ir". This soil horizon naturally maintains a S04
concentration of about 0.3 ppm S in the soil solution. An addition of about 65 ppm S to
the soil was required to bring the equilibrium soil solution concentration up to 2 ppm. This
would be the equivalent of about 130 kg S ha-1 of S fertilizer in 15 cm of soil. In contrast,
a S04 rich Southeastern Ultisol "Duke Btl " is shown, which maintains a soil solution
concentration of 3 ppm S. This contrast shows that it may be necessary to consider the
ability of Northwestern forest soils to maintain an adequate soil solution concentration of
S04 for proper tree growth in some stands.
4
deposition
precipitation
I
incor ration
I
I
I
I
I
,,
,,
\
\
leaching
,
dissolution
mineralization
\
......
r-'------,
t
leaching
)
incorporation
leaching
Figure I-Pools and pathways of S flow in a forest soil.
I
I
5
30
S fraction
1I organic
0 P04 soluble
D water soluble
Al
20
'-'
§
'P
u
Jg
c:n
10
o
DFAI
DFA2
DF B2I
Douglas-fIr
DF B22
RA Al
RA A2
RA B2I
RA B22
-------
red alder
Figure 2-S fractions in two Washington State forest soils by horizon.
6
5
4
3
2
bi>1
Duke Btl
§ O ���----��*--+-.200
8
-1
Solution
concentration
(mM sulfate)
'£
::s
CI)
o
,r;:::l
en
-
2
-
3
-4
-11
-12
1 1.9
Figure 3-Sulfate adsorption, desorption, and extraction sequences for Northwest (Findley Lake B2ir) and Southeast (Duke Btl) subsoils. 7
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS: RESEARCH SUMMARY Study Title:
A
Review of Organic-NjOrganic-S Ratios in Conifers
Investigator: Peter S. Homann, Forest Resources AR-lO, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA
98195; Phone (206)545-1673
Introduction
An assumed constant ratio of organic-Njorganic-S has been used in several studies to
partition total-S of tree tissue into organic and inorganic forms. However, experimental
data from studies of conifer tissue do not entirely support the concept that this ratio is
constant either within a species or between species.
y
The work of Kelly and Lambert (1972) and Turner et al. (1977, 1980) indicates relativel
stable ratios (approximately 15), with natural variability (or measurement error) of ± 10% in
Monterey pine and Douglas-fir. An exception is a ratio of 10.6 based on data for total
foliage from a nitrogen fertilized plot (Turner et al. 1980).
Higher ratios have been
observed in loblolly pine (Kelly and Johnson, 1982) and Douglas-fir (Homann, unpublished
data) seedlings that have high nitrogen concentrations.
High ratios could occur due to
buildup of compounds such as arginine; arginine buildup has been observed in Monterey
pine (M.J. Lambert. 1986. Can. J. For. Res. 16:1055-1062). Ratios of 6.3 to 14.5 occur in
Norway spruce, based on the data of Van Praag and Weissen (1986).
The variety of experimental procedures used to measure S may contribute to the lack of
consistency of ratios between studies. However, even when analyses have been carried out
by an individual laboratory using constant methodology, different ratios have been observed.
Summary of Studies
Kjeldahl-Njorganic-S ratios (mass basis) were determined based on data from the following
studies. In all studies, Kjeldahl-N was used to measure N.
Since none of the studies
indicate that the method had been modified to include nitrate, it was assumed here that it
measured organic-N plus ammonium-No Ammonium-N was rarely measured; when it was
(Van Praag and Weissen, 1986), it was only 1% of Kjeldahl-N. Therefore the data presented
below are Kjeldahl-Njorganic-S ratios, where it is assumed that Kjeldahl-N is nearly
equivalent to organic-No Organic-S was always determined by difference between total-S
and sulfate-S; each of these has been determined by a variety of methods.
Species: Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Tissue de cription: needles from greenhouse-grown seedlings that received no sulfate (low­
S) or high sulfate (high-S) during weekly fertilization.
Analysis: N determined as sum of Kjeldahl-N on water extracts and extracted residues.
Water extracts were pretreated by evaporating with a phosphate buffer to drive off
ammonia prior to Kjeldahl-N analysis.
Total-S was determined as sum of total-S
determined on water extracts and extracted residues by alkaline oxidation followed by
HI reduction. Sulfate-S was determined by HI reduction on water extract.
Results: Kjeldahl-N:
low-S needles 2.2%, high-S needles 2.4%. Kjeldahl-NjOrganic-S
Ratio: low-S needles 23, high-S needles 16. (n
2 lab reps, C.V.<7% for all values
presented)
Reference: P.S. Homann, unpublished data; to be included in Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of
Washington, Seattle.
=
8
Species: Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Tissue description: needles collected from five plots treated with nitrogen or sawdust-plus­
sucrose.
Analysis: See Kelly and Lambert (1972) below
5
Results: Kjeldahl-N: 0.9 to 1.9%. Kjeldahl-N/Organic-S Ratio: mean 14.8, s.d. 0.6, n
plots for current needles; mean 14.9, s.d. 0.8, n
4 plots for l -year-old needles, with
one plot with ratio 10.6 not included.
Reference: J. Turner et al. 1980. Acta Oecol./Oecol. Plant. 1:27-35.
=
=
Species: Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Tissue description: needles collected from upper parts of crowns from
eleven stands
Analysis: See Kelly and Lambert (1972) below
Results: Kjeldahl-N: 0.9 to 1.8%. Kjeldahl-N/Organic-S Ratio: mean 15.0, s.d. 1.6, n
11 plots for current needles; mean 15.1, s.d. 1.7, n
11 plots for l -year-old needles.
(Note: reported values of 4.76 and 4.36 for % N were assumed to be in error, and were
taken to be 1.76 and 1.36, respectively.)
Reference: J. Turner et al. 1977. Can. J. For. Res. 7:476-480.
=
=
Species: Norway spruce (Picea abies)
Tissue description: needles collected from recently cut trees from fertilized and unfertilized
plots
Analysis:
N determined by Kjeldahl digestion.
Total-S determined by turbidometry.
Sulfate-S determined by barium chloride extraction/precipitation followed by HI
reduction.
Results:
Kjeldahl-N:
1.0 to 1.7%. Kjeldahl-N/Organic-S ratio:
6.3 to 14.5, seems to
depend on age of needles and geographical location.
Reference: H.J. Van Praag and F. Weissen. 1986. Tree Physiology 1:169-176.
Species: Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)
Tissue description: shoots (stem plus needles) from greenhouse-grown seedlings that were
fertilized with different amounts of urea and sulfate.
Analysis: N determined by Kjeldahl digestion. Total-S determined by LECO combustion.
Sulfate-S determined by extraction with distilled water followed by indirect sulfate
determination with barium.
Results: Kjeldahl-N: 2.4 to 3.0%. Kjeldahl-N/Organic-S ratio: 20 to 30. (Note: these
ratios may be in slight error because they were derived from means that were
graphically presented, but the authors stated "organically bound-sulfur concnetrations
were 26 to 60 percent below sulfur values calculated from [an N/S ratio of 14.6 on a
mass basis]".
Reference:
J.M. Kelly and D.W. Johnson. 1982. Forest Sci. 28:725-731.
Species: Monterey pine (Pinus radiata)
Tissue description: needles collected from different parts of crowns, at different times of
year, from different geographical locations
Analysis:
N determined by Kjeldahl digestion.
Total-S determined by ashing with
magnesium nitrate followed by indirect sulfate determination with barium. Sulfate-S
determined by extraction with boiling HCI followed by indirect sulfate determination
with barium.
Results:
Kjeldahl-N:
1 to 2.5%.
Kjeldahl-N/Organic-S Ratio:
14.6 ± 1.4 based on
regression analysis.
Reference: J. Kelly and M.J. Lambert. 1972. Plant Soil 37:395-407.
9
Project Title:
Prescribed Fire Effects on Sulfur in Soils
Personnel:
Dr. T. M.
Ballard
(Principal
Investigator)
Dept. of Soil Science
University of British Columbia
. Vancouver, B.C.
V6T 2A2
Dr. P. T. Sanborn
(Post-Doctoral Fellow)
Co-operating Organization:
MacMillan Bloedel Ltd.
Funding Agency:
B.C. Science Council
Duration:
Tota 1 Budget:
June 1, 1988 to March 31, 1990
$80,000
Background:
1)
2) 3) S volatilization during fire is an important S loss
mechanism.
Low foliar concentrations of total S and sulfate S are common
in N fertilized stands, especially in interior B.C.
S behaviour in forest soils and ecosystems is poorly understood, but is clearly unlike N behaviour in many respects. Study Objectives:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5) Determine some foliage composition effects on S
volatilization losses during combustion.
Examine some soil sulfate retention mechanisms.
Compare organic S fractions in forest soil materials from
selected pairs of burned and unburned sites.
Compare S mineralization in forest soil materials from
selected pairs of burned and unburned sites.
Test some S availability indices.
10
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONI FERS: RESEARCH SUMMARY S tudy Title : Re l ationships o f Sul fur Fractions to Chemical and
Biolo gical Prope rties in Oregon S o ils .
Inve stigato r :
Richard P . Dick
Addre s s and te lephone : S tudy Location :
Objective s :
Department o f S o i l Sci ence
Oregon State Unive rs ity
Corval l i s , Oregon 9 7 3 31
(503) 7 5 4 - 2441
Oregon
Survey the distr ibution o f sul fur fractions in Oregon so i l s .
Summary of results and conclus i ons :
Twenty - three surface s o i l s ( 0 - 15 cm) and s ix s o i l profiles ( 0 - 15 , 15 - 3 0 ,
3 0 - 60 , 60 - 9 0 , and 9 0 - 12 0 cm) rep res enting major s o i l s er i e s in Oregon that
di ffered markedly in pH ( 4 . 3 - 9 . 9 ) , o rganic matter content ( 1 - 168 g organic
C kg - 1 , ) and texture ( 4 - 96% s and 2 - 67% clay ) were s e l ected for the study .
The sul fur fracti ons o f inorganic - sulfate S ( S04 2 - ) , ester - sul fate S ( ES)
and carbon - bonded S ( CS ) we re determined on Johns o n - N i shita apparatus for
each s o i l s amp l e .
In the 0 to 15 - cm depth total S contents r anged from 5 6
As a pe rcen­
t o 4 7 6 4 mg S kg s o i l - 1 with a mean o f 4 7 7 mg S kg s o i l - 1 .
tage of the total S in surface s o i l s ( 0 - 15 cm) , ES ranged from 2 9 to 7 1%
( mean o f 51%) , CS ranged from 2 to 16% (mean o f 10%) and S04 ranged from
1 . 5 to 61% (mean of 11%) .
Total S was highly correlated with ES ( r - 0 . 9 9 ) ,
C S ( r=0 . 96*** ) , and S04 ( r=0 . 9 3 *** ) but showed poor correlations with the
percentage s o f ES , CS or S04 ( r values <0 . 14 ) .
Both arylsu1fatase
activity and bioma s s C had higher correlations wi h C S ( r=0 . 64*** and
0.5 7 ** , respective ly) than with ES ( r=0 . 48 ** and 0 . 3 8 * , re spectively ) .
Stepw i s e mUltip le regre s s ion indicated that mean winter tempe rature , days
s o i l is mo ist , vegetation and s and content were important in pre dicting
l eve l s of o rganic S ( E S and C S ) and total S fractions in s o i l s .
Where as
inorganic sul fate leve l s were best pre dicted by mean annual temperatures ,
annual p recip itation , vegetation , s and content and drainage clas s .
11
Table 1 .
Distribution of S fractionsin .urface soils
R� U[n Qr �Qn
Parameter
Mean
-
Inorganic sulfate
Range
mg S kg-1_
9.8
E!H�UrD
Mean
CV
CV
_mg 5 kg-L
%
2 -31
Q[e oD
Range
100
84
%
1-742
212
30-1563
215
6-404
233
Ester su1fate-5
137
45-357
90
178
Carbon-bonded S
46
12-153
105
49
Residual S
187
43-457
188
290
17-2820
133
Total 5
370
101-921
87
518
56-4764
225
Table 2.
Correlation coefficients between S fractions and organic C,
total N,
biomass C and ary1su1fatase activity
Ary1su1fatase
Organic C
Total N
S04-S
0.61***
0.5S***
O.13NS
0 .23NS
Ester S0 4-S
0.82***
0.81***
0.3 9*
0.48**
C-bonded S
0.90***
0.89***
0.57**
0.64***
Total S
0.81***
0.75***
0.37*
0.46**
Biomass C
activity
Table 3.
Correlation coefficients between S fractions, and pH,
pH
Total P
P
and textural parameters
Organic P
Inorganic P
Clay
Silt
Sand
5 04 -S
0.56***
O.OINS
S
-O.OSN
O.lONS
O.IONS
0.37*
-0.33NS
Ester S04-S
0.24NS
O.lONS
-O.OSNS
-O.OlNS
0.29 NS
0.34NS
-0.41*
C-bonded S
0.16NS
o .1l NS
0 .1 4NS
-0.06 NS
0.39NS
0.29NS
-0.42*
Total S
0.29 NS
0.10NS
O.UNS
O.27NS
0.35*
-0.41*
0.01
N
o
I
15
IILFATE
20
'
IULFUR .. kl
40
,
60
801 -1)
80
•
o
20
i
I
.AMITY I I
.wOODBURN -rORY IULFATE
1
,
i
-
•
•
80 SHAND
WALLA WALLA
I. QUINCY
i!
i
R
90 '
n
/
\
-.. eoU I
eo
60
40
sol -1)
J/
15
30 )
IULFUR _ kl
gO
W••tern Oregon loll
,
120
I, \
L.
\
I
I
-------------
Ealtern Oregon SoIl 13
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION O F WESTERN CONIFERS: RESEARCH SUMMARY Complete thi s form before the meet ing; b r ing cop ies for distribution to
workshop partic ipant s .
Complete one form for each s tudy or for a series of
related s tudies .
Please res trict the narrat ive of s tudy results and
conclus ions to one page; include tables and figures on separate sheets i f
des ired .
S tudy T i tle:
S04 - Sulfur Content o f Western Washington Fores t S o ils
Inves t igator(s):
John Shumway
Addres s and telephone: S tudy locat ion: Depar tment o f Natural Resources
Fores t Land Management D ivi s ion
Olympia , WA 9 8 504
( 2 06 ) 7 5 3 - 0671 Objec t ives:
E s t imate the S 04 - S content of major fores t s o ils in western
Washington
Ten samples appr ox . 1 li ter in volume were collected
Experimental des ign:
from the surface 15 cm at s ix mapping uni t locat ions for 9 5 fores ted
s o il series in wes tern Washington
Acetate extractable S04 - S analys is
Measurements: s o il and foliage sampling :
was done at the WSU S o il Tes ting Lab
Summary o f results and conclus ions :
S 04 - S r anged from 1 kg/ha to 5 0 kg/ha .
S 04 - S was not s i gnificantly correlated with s i te index o f Douglas - fir o r
wes tern hemlock .
S04 - S increased as total N increased f o r all s i tes .
Alderwo o d , Yale Lake and Zenker ser ies were lowes t in 804 - S and Cinnamon ,
Hoko , and Germany were h i ghes t .
14
Botany Department
U niversity of Washington
98195
S eattle, /A
1 Apri1 1988
SULFUR DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS
After the meeting at Pack Forest, I reviewed my notes on the visual symptoms
observed on sulfur deficient solution grown plants.
tall in the case of Douglas-fir and
Cedar and Sitka Spruce.
40
All were about
These were about
20
cm
cm tall in the cases of Western Red
12
months old.
Western Red Cedar
Foliage becomes yellowish, this being more apparent in the younger portions
(in
constrast with N deficiency, in which the either older foliage or the
)
whole plant was yellowish . In iron deficiency the older foliage remains a
good green color, whereas in sulfur deficiency the older foliage is paler
than normal, although not so yellowish as the younger portions of the plants.
These symptoms confirm that sulfur is intermediate in mobility between a
very immobile element (iron
)
)
and a very mobile element (nitrogen .
Douglas-fir
Upper needles yellowish.
Sitka Spruce
Foliage yellowish, especially in the younger portions; roots long and succulent.
China Fir (Cunninghamia
)
(studied
by H.
F.
Chen in our laboratory
)
Plants had a stunted appearance with chlorosis in the younger leaves, and
bronzing of the younger foliage after it had been yellow for some time; roots
were sparse and long. These plants were grown in a solution which was 0.001 mM
in sulfate. Symptoms did not appear in seedlings grown in solutions with
0.005
mM sulfate, although dry weight was markedly reduced at this level. Dry
weights were higher and almost uniform at the three higher sulfate levels
used
(0.025, 0.125, and 1.0 mM . )
Richard B.
Walker
15 1. Is sulfate absorbed actively or passively? For two herbaceous species,
the answer is definitely active.
a)Leggett, J. E. and E. Epstein. 1956. Kinetics of sulfate absorption by
barley roots. Plant Physiology -31:222-226.
(used excised roots]
They showed that uptake from 0.0025 to 0.025 mM sulfate in the solution
followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, was strongly inhibited by selenate ion
(0.05 mM), but was unaffected by
KN03 at 0.05 mM or KH2P04 at 0.05 mM.
b)Pettersson, Sune. 1966. Active and passive components of sulfate uptake
in sunflower plants. Physiologia Plantarum 19:459-492. [used intact
12-day old sunflower seedlings]
He showed that sulfate enters the so-called 'free spacel of the root
passively, and this was decreased by addition of selenate. However, adsorption
of sulfate in the 'free spacel was followed by active uptake, thought to be into
the symplasm, then by translocation into the shoot. The translocation was
speeded up by higher rates of transpiration. He interpreted this latter effect
to increased transport of sulfate Ions along adsorption sites In the 'free
space I.
Both sulfate uptake and transport were markedly inhibited by additions of
metabolic inhibitors(dlnitroehenol, cyanide, or azide) to the s.olutions at
concentrations as low as 10-5 M.
16
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS:
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Complete this form before the meeting;
workshop participants.
related studies.
bring copies for distribution to
Complete one form for each study or for a series of
Please restrict the narrative of study results and
conclusions to one page;
include tables and figures on separate sheets if
desired.
Use of Soil Microbial Biomass on an Indicator of
Study Title;
Non-Responsive Sites to Nitrogen Fertilization.
Investigator(s);
David D.
Address and telephone: Myrold & G.
E . Nason
Department of Soil Science Oregon State University (503) 75 4-2441
Study location:
Objectives:
Corvallis, OR
97331 Western Oregon and Washington To examine the relationship between soil microbial C,N,P, & S
concentrations and growth response of Douglas-fir to urea
ferti1izations.
Experimental design:
Soil will be sampled from control plots located on
several of Weyerhaeuser Co.
Measurements; soil and foliage sampling:
Summary of results and conclusions:
fertilizer trial plots.
Microbial biomass C,N,P, & S.
This project will be initiated in
May 1988.
SULPHUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS:
RESEARCH SUMMARY
17
Douglas-fir fertilization decision-making for
industrial use
STUDY TITLE: INVESTIGATORS: Reid Carter and Karel Klinka,
Faculty of Forestry,
University of British Columbia
270-2357 Main Mall
Vancouver, B.C.
V6T lW5
STUDY LOCATION: Submontane coastal southwestern British Columbia
To identify relationships between site and stand
variables, nutrient deficiencies, and response to
fertilization.
To develop and test improved
procedures for diagnosis and prescription of
fertilizers.
OBJECTIVES: EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGN: Extensive.
Fertilizer trials have been
established in 56 stands of Douglas-fir (>80%
Douglas-fir by basal area) with the study sites
representing wide ecological and productivity
gradients.
Study sites were chosen from a total of
105 stands and were selected on the basis of their
site and stand characteristics, foliar chemistry,
and DRIS indices.
All trials have 2 control plots, 2 nitrogen alone
(urea) treatments, and 2 applications with all
nutrients diagnosed as potentially limiting.
Treatments plots average 0.03 ha.
MEASUREMENTS:
Ecological variables: blogeocllmatlc unit site unit actual SMR and 5NR frequency 01 indicator species groups Stand variables:
stocl<lng (stemslha)
site Index (based on a minimum 01 20 dominant and eadomlnant trees)
height, age, and diameter at breast height of each treated tree
distance to the nearest neighbouring dominant or eadominant tree In each 01 four SO' quadrants
length and width of the live crown
leaf area Index
average foliar concentrations (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, S04"5, Cu, Zn, Fe, active-Fe, Mn, and B) fOf each
Site and soli variables: elevation
aspect
slope, slope position and slope shape
soli depth, texture and coarse fragment content rooting depth forest floor thlcl<ness humus form type kind and thickness of A soli horizon parent material mineralogy available water storage capacity Forest lloor and mineral soli chemical properties:
pH, C, N, minerallzable-N, available p, exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, and CEC, and available Ca,
Mg, Na, K, and S - expressed as concentrations and, wflere applicable, on a
kglha
basis.
18
SUMMARY O F RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:
This study is just finished with the establishment phase with a
complete outline of all establishment activities recently published
in the following report:
Carter, R.E. and K. K1inka.
1988.
Douglas-fir fertilization
decision-making for industrial use: establishment report. Faculty of
Forestry, University of British Columbia. 33 pp.
Summary results for relationships between sulphur, nitrogen, and
needle weights after one post-treatment growing season are as
follows:
max
1.55
0.16
630
760
Control
N
S
S04-S
mg/100 needles
N alone
(225 kg N/ha;
(80 kg S/ha;
343
530
152
66
1.33
0.08
17
427
1.53
0.15
0.12
267
772
0.1
74
610
0.01
54
92
1.97
0.15
317
1. 15
0.07
20
1.54
0.1
83
0.19
0.016
68
750
490
610
85
1.78
S04-S
mg/100 needles
+ S
mean std. dev.
1.23
0.17
0.12
0.016
urea)
N
S
N
min
0.94
0.098
110
390
elemental)
N
S
S04-S
mg/100 needles
Relationships between soil and foliar chemical properties, site and
stand characteristics and first season growth response will be
written up this summer and presented at the 7th North American
Forest Soils Conference at UBC in July.
19
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTIL IZATION OF WESTER N CONIFERS : RESEARCH SU MMARY The following is a summary of work carried out by D . S . DeBell ( 75 3-9470Olymp ia ) , M. A . Radwan ( 753-9470- 0Iymp ia) , and J. S . Shumway ( 75 3 -5348Olymp ia ) , in alphabe tical order .
The summary is based on resul ts obtained
in 5 s tudies with D ouglas - f ir and western heml ock , as follows :
1 . Radwan , M . A . , and J. S . Shumway .
1983 .
S oil nitrogen , sulfur , and
phosphorus in relat ion t o response of western heml ock t o nitrogen
fert il iz at ion .
For . Sci. 29 ( 3 ) : 469-477 .
2 . Radwan , M . A . , and J. S . Shumway .
1984 .
Site index and selected s oil
properties in relat ion to resp onse of D ouglas -fir and wes tern heml ock
t o nitrogen fertil izer .
In Forest S oils and Treatment Impacts .
6 th North Am. F or . S oils C onf . , E . L . S t one ( ed . ) , p . 89- 1 04 .
Proc.
Univ.
Tennessee , Knoxville .
In these 2 publications , 35 s ites of D ouglas -fir ( wes tern Oregon and
Washingt on ) and 1 6 s ites of wes tern heml ock ( wes tern Washingt on ) were
examined to determine relat ionships of s ite index and s oil N , P , and S to
growt
response of the trees to N fertil izer .
With respect t o S , f orest
fl oors and m ineral s oils of heml ock and mineral s oils of D ouglas - f ir were
analyzed for sulfate-S and minerl izable-S .
The bas ic conclus ion was :
"S oil S does not appear to l imit response to N fertil izer of e ither
s pe c ies on the s ites s tudied and does not seem promis ing for es t imating
potent ial response to N fert il izat ion . "
20
3 . Radwan , M. A ., D . S . DeBell , S . R. Webster, and S . P . Gessel .
1984 .
Different nitrogen s ources f or fertil iz ing wes tern heml ock in wes tern
Washington, Can. J. For. Res . 14 : 155- 162 .
In this publ icat ion, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, cal c ium nitrate ,
urea, and urea-ammonium sulfate fertilizers were used on wes tern heml ock
at 3 different s ites in wes tern Washington ( Forks , Raymond, White River ) .
W ith respect t o S , the authors wrote in the resul ts and d is cuss ion
section : "S- c ontaining fertil izers failed t o materially affect S c ontent
of the fertil ized trees more than the other fertil izers ...".
"Fertil izat ion decreased sulfate-S levels c ons iderably...".
"Fertil izers
c ontaining S did not increase growth more than the other fertil izers ...".
"Results indicate that it is .unl ikely that response of heml ock to N
fert il izat ion c ould be imp r oved by us ing one of the N fertil iz ers tested
other than urea."
4 . Radwan, M . A ., and J. S. Shumway.
19 85 .
Response of D ouglas- fir
seedlings t o nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus fertil izers .
USDA For.
Servo Res . Pap . PNW-3 4 6 , 14 p .
Experiment 1 of this publicat ion c ompared N fert il izer al one, N + plus
d ifferent s ources of S, and untreated c ontrol s .
S ources of S were :
p owdered S , cal c ium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, and sulfur-c oated urea.
Two s oils and 1 -yr- old seedl ings in 2-gal . p ots were used.
After 2 years
21
( lathhouse , Olympia) , fertilizati on affected growth signifi cantly in
Grove and not in Bunker s oi l .
I n Grove s oil , "Fertilizers were e qually
effe cti ve except for the urea + cal cium sulfate mixture whi ch produced
larger , but mos tly insignificant increases
fertilizati on treatment.
of S ."
.
.
•
.
.
more than any other
This effect was probably not caused by presence
".....sulfur containing fertilizers di d not increase S
concentrati on in the shoots or roots in either s oil ."
".. .S fertilizers
do not appear useful for s timulating growth of D ouglas-fir in s ome s oils
such as th ose use d in the present s tudy."
5 . R adwan , M. A., and D. S. DeBell.
198_.
Effects of different urea
fertilizers on a young thinned s tand of wes tern heml ock.
( Manus crip t
submi tte d for publi cati on ) .
In this s tudy , ure a , urea + N-Serve nitrifi cati on inhibi tor , and
sulfur- coated urea ( S eU ) were used on wes tern hemlock ( Seaside , OR ) at
224 kg N/ha ; seu contained 9 1 kg S/ha.
After 3 and 6 years , "seu was the
only tes t fertilizer that significantly increase d growth of heml ock."
C ompare d wi th the other 2 ureas , appli cati on of seu resul te d in:
( 1 ) smalles t ini tial increase in s oil pH ; ( 2 ) smallest increase in
available N in the s oil , but the same level of N in foliage ; ( 3 ) less
depressions in f oliar le vels of s ome impor tant nutrients ; and ( 4 ) no
increase in foliar S .
"Benefi cial effects of seu seemed t o be mos tly due
to the s l ow release of N from the fertilizer
.
.
•
.
not cause d by effe cts
22
of S ."
.
.
.
.
"Advantages of s l ow release of N include :
(1 ) diminished
likelihood of de trimental concentrati ons of NH4+ affecting roots and
mycorrhiz ae , an d (2 ) improved synchrony be tween availability and uptake
of adde d N."
23
Red Cedar
Th
first
Op @ r at iona l
Fertilization
operational fertilization of
Trial
red oedar
in British
Columbia was ca ried out by MacMillan Bloedel in 1981 on 40
ha near S a r ita , southwest Vancouv@r I s l a nd
The stand was
25 years old, chlorotic, and g row ing in a dense oover of
salal.
.
Foliage was collected in October 1979, from 5 trees on eaoh
of f our locations considered representative of the stand.
Three of these locations we re classified as "poor", the 4th
Foli ar analysis
looation was classified as "good".
ind i cated very low nitrogen, phosphorU$, and sulfur
concentrations as shown in Table 1.
In May, 1980 these same
These results are also
trees were resampled and analy$ed.
repo rted in Table 1.
the spring of 1981, the stand was fertilized with an
experimental sulfur coated urea formulation supplied by
Fertilization occurred at bud
Com i nco , at 224 kg N/ha
break (in h inds i ght , too late for maximum nutrient uptake).
Ten 0.01 ha subplots were e$tablished ra ndomly within the
ferti l iz ed area to monitor nutrition and growth r es p on se of
the red cedar.
An additional 10 0 . 01 hill subplots were
located in the area around the fertilization trial to serVe
Foliage and tree growth data have been
as controls.
col l ec t ed ona .nd four 9rowin
seasons following
Tree heights were remeaaured last yeat in
fertilization.
July. (A strange time to r emeas ur e trees, but we n e ed e d some
more r ec ent data for the W e $ t er n Red Cedar Conference at UBC
last yeat") .
Growth response is shown in Figure 1.
In
A br i e f report written in
1982 is given in Appendix A,
Thi$
summarizea the results for the first year.
A d aft report
was wr i t ten analY$ing the 1984 data.
Unfortunately, it wa&
never formally submitted, and the
e por t cannot be found.
Below are the average nut.rient
folia e data:
N
p
_______ .,-w ....
Ca
K
_ peroent -
Mg
va lu e s
S
-----_ ..... --
1984
0.71
C
1. 01
F
.09
.09
.40
.57
.53
.09
.06
1981
0.84
C
F
1. 34
.09
.09
.45
,58
. 78
.70
.1 0
.11
.10
. 118
C=control
F=fertilized
.32
.09
.06
for the
1981 and 1984
Cu
Zn
30
30
3
3
3
4
30
28
.9
3.5
1 .8
Na
Mn
Fe
ppm
70
110
90
133
124
--------
70
.60
70
---------
4.9
foliar nutrient 1 ve19 in
TAflLE I. N
Sites
The three study sites were located
identified in figure 2.
Ca
P
(%)
western
(X) (:0
Mg
{%)
K
NlI
(%)
(ppm)
red cedar in S8ritR Division.
near
Cu
or within the stand
(ppm) .Zn
(ppm)
Fe
I
(ppm)
N
.p..
Mn
(ppm)
SO -5
(p m)
October 1979
0.71, ..
.-
1
2
)
Contro
0.89
t
0.79
1.10
'
0.91 0.10
0.11
0.48
O. GJ
128
0.67
0.10
0.10
0.82
0.07
O.M}
.!7
0.13
0.77
0.11
0.51
J.36
0.10
130.
2
69
76
130
102
168
a9
10
5)
270
a8
6
12
2.52 179
B
1"
9
5
4
9
10
May 1980
1
2
J
Control
O.7J
0.83
0.68
0.93
O. J.J
0.12
0.11
0.90
0.67
0.10
0.09
0.4)
0.37
0.97
0.09
0.40
0.81
O.lJ
.
0.09
0.1.6
84
62
S9
106
11
lO
B
7
11
9
79
67
43
173
98
163
20)
165
40
45
JJ
31
\
\u
'
'
\...--..-t
CA.
\
25 :
c.'-
0..
r."'\
o'V"'
p
W
'I."'l
('Y\
./
',r
>F
II
V
.JIll'V
10
9
V
8
.,......
..-..
E
......
t­
:t:
lIJ
:E:
12 II
9
7
8
7
6
V
.JI'
.,.",..
6
:Ie
5
5
4
4
II
2
'I
o
I
111.-
3
- HEIGHT
I
-DIAMETER
2
:I
80
Fertilized
81
82 83
84
YEAR 85
86
.. -J
10
c- I....... F
-IlIIiII
'b C
87 o
Q.
tT
::r
......
n
3
26
Project No. 513.2
•
Western red cedar
The summary of the results of the application of urea-sulphur (40-0-0-10)
a western red cedar stand after one growing season is presented in
Tabl@ 1.
While there has been no evidence of a growth response, there has
been a sign ifican t change in the foliar nutrient profile;
. a 60% increase
to
in N ( nitrogen ) concentration. 23% increase in total S (sulphur) concentration,
21% increase in 504-S (sulphate-sulphur) concentration, 17% in creas e in Na
( sodium ) concentration, 290% increase i n Cu (copper) concentration, and a
The other nutrients exhibited no
172% increase in Zn (zinc) concentration.
significant cha nge.
The source of the additional foliar Nand S is obvious;
the increased uptake of Nand S appeared to improve the uptake of K. Na CU
and Zn as well.
Based on a review of the available information. the levels
of Nand S in the fertilized trees exceed substantially the critical concen­
tration range while the concentrations of Fe and Zn are substantially below
the accepted critical levels.
It is not surprising that no growth response waS recorded after one
growing Season because such responses normally occur during the second and
subsequent growing seasons.
1) The trees should be resampled this fall or early 1983 to record height
and diameter growth and nutritional re s p onse during 1982.
2) The soils in the study plots should be sampled to gain an estimate of the
availability of the micronutrients, particularly Fe and Zn.
27
We$tern
Hemlock-Paoific
Silver Fir
Trial
Operational Fertiliz.tion
An operational fertilization trial of a previously $paoed
western h emlock pacific s i l v er fir stand located near Sarita
(southwest Vancouver Island) was initiated in 19 81.
The
stand was 27 years old.
In the spring of 1981, the stand was fertilized with an
experimental sulfur coated urea formulation supplied by
Cominco, at 224 kg N/ha
Fertilization occurred at bud
break, immediately following spacing.
Ten 0.01 ha subplots
were established randomly within the fertilized area t o
monitor nutrition and growth response of the western hemlock
and pacifio silver fir.
An additional 10 0.01 ha subplots
were located in the a ea around the fertili ation trial to
serve as controls.
Foliage and tree growth data have been
collected one and three growing seasons following
fertilization.
Growth response is shown in Figure 1. and 2
for hemlook and true f ir respectively.
A brief report written in 1982 is given in Appendix A.
summarizes the results for t h e first year,
Re$ults of
1983 data collection were never analysed.
Below are the average nutrient values
foliage data for the two species:
N
K
Ca
peroent
,!li!, t, , rn hernl"Q,C;1s.
P
---------......
1 981
C
1.1 8
:2.05
F
1983
C
1. 02
F
1.43
l2
12
73
. 67
.19
09
.08
.10
.39
.31
.21
,23
.08
.11
,30
.18
.09
,30
. 35
. 09
.
.
.09
p ,g,1.fiL3.i,l.Y.e r
,
.20
.
.l 3
14
,
S04
Mn
--_ .... _ - - -
31 5
81
Fe
ppm
and 1983
Cu
Zn
..... - -------
B.O
10
42
35
5.3
4.3
962
912
36
34
3
4
3
5
709
603
24
57
3.6
4.2
8,S
9,6
478
2S
4.0
5
5
718
539
fi :t
1981
1. 00
C
F
2.07
.12
.12
.68
. 69
1 9 83
0.85
C
1.14
F
.10
. 10
. 41
C=control
F fertilized
S
Mg
- .... _ - - - ----
for the 1981
This
the
.39
.10
.08
,1 2
.l4
308
141
418
28
6
28
,..' r-'
/IJ
'
,
:::r:=::..:.. ,
•
�....::..L. ,'
--<--;-""'j'-
• • --;----T---'---'-'-
,_
,
I
'
I
•
IJ
I •
. ,,
. - -:---'r
I
.
"
,
,
'
,
I i '
;,
'f
,
,
I
.
'
,
,
, , "
, I
,
.
.,..
,
---::' r
.
I .
.I.-I
I
,. o r'
--l
.
"
I
t
...., ....-.-.
1911 .
.
29
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I !
i
,
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It
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i
,
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/91/
--:
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30
\
P roj e t No , 51 2 . 1
-
\
les tern heml o c k/Pa c i f i c s i l v e r f i
the a p pl i c a t i o n o f u re a - s u l p h u r ( 4 0-0-0-1 0) t o a we s te rn
heml o c k - Pa c i fi c s i l ver f i r s tand a f t e r one g ro w i n g s ea son are s umma r i zed i n
Wh i l e the heml ock {Tshe ) d i d not res pond i n te rms o f d i ame te r
Tabl e 2 ,
growth a t b re a s t h e i gh t , the
( Abam) d i d exh i b i t a 35% i n c r e a s e i n ' d i a ­
Wh i l e th i s d i fference i s
me ter ( b h ) g rowth a f ter one grow i ng sea son .
s u b s t an t i a l , i t i s n o t s t t i s t i ca l l y s i gn i fi cant beca u s e o f h i gh v a r i a b i l i ty
i n d i am ter g rowth and the sma l l er n umbe r of Abam samp l ed .
D i ameter g rowth
respon s e for-the 1 982 growi ng s ea s on s houl d b
eate r-rQr Tshe and l es s
v a r i a b l e for Abam , b u t t he res pons e t o the spaci ng c a rr i ed out i n 1 980-81
may ma s k t h e es pon s e to the ferti l i z a t i on .
The
res ul ts
of
e-gr
T h e appl i c a t i on o f the fe rt i l i z er res u l ted i n l arge (and s i g n i f i c a n t )
i n c rea s e s i n N concentra t i on ( 74% for T s h e , 1 0 7% fo r Abijm) . n o s i gn i f i c a n t
c h a n ge i n tota l S con c e n t ra t i on s , and substa n t i a l and si gn i fi ca n t decre a s e s
i n 504 - 5 { 7 6% for T s he t 54% for Abam} i n the fol i a ge . Th i s a pp ea r s t o i n d i c a te
other nu tr i e n t s exhi b i ted s i g n i f i ca n t
l i mi ted u pt a k e of added s u l phur .
cha nges i n T s he f o l i a ge a f ter the a p p l i ca t i on o f fert i l i ze r . O n the other
h a n d . Apam fo l i a g e u n d erwen t s e ve r a l S i gn i f i c a n t n u tr i e n t con cen tra t i on
c h a n g e s ; eg o 50% and 1 38% i n creases i n Na a n d Fe c oncen t ra t i on s , a n d a 40%
d e crease i n Ca concentra t i on , a f ter the a p p 1 i c a t i on of urea - s u l phur .
When the fol i a r n u t r i en t data f rom t h i s tr i a l were compared to data
from oth e r PNW fores ts , Ca , Mn a nd Z n were l owe r i n the Abam fol i age s amp l ed
fo r th i s s t u dy , a nd 50 4 -5 and Mn we re l ower i n T s he fo l i a ge sampl ed for t h i s
s t udy .
N concentra t i on in fe rti l i zed fol i age wa s , o f cours e ; s ub s ta n t i a l l y
t h a n va l ues recorded i n t h e l i t e ra t ure b u t the l evel s o f the
rema i n d e r of n u t r i e n ts fe l l i nto th e ra nges publ i s hed .
h i gh er
Re commenda t i ons
1 ) T he
t rees s ho u l d be res amp l ed th i s fa l l o r ea r l y 1 983 to record h e i g h t
and d i a me t e r growth and n u tr i t i ona l r e s po n s e d u r i ng 1 982 .
2 ) The
\
s o i l s i n the s tu dy pl o ts s houl d be sampl ed to determi ne the ava i l ­
a b i l i ty o f S and Mn to Abam .- trees .
T s he t ree s a nd Ca ; Mn a n d Zn to ....
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
31
SULFUR NUI'RITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS :
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Study Title :
Responses to sulfur in nitrogen fertili zed Douglas-fir .
John Blake , Stan Gessel , Steve Webster , Nick Chappell .
Investigators :
Address and telephone :
College of Forest Resources
( Chappell )
University of Washington
Seattle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
( 206 ) 5 4 3 - 9 5 2 7
Study location :
5 s i tes , near McKenna , WA ; Molalla , OR ;
Grove , OR ;
Objectives :
Sutherl in , OR ;
Forest
and Elkton , OR .
Characterize the potential volume gain from N+S fertilization for
several Douglas-fir stands and determine if methods used to establish
critical levels of S availabi lity were consistent with the site-specific
growth responses
( Blake 1 9 85 ) .
Retreatments were initiated in an attempt
to monitor foliar concentration/content changes in relation to growth
response to annual N and S fertili zation .
R
er imental des ign :
treatments :
RCB ,
3-6 blocks per location ,
( 1 ) control ;
(2)
1 00 Ibs S/acre , as AN + urea .
0 . 2 acre plot size ;
200 Ibs N/acre applied as urea ;
(3)
3
200 N +
Initial fertilization in 1 9 7 9-80 ;
refertilization regime began in Spring 1 9 8 4 with 200N and 200N+ 1 00S
applied to ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) ,
respectively ;
in Spring 1 98 5 and 1 986 ,
l OON and
1 00N+ 50S applied to ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) .
Measurements ; soil and foliage sampl ing :
DBH of all stems ,
subsample , measured annually 79-80 through 8 7 .
total ht .
on
Foliage samples taken
before and 1 yr after initial treatment and in Fall 1 98 4 and 1 98 5 .
Soil
samples at time of installation establishment ( 7 9-80 ) .
S ummary of results and conclusions :
Using gross basal area increment as a
measure of growth , two of the five SUDIC installations showed a
significant ( P . 05 )
response 3 years after retreatment .
At the McKenna
location both the N and N+S treatment response was significant ;
at
Sutherlin the N treatment responded but the N+S did not ( P= . 1 3 5 ) .
There
was not a s igni ficant difference between N and N+S treatments at any
location .
Foliar analysis using a graphical diagnost ic technique ( Weetman and
Fournier )
seems to substantiate these growth response conclusions .
Analys is of N at all installations except McKenna indicated luxury
consumption which would suggest that a response from application of
additional N i s unlikely .
S analys is shows almost complete utilization
of S04 -S reserves at all locations ,
again with the exception of McKenna .
S concentration and content was essentially the same for both N and N+S
treatments , possibly indicating loss/sorption in soil or no uptake of
applied S .
32
1 984 FO L I RCE SRMP LES
N I TROCEN CONCENTRR T I ON
3 0 5 pe rc en t 30 0
r"
2. 5 ;- :--
2. 0 1.5 100
-
- . - - I NS T 23 1 - - - I NST 230 I NS T 229 - - - - ....
- - -
'----�----,.--r--'
CONTRO L
N
- I NST 228 -
--
N+S
I NS T 227 TRERTMENT
1 984 FO L I RCE SRMP LES 25
N CONTENT mg/ 1 00 need 1 es
20 15 - . . - .. - I NST 23 1 - . - - I NST 230 . . . I NST 229 ,.
. '
- -
---'T"---..---,--I
1 0 I...
CONTRO L
N
TRERTMENT
N+S
--
-
--
I NS T 228 I NS T 227 33
1 984 FO L I RGE SRMP LES
S04 - S CONCENTRRT I ON
800
pp m
---------------------------
"'\
700 t600
' '''''" .
""'"
.
.
500 r400
r-
300
r-
200
r-
1 00
'-
o
-
"'"
___ ____
"-
:- ."": .::
- I NST 23 1
- . - - I ST 230
I ST 229 ---- - - --
I j S T 228
-_-.J
--.,-____""-"T"'"____---,-_
I NST 227
<::-.: -: : : : ;:: ::,:
.:. .r·:: ::-;-: !::
.
L...--
-
;:'= ;: .:: :::
: :-:-..
_
N+S
CONTRO L TRERTMENT 1 984 FO L I RGE SRMP LES
00 6
S04 - S CONTENT
m g/ 1 00 need l es
00 5
00 4
00 3
- .-.. I NS T 2 3 1
-
00 2
O. 1 00 0
:
,
_
.. ,
- ' - - I NST 230
'
: : ': ::
-':" -:: -�:'�
I NS T 229
> ,: ;; :
;
.cc " , :
-- ---
s : -.
'----.,---""-"T"'"---,---.J --
CONTRO L
N
TRERTMENT
,"
N+S
I NST 228
I IST 227
34
1 984 FO L I RCE SRMP LES
L0
FO L I RCE MASS 9 / l no need l es
.
--- - --
-- .. - - - - - - - - - - - -
--
-
-
,.
; ---
-
00 9 -
00 8 /"'
0 0 7 r-
////
:;/�:'- ' : -
-
-
-
-
- - - I j ST 23 1
-
-
- - - I NST 230
/;-?'- .
-----
0 0 6 '--- -
---,.____-.,.-____---,-__---1
_
co nRO L
--
N+S
N
I NST 229
I NST 228
I NST 227
TRERTMENT
Fo l i a r Data
:
: :
- -- - - - - - - - - -
227 McKenna
228 Mo l a l l a 229 S uthe r l i n 2 30 Be ave r Dam
231 E l kt o n
NOTE :
(%)
!: :
I
- - - - S04
778
: 1 . 3 3 1 . 80 2 7 2
181
: 1 . 00 1 . 53 403
323
: 1 . 1 6 1 . 49 352
232
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Rl
I
I
: 1 . 3 5 1 . 70 2 6 3
1 9 8 1 S04
va l ue s
(%)
1984 1981
: 1 . 1 7 1 . 57 6 2 6
I
I
I
I
S UD I C
N i t rogen
( PPM )
1 984 1 98 1
--
167
I n s t a l l at i on s
N Onl y
Contro l : N i t ro ge n
:
Summary
( PPM )
1 984 1 98 1
1 . 45 1 . 91 389
: 1 . 6 5 1 . 77 1 5 8
I
t
I
I
N + S
:
S04
:
: N i t rogen
:
(%)
!: :
- - - - t - - - -
300
59
1 984
SO
( ppm )
1981
:
- - - -
: 1 . 6 1 2 . 10 40 8
229
: 1 . 4 3 1 . 62 202
82
I
t
I
t
2 . 07
168
42
1 . 35 2 . 01
373
117
: 1 . 54 2 . 07
67
67
1 . 68 1 . 77
26
52
: 1 . 58 3 . 07
30
38
1 . 7 9 2 . 33
1 30
83
: 1 . 31
I
I
I
t
I
I
I
t
are e s t imat e s b a s e d on o rgan i c N/8
rat i o
of
15.
1
I
2."
.
0
2.0
....,
<0
I--. ....,
C
Q)
u
C
0
u
....,
"
1 .6 /
E
W
.8
....,
,. <IJ
i..
"
.-
/
,.
.4
0::
}
'Jt{'
.-
<IJ
.
/
I
1 1 -----e
1 .2
Q)
Q)
35
N & S -- - W e i g h l / 1 0 0 n e e d l e s ( l l l g )
.0
,.
"
,.
,.
,.
.0
,.
,.
,.
.6
.3
.9
1 .8
1 .5
1 .2
Relalive E l e m e n t Con t e n t
E l em e n t :
N i lr o g e n
0 227 M c Ke n n a
228 Molalla
A 229 S u t h e r l i n
y 230 Beaver Dam
lIE 2 3 1 E l k t o n
N O l l l y ' - W e i g h t / 1 0 0 n e e d l e s ( l1 1 g )
c
0
2.0
....,
ro .
....,
C
<IJ
,.
1 .6
()
0
u
..
1 .2
<IJ
S
Q)
W
.8
<IJ
:>
,,/
.....
.....
<IJ
0::
.4
.0
/
"
,.
"
"
"
,.
,. ,. ,. ,.,. ,. .0
Elemenl:
,.
,.
.3
Ni l r o g e n
.6
0 227 M c K e n n a
228 M o l a l l a
'" 2 2 9 S u t h e r l i n
y 230 B eaver D a m
)I: 2 3 1
.9
1 .2
R e l a tive E l e m e n t C o n te n t
I': I H o p
1 .5
1 .8
36
Prel iminary Report on Doug l a s - f i r Growth Responses to
N itrogen and Sul fur App l i c at ions
Prepared by
B i l l Bennett Col l ege of Forest Re s ources U n ivers ity of Washington The goal of this study was to character i z e the potent i a l
volume g a i n from N + S fert i l i z at i on over a s e r i e s o f Doug l a s - f i r
stands and t o determ i ne i f methods used to estab l i sh crit i ca l
l ev e l s o f S ava i l ab i l ity were con s i st ent with the s it e - sp e c i f ic
growth responses ( Bl ake
1985 ) .
F ive areas were s e l ected wh ich had potent i a l for add i t ional
respons e to N+S app l i c a t i ons when compared to N a l one .
Three
instal l at i ons were e s t ab l i shed in early 1 9 8 0 ; two were
Al l insta l l at i ons were treated at
e s t ab l i shed in early 1 9 8 1 .
e s t ab l i shment and a r e f e rt i l i z at i on regime wa s begun i n e arly
1984 .
For this analys i s two growth periods were examined .
The
f i r s t p e r i od inc luded e ither four or three years o f growth
( depending on estab l i shment yea r ) , and the s econd inc luded three
years of growth a fter r e f e rt i l i z at i on for a l l insta l l at i ons .
As can be seen i n the tab l e s and chart s that f o l l ow ,
response by insta l l a t i o n wa s qu ite variabl e .
Genera l l y the
pattern of respons e by insta l l at i on in both p e r i ods was the
same .
Not a l l insta l l at i ons showed a s i gn i f i cant respons e to N .
The re was only one c a s e where the appl icat ion o f N+S p rov ided a
s i gn i f i c antly better response than N only , however , response to
N only at this insta l l at i o n was not s igni f i cant .
F o l i age samp l e s were c o l l ected a ft e r the i n i t i a l treatment
and f o l l owing refert i l i z at i o n .
Chemical ana lys i s of thes e
s amp l e s w i l l soon b e comp l eted .
Add i t i o n a l analys i s wi l l u s e
the s e data to improve o u r understanding o f response to N+S
app l i c a t i ons .
Table 8 :
Selected stand Characteristics of SUDIC Installations .
InstalJation Number
#227
O wner
#228
#230
#229
H231
Weyerhaeuser
Publishers
C hampion
Oregon State
International
Company
Paper Co .
Timberlands
Forestry
Paper Co .
Mo11a1a,
Sutherl:in ,
Forest Grove ,
Location
M cKenna ,
Legal
3-16N-3E
12-6S-2E 18-24S-3W 14- 1N-6W 33-22S-8W
17 16 26 22 12 B.H.
Age
Site Index
36
Replications
5
Plot Size
0 . 062
Date Fert .
M arch
Soil Series
Kap owsin Classification '
S ource :
WA
m
41
ha OR
32
m
OR
m
5
3
0 . 062 ha
0 . 08 3
38
0 . 062
Elkton ,
45
m
OR
m
5
6
ha
OR
ha
0 . 062 ha
M arch 1981
January 1980
March
Honeygrove
Freezner
Hembre
Batemen/Rendhaven
Typic Typic
ultic
Typic
Ultic
Dystrochrept
Haplohumult
Haploxera1£
Hap 10 humult.
Haploxeralf
B l ake ,
1980 1985
February
1980
198 1
w
.......
38
Fall/ Winter
(#) Loca tion
Plots
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
McKenna
(227)
all
Molalla
(228)
Sutherlin
(229)
( I 5)
1979/80
- - - - - - -
15 plots
Elkton
(231) 1983/84
thinned to
RD 40
1984/85
1985/86
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
N only (5)
200 lbs. N
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
N + S
200 lbs. N
100 1bs. S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
15 plots
thinned to
RD 40;8 lbs
Boro n/acre
N only (5)
200 lbs. N
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
N + S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
all
(5)
( I 5)
(5)
(9)
all
9 plots
N only (3)
200 lbs. N
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
N + S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
(3)
1980/81
­
18 plots
- - - -
Beaver Dam
Road(230)
---
all
( I 8)
- - - - -
8 lbs Boron
per acre
N only (6)
200 lbs. N
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
N + S
(3)
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
N + S
(3)
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
(Urea-S)
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
(Urea-S)
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
(Urea-S)
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
(Urea-S)
15 plots
thinned to
RD 40;8 lbs
Boro n/acre
N only (5)
200 lbs. N
200 lbs. N 100 lbs. N
100 lbs. N
N + S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
200 lbs. N
100 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
100 lbs. N
50 lbs. S
all
( I 5)
(5)
===========================================================================
NOTE: N source for "N only" plots is Urea. Sou rce for "N + S" plots is
ammonium sulfate unless o therwise no ted.
39
Respon s e C ft 2/A/yr )
I n s ta l l at i o n
198 0-19 8 3 :
#227 #228 #229 1 9 8 1- 19 8 3 :
#230
3 9 ± 11 . 5
=
. 0060
p
( 10% ± 3 % )
4 9 ± 12 . 2 ( 12 % ± 3 % )
. 0021
=
P
2 7 ± 17 . 2
=
. 1477
1 6 + 1 7 . 2 (
3 % ± 4 % )
P = . 3589 P
p
P
100 ± 27 . 3
=
. 0174
( 3 1% ± 8 % )
11 ± 2 0 . 5
=
. 613 4
( 2% + 5%)
p
2 0 ± 13 . 7
=
. 19 4 0
#231
N and S
N only
P
5% ± 4 % )
(
6 % + 4 % )
4 4 + 2 7 . 6 ( 14 % ± 8 % )
=
. 18 6 7
3 +
P
=
20 . 5
( 1% ± 5%)
. 8 685
3 8 ± 13 . 5 ( 1 1% + 4 % )
=
. 0 2 19
P
================================================================
1 9 8 4 - 19 8 6 :
6 4 ± 11 . 7 ( 17 % + 3 % )
=
. 0004
#227 p
P
#228 5 5 ± 12 . 0 ( 15% ± 3 % )
=
. 0020
p
P
#229 25 + 8 . 0 ( 7% ± 2%)
=
. 0128 p
#230 p
#231 Response
=
90 ± 20. 7
=
. 0093
(29% ± 7%)
4 6 ± 3 1 . 5 ( 12% ± 8 % )
=
. 1637
-3 6 ±
p = .
2 2 . 1 (-10% ± 6% )
13 3 2
Treatment - Control
26 ± 8 . 0
=
. 0103
(
7 % ± 2 % )
4 2 + 2 1 . 1 ( 1 4 % + 7 % ) =
. 1166
P
51 ± 3 1 . 4 ( 13% + 8%)
=
. 12 5 7
P
11 +
P
=
2 2 . 4 (
3 % + 6 % ) . 6335
( adj usted for i n i t i a l vo lume )
40
Gro s s total vo lume per iodic annu a l increment was adj usted for
d i f ferences in i n i t i a l volume .
I n the f o l l owing charts , b l ocks
ind icate the range of PAI and connecting l ines corre spond to PAI
at the i n s t a l l a t i on mean i n i t i a l volume .
SUTHERIJN
SOD
"2
>,
55
--......
U
o
",--.... 500
D
Range ( 1 9 80 - 1 9 83)
l!2iJ
Range ( 1 9 84 - 1 9 86)
( 22 9 )
BEAVE R DAM ROAD
D
Iillilllill
(230
Range ( 1 9 8 1 - 1 9 83)
Range ( 1 9 84- 1 9 86)
-+-' -
.......
(1)
E
::l
- -
o
>
en
en o
"-()
en
en
o
"--
()
"'0
Q)
"'0
Q)
+-'
en
::l -+-'
'
en
::l
--'
JO
25
«
C o n tro l
N Only
N and S o
C o ntro l
N On l y
N and S I
60
'2'
>­
55
"u
o
"- 500
",
-f-I
'-'"
D Range
Range
( 1 9 80 - 1 9 83)
( 1 984- 1 9 86)
Q)
I n s t a l l a t i ons
thinned
to relat ive dens ity 4 0
during winter o f 1 9 8 4 .
E
::::J
45
o
>
(I) 400
en
o
L..
'-'
""0
Q)
-f-I
(I)
::::J
' --,
30
250
MO LALLA
,
eoo
'2'
55
.
O Range ( 1 080 - 1 983)
Range ( 1 9 84 - 1 9 86)
'L'
>-
'0-
u
o
o
;;....
' 50
",
-f-I
'-'"
-f-I
'-'"
( 1 9 8 1 - 1 9 83)
( 1 9 84- 1 9 86)
E 450
::::J
::::J
o
o
>
>
(I)
(I)
(I) 400
(I)
o
_ - n- - -
o
L..
L..
'-'
'-'
""0
Q)
J50
-f-I
(I)
(I)
::::J
' --,
500
D Range
Immj::! Range
( 23 1 )
Q)
Q)
-f-I
55
N an d S -
E
""0
Q)
N On l y
E LKTON
( 22 8 )
,
-
C o n tro l
::::J
' --'
""0 30
<t:
JOO
25
C o n tro l
N Only
N an d S
25
C o ntro l
N On l y
N and S
42
B l a ke ,
J.
I.
1985 .
Charact er i z at i on o f s o i l n itrogen and
sul fur ava i l ab il ity i n relati o n to volume response of Dougl a s ­
f i r ( Ps eudotsuga men z ie s i i [ M i rb . ] Franc o ) i n Western O regon and
Washingt o n . Ph . D . d i s s ertation , univ Wa shington , S eatt l e . 1 3 2 p .
Vo l ume response
to urea
ni trogen was
examined on
f i fty-one
Doug l a s - f i r
ins t a l l at ions
in
western
O regon
and
Wa s h i ngton .
Re sponse was s igni f i c ant ly re l ated to stand and s o i l s var iables
at each l oc a t i on .
s i te index was negat ively re l ated and age was
p o s i t ively
re l ated
to
response .
The
corre l a t i on
b etween
response and minera l i z ab l e n itrogen from incubat ion tests was
l ow .
I t was s i gn i f i c antly improved by adj ust ing the t e s t for
gravel content of the s o i l and the mean annu a l a i r t empe rature
at the s i te .
The adj usted minera l i z at i o n values were a l s o shown
to s ign i f i cantly improve the predict ion of the net l iv e f o l iage
b i oma s s increment i n the cont rol p l ot s . '
The best pred ictive
mod e l of n i trogen respons e included s it e inde x , minera l i z ab l e
n i t rogen and sul fur indices .
The sul fur ind ices cons i sted o f A
ho r i z on sul fate sul fur , age we ighted sub s o i l sul fate sul fur , and
the rat i o of sul fur to n i trogen in the so i l .
Canon i c a l ana lys is
demonst rated that age was st rongl y a s s o c i ated with minera l i z able
n i t rogen ( negat ive ) and sul fur ava i l ab i l ity ( po s i t ive ) .
S u l fur
ava i l ab i l ity
was
examined
further
in
three
separate
experiments .
Dougl a s - f i r s e ed l i ngs showed sul fur respons e s in
greenhou s e tri a l s on s o i l s with l e s s than 14 mg kg - l u s i ng
Morgan ' s
s o l ut i on .
Re l at ive b a s a l area responses i n p a ired
fert i l i z at i on p l ots of n itrogen only and n i trogen p l u s sul fur
were correl ated s igni f i cantly to i n d i c e s us ing sul fate sul fur in
the A hor i z on and the sub s o i l .
F i e l d t r i a l s with n it rogen and
sul fur
were
estab l i shed
in
a
range
of
young
Dougl a s - f i r
Growth
respon s e s
and
fol i age
analys i s
a ft er
p l ant a t i on s .
tre atment sugge st that comp l ex interact ions with l i tter-humus
immob i l i z at i on
of
sul fur
may
strongly
a f fect
respon s e s
at
Genu ine sul fur d e f i c i en c i e s appeared to
spec i f i c l ocat ions .
occur when sul fate sul fur in the fol i age was reduced b e l ow 8 0 to
1 0 0 mg kg - 1 .
43
S U L FU R N U T R I T I ON AND F E RT I L I ZAT I ON O F W E S T ERN C O N I F E RS : R E S EARCH S UMMARY Comp l ete t h i s fo rm b e fo re the mee t i n g ; b r i n g c o p i e s for d i s t r i b u t i o n to
Comp l e t e o n e fo rm f o r e a c h s tu dy o r fo r a s e r i e s o f
wo r k s h o p pa rt i c i pa n t s .
re l a t e d s t u d i e s .
P l e a s e re s t r i c t t h e n a rra t i ve of s tu dy re s u l t s a n d
c o n c l u s i o n s to o n e p a g e ; i n c l u de ta b l e s a n d f i g u re s o n s e p a ra t e s h e e t s o f
de s i re d .
S t u dy T i t l e :
RMC F e r t i l i z e r P l o t Study :
N i t ro g e n a n d Su l fu r
I n v e s t i ga to r ( s ) :
Mi c h a e l S . Me red i t h , Me d f o rd Re s o u rc e s C o rp . , P . O . B o x
Me dford , OR 975 0 1 - ( 50 3 ) 773-749 1 ; a n d Dav i d H . Mc N a b b , O S U Fores t ry
I n t e n s i f i ed R e s e a rch P ro g ra m , 1 30 1 Ma p l e G rove D r i ve , Medf o rd , OR 97501 -
550 ,
( 503 ) 776-7 1 1 6 .
S t u dy l o c a t i on :
T h re e s i te s e a s t a n d n o rth o f B u t t e F a l l s i n t h e s o u t h ern
Oregon C a s cade s .
E l e v a t i o n s range b etwee n 3200 a n d 4000 ft a n d
p re c i p i ta t i o n b e twee n 30 a n d 40 i n c h e s .
S o i l s a re P a c h i c U l t i c
Ha p l o x e r o l l s a n d Typ i c Ha p l o x e ru l ts .
Obj e ct i v e s :
Ob ta i n s i te - s pe c i f i c fert i l i z e r re s po n s e on t h e mo re c ommon
RMC l a nds when u s i n g 200 l b/ a c re N a n d d e t e rm i n e i f n i trogen re s po n s e i s
l i m i ted by s u l fu r .
E x pe r i me n t a l d e s i gn :
Th re e s i te s w i t h t h re e re p l i c a t i on s p e r s i te ; e a c h
S t a n d s we re p redomi n a n t l y eve n - a g e d
p l o t 0 . 1 5 a c re wi th a 20 ft b u ffe r .
D o u g l a s - f i r a b o u t 45 yea rs - o l d a n d 7 . 7 i n c h e s i n D B H .
S t a n d s we re th i n n e d
Fe rt i l i z e r : N - 200 l b / a c a s u re a ; a n d N a n d S a s
p r i o r to f e rt i l i z a t i o n .
u re a a n d mo l ten s u l fu r m i xtu re a p p l i e d a t t h e rate o f 200 l b / a c re o f N a n d
34 l b / a c re s u l fu r . A h i g h e r a p p l i ca t i on o f s u l f u r wa s p l a n n e d b u t t h e
m a te r i a l a r r i v e d u n d e r a n a l y s i s .
Mea s u remen t s :
Fe rt i l i z e r wa s a p p l i e d i n t h e s p r i n g of 1 980 .
mea s u red on a l l t re e s o v e r 3 i n c h e s D B H a n d reme a s u re d a f t e r
a n d fo l i a g e we re n o t s a mp l ed .
4
Ba s a l wa s
Soi l
years .
S u mma r o f re s u l t s a n d c o n c l u s i on s :
T h e me a n b a s a l a rea g rowt h ( to t a l f o r
t ree s i te s a n d adj u s ted fo r d i ffe re n c e s i n i n i t i a l
a 1 fo u r y e a r s
or a
b a s a l a re a a re a s fo l l ows : c on t ro l i s 28 . 5 , N i s 32 . 3 , a n d N+S i s 32 . 9 s q
f t / a c re .
P e r c e n t a g e i n c re a s e i s 1 3 . 3 a n d 1 5 . 4 perce n t fo r N a n d N+S ,
r e s p e c t i ve l y .
0. 011 ) , as
Treatme n t ANOVA wa s s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i ffere n t ( P
wa s t h e s i te s ( P
0 . 039 ) . N wa s s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i ffe re n t from t h e c o n t ro l
a t t h e 5 p e r c e n t l e v e l a n d t h e N+S wa s s i g n i f i ca n t l y d i ffere n t f rom t h e
c o n t ro l a t t h e 1 p e r c e n t l ev e l .
=
=
Two s i te s h a v e b e e n t h i n n e d a g a i n a n d a re to be re fe rt i l i z e d t h i s
Pl ans :
s p r i n g w i t h 200 l b / a c re o f u re a N a n d N p l u s 1 00 l b/ a c re o f e l eme n t a l
s u l fu r .
46
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS : RESEARCH SUMMARY C omple te thi s form bef ore the meeting ; bring copies for dis tri buti on to
workshop parti cipants . C omplete one form f or each s tudy or for a series of
relate d s tudies . Please res tri ct the narrati ve of s tudy resul ts and
conclusi ons to one page ; include tables and figures on separate sheets i f
desired.
S tudy Ti tle : Exp . 1 . Urea prill versus foliar sprays of concentrate d
s oluti ons of ni trogen .
Investi gators :
Dick Miller and D on Young
Address and telephone : Fores try S ciences Lab. , 3625 93rd Ave. S . W. , Olymp i a ,
WA
98502 ; 206-753-9470.
S tudy l ocati on :
Eddy Cr. near Sequim , WA
O bj e cti ves : C ompare effe cts of urea prill and concentrated nitrogen s oluti ons
on growth of 8 -year- ol d conifer s tands .
Experimental design: Randomized bl ock comparing a control wi th 24 fertilizer
treatments . The four bl ocks relate to p os i ti on on a slight slope. Pl ots
fertilized on May 27 , 1969.
Measurements ; s oil and foliage sam pling: After firs t growing seas on ( Sep . 18 ,
1969 ) 1969 foliage sampled on one rep of each treatment .
Summary of resul ts and conclusi ons :
( 1 ) N % in control f ol iage was 1 . 14 ; that of fertilized ranged 0. 99-1 . 81 .
( 2 ) S0 4 -S in control f oliage was 600 ppm ; that of fertilized ranged 100-630
ppm. Regardless of N s ource , increasing dosage of N progressi vely decreased
concentrati on of S0 -S ( See Table 1 ) . This indicates that N fertilizati on
4
induced S defi ciency at this site.
47
Table 1 . C haracteristics of D ouglas -fir foliage by treatment , Exp . 1 at Eddy
Cr . , WA .
Fertilized on May 27 , 1969 .
Sample 1969 foliage on Sep . 18 ,
1969 .
Fertilized No.
S ource
1969
lb N/ac
N
s04-s
% - - -
-
a
Foliage
Needle length mm
1
2
3
4
Urea-46
( prill )
20
40
80
160
1 . 29
1 . 16
1 . 17 1 . 37
0 . 053
. 040
. 033
. 010
18
21
17 18
5
6
7
8
Urea-20
( foliar )
20
40
80
160
1 . 15
1 . 24
1 . 28 1 . 43
. 063
. 050
. 037
. 017
18
17
20 20
9
10
11
12
UAN-32
20
40
80
160
1 . 09
1 . 32
1 . 34
1 . 81
. 047
. 040
. 023
. 013
19
20
20
24
13
14
15
16 AN-20
( foliar)
20
40
80
160
1 . 31
1 . 07
1 . 49 1 . 54
. 063
. 037
. 033
. 017
18
17
19 20
17
18
19
20
UAN-32
+Fe
( foliar)
20
40
80
160
1 . 26
1 . 54
1 . 48
1 . 81
. 047
. 050
. 030
. 017
15
15
18
22
21 22 23
24
AP
20
40
80
160
0 . 99
1 . 22 1 . 23
1 . 36
. 047
. 033
. 023
. 023
17
19 17 18 25 Che ck
1 . 14
. 060
19
a
b
Bas e d on a comp osi te s ample of the upper whorls of several trees in each
of Bl ock 1 .
Ammonium p oly-phosphate .
g l ot
48
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS :
RESEARCH SUMMARY
C omplete this form before the mee ting ; bring copies for dis tributi on to
w orkshop parti cipants . C omplete one form for each s tudy or for a series of
relate d s tudies . Please res tri ct the narrati ve of s tudy resul ts and
conclus i ons to one page ; include tables and figures on separate sheets i f
desire d .
S tudy Ti tle :
Exp . 3 .
Inves tigators :
Effects of f oliarly applied KS and NS s oluti ons
Dick Miller and Don Young
Address and telephone : Fores try S ciences Lab. , 3625 - 93rd Ave . S . W . , Olympia
WA 98502 ; 206-753-9470 .
S tudy l ocati on :
Eddy Cr . near Sequim , WA
5 11
Obj ectives : To compare p otassium sulphate and ammonium �itrate as nutrient
sprays on D ougl s - fir .
Experimental design : Randomized bl ock comparing a control wi th two fertilizer
s oluti ons applied to foliage of indi vi dual D ouglas -fir s aplings . The 18 bl ocks
were clusters of three saplings each .
Measurements ; s oil and foliage sampling :
l os t in mail .
p os t- treatment foliage samples were
Summary of results and conclusions : See Table 1 . Potassium sulfate ( 98K , 40
S/acre ) increased height growth m ore than ni trogen sulfate ( 35 N , 40S/acre ) .
49
Table 1 . E ffects of foliarly applied KS and NS solutions on 5 -year height
growth of 8 -year-old , s i te V Douglas- fir ; Exp . 3 at Eddy Cr . , Sequim ,
WA .
Pretreatment
Treatment
a
1971
Total PAl 1973
1972
no . lbs /ac
- - em -
' 74 -76
-
' 72-76
- - - - - - -
%
-
-
Height growth
1
Control 29 . 9
34 . 9
36 . 0
40 . 0
191 . 0
100 2
KS ( 98K+40S ) 30 . 3 39 . 2
40 . 9 46 . 1 218 . 4 114 3
NS ( 35N+40S ) 33 . 2 35 . 2
34 . 6 41 . 0
192 . 8 b
101
Probability values , P <
'"-'"'
Covariate
P <
b
. 00**
. 11
. 21
. 85
Contrast 1 vs . 2+3
. 29
. 50
. 24
. 21 Contrast 2 vs . 3 . 12
. 04*
. 14
. 06* *
a
----'"'"""-......
a
=
significant at PiO . l0
1971 heiaght growth was used in covariance adjus tment of treatment means .
Based on previous s tudies in this area ; 35 N/a should have given
response .
10%
50
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS : RESEARCH SUMMARY S tudy Title : Exp . 4 . Effect of a potassium sulphate solution on 8-year height
growth of Douglas - fi r previously fertilized with 800 lbs N/acre .
Investigators :
Dick Miller and Don Young
Address and telephone :
WA 98502 ; 206-753-9470
S tudy location :
Forestry Sciences Lab . , 3625 93rd Ave . S . W . , Olympia ,
Eddy Cr . near Sequim , WA
Objectives : To tes t the hypothesis that addition of potassium sulfate would
increase growth of trees previously fertilized with large N dosages that
induced S deficiency .
Experimental design : Randomized blocks ( 4 reps ) with main plots based on
previous treatment with either urea prill or 32% N solution ; main plots split
by presence or absence of retreatment wi th potassium sulfate solution applied
to two saplings in each plot . The retreatment dosage was 98 lb K/acre and 40
lb S/acre .
Measurements ; soil and foliage sampling : None after refertilization . Previous
fertiliz ation wi th six N sources at only 160 lb N/acre had reduced S0 -S
4
concentration in foliage to levels of 100-230 ppm .
Summary of results and conclusions :
did not increase height growth .
See Table 1 .
The potassium sulfate spray
Table 1 . Effect of a sulphur and potassium spray on 8-year height growth of
a
Douglas - fi r previously fertilized with nitrogen .
Treatment in
Spring 1972
Fall 1210 Pretreatment wi th 800 lb NLacre
b
Mean UAN solution
Urea prill
-
-
-
-
cm per year
none
41 . 9
42 . 8
42 . 4
K+S ( 98K+40S )
42 . 1
44 . 8
43 . 3
b
Mean
42 . 0
43 . 6
a
b
Treatment means ( 4 replicate pl b ts ) were adj us ted by covariance to a common
level of pretreatment height growth .
Main effects of sulphur ( P < 0 . 70 ) and pretreatment N sources ( p < 0 . 24 ) were
s tatistically nonsignificant . The interaction KS x N-source was also
nonsignificant ( P< 0 . 61 ) .
51
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN OONIFERS : RESEARCH SlM1ARY Complete this form before the meeting ; bring copies for distribution to
workshop participants .
related studies .
Complete one form for each study or for a series of
Please restrict the narrative of study results and
conclusions to one page ;
include tables and figures on separate sheets i f
desi red .
Study Title :
Douglas-fir N + S fertili zation trial
Investigator ( s ) :
Bill Scott
Address and telephone : Weyerhaeuser Company
wrc 2H5
Tacoma , WA 9 8 4 7 7
( 206 ) 9 2 4 -6 3 2 1
Study location :
Springfield , OR ( Palmer Cr . and Smith Cr . )
Objectives :
Experimental design :
Established in 1 9 7 9 i n 1 5-20 yr old Douglas-fir stands .
2 locations ,
3 replicates of 5 treatments ;
(1)
(2)
control ;
40-0-0-6
l OON as urea ;
( SOU or urea-sulfur? ) ;
(3)
(5)
Measurements ; soil and foliage sampling :
DBH on all trees ,
•
(4)
Treatments :
l OON + 1 5S as
2 00N+30S as 40-0-0-6
Measured in 1 97 9 ,
1 9 8 1 , and 1 9 84 .
height for 20 trees .
Summary of results and conclusions :
entered .
added )
0 . 25 acre plots .
200N as urea ;
No analyses to date .
Data have not been
Plots not in current remeasurement schedule ( probably will be
52
StuAy Title : Effects of phosphorus and sulphur fertilization on the growth
of th1 nna'l and urea fertilized Douglas-fir at Sbawnigan Lake , B . C .
Investigators : H. Brix, T . TrofyInow , A. Mitchell and C . Preston
Pacific Forestry Centre , 600 Burnside West , Victoria , B . e . V8Z 1M6
0
o
Sbawnigan
Lake
,
Vancouver
Island
,
B
.
C
.
123
43
'
W
48
38 'N
stuQ.y Location:
Objectives :
The nutrient status of Douglas-fir trees in various thi nni ng and
nitrogen treated plots at Shawnigan have been followe:1 by foliar anaJ.ysis
since inception of the project in 1971 . Foliar nitrogen concentrations in
untreated plots are about 1 . 0% (Figure 1a) , less than adeqUate level of
1 . 46 - 1 . 8% ( 1 , 2) . Foliar anaJ.ysis in plots spring fertilized (448 kg urea
N/ ha) twice , once in 1972 and 1981 , and fall sampled from 1981-1986
in:licated a possillle N induced deficiency of P and S but not K (Figures 1
d, f ,b respectively) . There was no apparent P and S deficiency in 1981-1986 .
in plots with a single fertilization in 1972 . In the double fertilized
plots , P was reduced on average from 0 . 22% to O . 17% and S was reduced from
0 . 14 to 0 . 10% . The reduced P level is probably only slightly deficient
givan the wide discrepancy in published guidelines ( 1 , 2) . Foliage from
control and double fertilized plots sampled in 1981 and 1986 were anaJ.yzed
for Ca, Mg , Al , Fe , MD. , Na , Zn , B , and Cu but there was no indication of
deficiency in these elements ( 1 ) . Only MIl was reduced by N fertilization
but not below critical levels .
Based on these findings it was decided to establish some new plots to
investigate how additions of P and S would affect the growth response to N .
Ex,perilrentaJ. design:
Two blocks of four treatments (plots =11= 63-70) were established in some
newly spaced stands of 42 year old Douglas-fir . The four treatments were
0) control , (2) N alone , ( 3) N a.nd P , and (4) N, P , and S . The 0 . 04 ha
plots were thi nned from 149 to 36 trees per plot (3700 to 000 tree per ha) .
The average DBH was 16 . 1 am, height 16 . 6 m and height to live crown 9 . 7m .
Plots were spaced in the winter 1986/87 and fertilized on Mar ch 10 , 1987
using rates of 448 kg N/ha as urea (46%N) , 100 kg P /ha as triple
superphosphate (20% P) , a.nd 100 kg S/ha as 90% pelleted elemental sulphur .
Measurements : soil end foliar sampling :
Concentrations of N , P , K , Mg , Ca and S and 1000 needle weights are
monitored on foliar samples from whorl 6 . DBH , total height , height to live
crown and % live crown will also be monitored . Ammonia volatilization was
measured following fertilization and soils were collected ilnmerliately and
six months after fertilization for determination of total and extractable
N, P , K , and S . A N-16 exper:1.mant has been initiated in buffer areas
adj acent to the plots . Microplots were split into a 2x2 design of clipped
vs unclipped and trenched vs untrenched and will receive no , N alone , or N
a.nd P fertilizers a.nd will be measured for N and P by depth .
results :
Foliar sampling at establishment showed N 1 . 07% , P 0 . 17%, S 0 . 162%, K
0 . 77%, Mg O. 16% , a.nd Ca O . 43% with 1000 needle weights averaging 4 . 38 g .
II
53
"
1 . Foliar nutrient concentrations with " adequate " levels as from :
( 1 ) --- Ballard and Carter , 1986 . Evaluating forest nut rient status . B . C .
Ministry of Forests I..and Man . Rep . 20 . 6Op .
(2) - -van den Driessche , 1979 . Estimating potential response to
Figure
fertilizer based on tree tissue and 11tter analysis . In . Proceedings Forest
Fertilization Conference . Ed . Gessel et . al . U . of Wash . Inst . For . Res . 40 .
/
.
0 63
/
0.62 i
0,6 1
0 . 60
0 . 59
..
3 '
2
0
1 9 85
1 984
1 98 3
1 982
1 98 1
,-
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1 985
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.
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I
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1981
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1982
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/
1 954
a · -8 -d T2F22
;.. -s-..; TOF2
. . . . US DA F O R E S T SERVI C E
RESEARC H N OT E
Septerrber 19 78
PM'l-319 RESPO NS E O F A POL E·SIZE PON O EROSA P I N E S TAN D TO
N ITRO G EN , PHOSPHORUS, AN D SU L FU R
by
P. H. Cochran,
Principal Research Soil Scientist
A bstract
Fert i l i zat ion with n i trogen alone ,
nitrogen plus sul fur ,
increased growth o f vo lume ,
first
100 ,
4
years
30
and
pounds per acre
The e f fect of
vo lume and bole area
all
three
basal area , and bole area for the
after application .
re spective l y .
nitrogen plus phosphorus ,
and nitrogen plus phosphorus plus sulfur
App l i cation rates were
for nitrogen ,
phosphorus ,
sul fur and phosphorus
growth was not clear .
( fo r e s t tree ) ,
phosphorus ,
in increas ing
The treatment with
e l ements produc ed the great e s t increase
KETI ORDS : Nitrogen fert i l i zer r e spon s e ,
200 ,
and sulfur ,
in ba s a l area .
fert i l i z er re sponse
sulphur ,
po l e - s tage
stands .
METRIC ECUIVALENI'S
1
1
1
pound/acre
1
1
1
acre
foot
inch
square foot/acre
cubic
foot/acre
1
mi le
=
1 . 1 2 1 k i lograms/he ctare
0 . 40 5 hectare
0 . 3 04 8 meter
2 . 5 4 centimeters
0 . 2 2 9 568 square meter/hectare
0 . 06 9 9 7 2 cubic meter/hectare
1 . 6 1 ki lometers
FOREST SERVICE - U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE - PORTLAND, OAEGON 55 INTRO OU CTIO N
Thinning dense stands of young ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws . ) usually increases dianeter and height growth of the renaining trees and raises production of marketable wood under current utilization standards (Barrett
1973) .
Complete removal of understory vegetation also accelerated growth of Y01.mg ponderosa pine in one central Oregon study, presurrably by increasing the availability of water (and nutrients) to the trees (Barrett 19 70 ) . Several studies show that sorre ponderosa pine stands will respond to fertilization (MJsher 1960 ; Wagle and Beasley 1968 ; Agee and Biswell 1 9 70 ; Much of Barrett and Youngberg 1 9 70 ; Cochran 19 7 3 , 19 7 7 ; Youngberg 1975) .
the increased wood growth seems to result from nitrogen (N) , but sulfur ( S ) and phosphorus (P) nay be important on sorce sites (Will and Youngberg 1 9 7 8 ) . This 4-year study was initiated in 19 72 to determine ha-J fertilization
with N alone and with S and P changes growth of ponderosa pine stands which
have been previously thinned .
M ET HO DS
Study Area
'!he sttrly site is located on the Deschutes National Forest 15 miles.!!
south of Bend , Oregon .
Elevation is about 4 , 000 feet , annual precipitation
Topography in the
is approxirrately 20 inches , and sumrers are usually dry .
study area slopes south and west 2 to 17 percent .
The soil , a Typic cryandept
( Shanahan series) developing on Mazarra pumice , has a sandy loam Al horizon
2 inches thick and a sandy loam AC horizon 21 inches thich overlying an older
buried loam ( table 1 ) .
Predominant understory vegetation consists of bitter­
brush (Purshia tridentata ( Pursh) DC . ) , needlegrass (Stipa oaaidenta Zis Thurb .
ex Wats . ) , and fescue (Festuaa idahoensis Elm. ) , with sorce rranz anita
(Arctostaphy Zos patuZa Greene) and snowbrush ( Ceanothus ve Zutinus var .
ve Zutinus Dougl . ex. Hook) .
'!he area was railroad logged in 1927 , and the present stand was 39 years
old at breast height (bh) when the sttrly was initiated .
The site index
( Barrett 1978 ) varies from 90 to 108 over the study site .
The stand was
thinned to an overall average spacing of about 14 feet ( 22 2 trees per acre)
in 1 9 6 3 and a fEM scattered overstory rennants were removed in the winter of
1 9 70-71 .
Saving vigorous a:prearing, well-fomed potential crop trees visibly
free of mistletoe had priority over rraintaining a uni fonn spacing in the
thinning operation ; therefore , tree spacing varies widely over the area ( table 2 ) .
Plot S el e ctio n and M easurem ents
Twenty-five 0 . 4-acre square areas were located to provide O . l-acre square
plots with 33-foot buffer strips .
When roads , treeless openings , and sturrps
1/
- Metr c equ ' va 1 ents are on
2
,
f rant
cover .
56
Tab l e l - -Some properties of the Shanahan BoiZ at the study site on the Desahutes NationaZ Forest, Oregonli
Hori zon
Al
AC
Depth
Bul k
dens i ty
I nches
g/cm
0- 2
0 . 74
71.0
18 . 4
10 . 6
3.2
6.2
19
2-23
. 94
6B . 0
20 . 0
12.0
2.9
6.6
6
Sand
Sil t
3
C l ay
<2
mm
gravel
pH
P
- -
­ Percen t- - - - -
Tota l
N
S
B
-
- Percent -
-
0 . 2 5 <0 . 20
. 13
O.M.Y
. 60
Extractab l e cations
K
I
Ca
1 Mg 1
Na
c . E . c .lI
- - - - - - Meg/ 1 00 g - -
0 . 13
9 . 90
0 . 66
5.3
0 . 76
0 . 10
12.0
. 04
1 . 54
. 53
3.5
.63
. 10
10 . 2
liThe hydrometer method was used for the mecha n i ca l a n a l ys i s o f the s i eved fra ct i on l es s than 2 mm i n s i z e . C h em i ca l
a n a l yses were performed by the Oregon S ta t e Uni vers i ty so i l tes t i ng l aboratory , Corva l l i s . by i ts methods ( Roberts e t al .
1971) .
YO . M .
=
li C . E . C .
orga n i c ma t te r . =
cation exchange capa c i ty . Tab l e 2- -Initial ranges in some stand aharaateristias for the five 1/1 0-aare pZots randomly
assigned to eaah treatment
Trea tmentll
Control
N
NP
NS
NPS
Vol ume
Trees
Number
l2er acre
C u b i c feet
l2er acre
130- 320
1 10 - 2 5 0
140- 220
150- 200
130- 340
797- 1 , 8 1 6
668- 1 . 6 56
738- 1 , 55 2
857- 1 . 6 9 1
906- 1 , 6 1 5
liN
n i trogen ; NP
phosphorus p l u s s u l fu r . =
=
Basal
area
Bol e2
/
area-
- Sguare feet
er acre -
58 . 4- 1 24 . 4
4B . 7 - 1 1 5 . 9
62 . 7- 98 . 1
6 7 . 4- 109 . 6
6 1 . 9 - 99 . 6
ni trogen p l us phosphoru s ; N S
6 . 209 - 1 3 .886
4 . 895- 1 2 , 1 38
6 , 1 1 9- 1 1 , 7 B4
7 , 309 - 1 1 , 7 69
6 , 999- 1 1 . 380
=
Average
cyl i nd r i ca l
form factor
Average
height
Feet
36 . 9 - 4 6 . 5
37 . 9- 4 2 . 5
33 . 1 - 42 . 1
37 . 3- 4 2 . 9
32 . 7 -4 3 . 4
n i trogen p l us s u l fu r ; NPS
Y S o l e area i s the s u rface area o f the bol e o f t h e t ree w i t h t h e bark removed .
ma t i on o f the camb i a l s urface a rea a l ong the ma i n tree s tem ( L exen 1943) .
=
o . 3402-0 . 3700
. 33 2 1 . 3429. 3389. 320 1 -
. 3 594
. 3663
. 3649
. 3720
n i trogen pl u s I t i s an approx i ­
of overstory rerroved in 1970-71 were omitted in locating the 0 . 4-acre areas ,
all the thinned area was utilized and there was no room to incorporate
'!be plots contained a total
changes in slope or site in the sttrly design .
of 458 trees i average diarreter and height were 8 . 8 inches and 39 . 7 feet .
Trees in each 0 I-acre plot were tagged and rreasured with optical dendrorre ters .
Diarreters at a I-foot stump and at 4 . 5 feet (bh) and bark thickness at bh were
also detennined with calipers , diarreter tapes , and bark gages , respectively .
•
These rreasurerrents and Grosenbaugh ' s ( 19 6 4 ) STX program were used to determine
pretreatrrent voltmes and bole areas above a I-foot stump and total height .
A modification of one of Brickell ' s ( 19 70 ) equations was used in the STX program
to detennine diarreter inside bark at various points along the boles as out­
lined by Cochran ( 19 76 ) .
Trees were rerreasured four grCMing seasons after treatrrenti dendrorreter
readings were retaken from the initial directions for each tree .
Cylindrical foon factors (F) were calculated for each tree before and 4
years after treatrren ti the cubic voltme (V) above a I-foot stump was divided
by the proouct of the basal area at bh ( a ) and total height (h) :
F
=
V/ah
3
57 Tre atm ents
Each plot
was
randanly assigned one of five treatrrents :
Treatrrent
Arrotmt ( lb/acre) and element applied
1 ( control )
Form 0
2
200 N
urea ( 46 percent N)
3
200 N , 100 P
urea , triple superphosphate
( 19 . 6 percent P )
4
200 N , 30 S 5
200 N , 100 P ,
30 S
urea , armonium sulfate
( 2 1 percent N , 24 percent S)
urea , triple superphosphate ,
armonium sulfate
The triple superphosphate also contained 12 percent calcium (Ca) and 1 percent S .
Application of Ca to the soil does not produce responses from pine seedlings in
the greenhouse , and the small arlOtmt of S was negligible . Balances of N, P , and
S equivalent 200-100 -30 potmds per acre were chosen because they appeared to be
the most favorable for pine seedling growth in a greenhouse test on a soil
derived from Maz ana pumice ( Youngberg and Dyrness 196 5 ) . Fertilizer was applied
in Noverrber 1972 just before snow began to accumulate .
Statisti c a l An alysis
Growth of volurre , bole area , and basal area for the plots was subjected to
analysis of covariance with initial basal area as the covariate . The adjusted
ITeans for the covariance analysis were corrbined with multipliers of a set of
orthogonal corrparisons (determined before treatrren t) to test these hypotheses :
1.
The
control grows as
much
as the average of the rest of the treatrrents .
2 . Growth response from addition of N alone is as
by additions of NP , NS , and NPS .
3 . Growth response to the NPS treatrrent is
the NP and NS treatrrents .
4.
The
NS treatrrent
and
equal
good
as the average produced
to average growth response of
NP treatrrents prodoce the sane changes in volurre growth .
Height growth and form factor changes were subjected to a standard one-way
analysis of variance to test the hypothesis that treatrrent did not influence
height - growth or form factor change .
R ESULTS AN D D I S CU S S I O N
As expected , no tree mortality occure
r d during the 4-year study . Volurre ,
basal area , and bole area growth were increased significantly by all catbinations
of fertilizers . Fertilization with N alone caused increases in adj usted treat­
rrent ITeans of 34 percent for volurre growth , 2 3 percent for basal area growth ,
and 20 percent for bole area growth ( table 3 , fig. 1 ) . Conbining S or P with N
4
58
Tab l e 3- -Adjusted means o f vo lume, basa l area, an d bo le area growth determined from covariance analysis and
treatment means of height growth and form factor change determined from l-way analysis of varianoe
using p lot averages as observationsl!
Adj u s ted means from cova ri ance an a l ys i s
Trea tmentY
Vol ume growth
per year
Cub i c feet
per acre
Control
N
NP
NS
NPS
56 . 4
75 . 7
78 . 0
88 . 0
87 . 7
I
1
B a s a l area growth
per yea r
Treatment means
Bo l e area growth
per year
Hei ght growth
per year
- - Square feet per acre - ­
a
b
b
b
b
2.6
3.2
3.5
3.6
4.1
a
b
b c
b c
b d
Feet
3 18 . 6 a
0.8
1.0
1.2
.9
.9
383 . 2 b
4 34 . 5 b
460 . 1 b
48 1 . 2 b
I
Change i n
form fa ctor
- 0 . 0 127
- . 0050
- . 0085
- . 00 3 1
- .0034
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
l!Means fol l owed by the l etter b are s i gn i f i ca n t l y greater than those fol l owed by the l etter a , and those
fo l l owed by the l e tter d are s i g n i f i ca n t l y greater than those fol l owed by the l etter c at the 5 - percent l evel
of proba b i l i ty .
£I N
n i trog e n ; N P
p l u s s u l fu r .
=
=
n i trogen p l u s phos phoru s ; N S
=
n i trogen pl us s u l fur ; NPS
=
n i trogen p l u s phosphorus
120
NS
110
Treatment
a:
«
w
>a: 100
w
a..
w
a:
u
« 90
a:
w
a..
w
uu
ii5
::J
S?
J:
r
z
f
3 .09
Control
0 . 507
N
0.754
9 . 21
NP
0.223
0 . 86
NS
0 .7 9 5
1 1 .64 NPS
0 . 379
1 .2 3
80
70 0
a: e,:, w
::J
60 ...J
0
>
50
o
o
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
INITIAL BASAL AREA (SQUARE FEET PER ACR E )
Fi gure l . - - Indi vidual regressions for vol ume growth as a function of
ini tial basal
area .
An F val ue of 1 0 . 1 3 is necessary for s i gnifi cance
at the 5-percen t l evel of probabi l i t y .
al l
The combined regres si on for
trea tmen ts was s i gn i fi cant a t the l -percen t l evel of probabi l i t y .
5
59
did not increase volurre or bole area growth significantly . '!he NPS treatrrent
produced significantly greater basal area growth than did the NS or NP treat­
rrent . '!he basal area growth rates produced by the NS and NP treatrrents tended
to be higher than the basal area growth rates produced by N alone but were not
quite significant . Bole area growth produced by the NP , NS , and NPS treatrrents
also tended to be higher than bole area growth for the N treatrrent .
Fertilization did not affect height grcwth or the change in form factor
(table 3 ) . Although the control treatrrents had the lcwest average height
grCMth and the greatest change in form factor , differences did not even tend
tCMard significance .
The increase in basal area grCMth with the NPS treatrrent over N alone ,
conbined with a nonsignificant change in volurre , height growth , or form factor ,
is puzzling. Basal areas can be rreasured precisely , but volurres and form
factors depend on assurred taper relationships within bole segrrents . Also ,
stem diameters inside bark between bole segrrents and above bh are determined
from dendrClI'lEter readings and estimates of bark thickness . Thus , estimates
of basal area grCMth are probably rrore accurate than estimates of form factor
change or volurre and bole area grCMth even though every tree in the study was
rreasured with a dendrClI'lEter .
'llie primary goal of fertilizing stands similar to these is production of
rrore usable volurre . Application of P and S along with N at the rates tested
here did not prove j ustifiablej hcwever , this study did not rule out the possible
inportance of S or P . Will and YOtmgberg ( 19 78 ) fotmd that an NPS treatrrent
( 200 lb N, 50 lb P , and 100 lb S per acre) on a Shanahan soil produced a slightly
greater basal area increrrent the second 5-year period after treatrrent than the
N, NP , or NS treatrrents . '!hey also suspected that S increased wood production .
'!here may be a srrall S effect in this sttrly that the experirrent was not sen­
sitive enough to detennine . 'llii s effect , if real , may be responsible for
increasing volurre production rrore than 10 ft 3/acre per year over the N alone
treatrrent ( fig. 1) .
Published soil N values determined by the sane rrethod in other studies
( Geist and Strickler 19 70 , Geist 19 74 , Tiedemann and Klock 1977 , Tiedemann and
Berndt 1972) and other results from nonpumice soils (Cochran 1977) indicate
that 200 lb N per acre ( 4 35 lb urea/acre) will increase growth of many pine
stands on nonpumice soils east of the Cascades in Oregon and washington .
Reported soil S and P values from nonpumice areas are generally higher than
those fo1.md here , but the possible inportance of S and P applications in other
areas for increasing TNOOd produ::tion is hard to evaluate because other soil
testing rrethods were .used at tiIres so the results are not conparable .
Geist (19 76 ) found S as well as N is inportant in increasing forested
range produ::ticn on volcanic ash soils in northeastern Oregon . '!he derronstrated
increase in grass production , coupled with the possible inportance of S in wood
fiber produ::ticn , may cause sate land managers to apply S along with N to
thinned ponderosa pine stands . For S plus N applications , a rate of 30 lb S
per acre in the form of armonium sulfate is suggested . Adding 125 lb of armonium
sulfate per acre will also supply 26 lb of N per acre . '!he extra 174 lb of N
per acre needed for the recormended level can be supplied with 380 lb of urea
per acre .
6
60 Grcwth rates of this pole-size stand for the second 4-year period will be
rreasured to see if application of S and P along with N causes a significant
increase in usable wood over a longer period . For foresters wishing to fertilize
thinned stands nON, these results shON that 200 lb N per acre will produce a
lS- to 4S-percent increase in grONth of thinned stands on similar soils at
least for a 4-year period . '!hese increases in grONth will prOOably last longer
than 4 years (Cochran 19 77) .
L ITERATU R E CITED
Agee , Jarres K . , and Harold H . Biswell .
1970 . Serre effects of thinning and fertilization of ponderosa pine and understory vegetation . J. For . 6 8 ( 11 ) : 709-711, illus .
Barrett , Jarres w .
1970 . Ponderosa pine saplings
respond to control of spacing and
understory vegetation . USDA For .
Servo Res . Pap. PNW-l0 6 , 16 p. ,
illus . Pac . Northwest For . and
Range Exp . Stn . , Portland , Oreg.
Barrett , Jarres W.
1973 . Latest results from the
Pringle Falls ponderosa pine
spacing stu:1y . USDA For . Serv .
Res Note
209 , 22 p . , illus .
Pac . Northwest For . and Range
Exp . Stn. , Portland , Oreg.
.
Barrett , Jarres W.
1978 . Height grc:Mt:h and site index
curves for nanaged, even-aged
stands of ponderosa pine in the
Pacific Northwest . USDA For . Serv .
Res Pap.
232 , 14 p . , illus .
Pac . Northwest For. arrl Range
Exp . Stn . , Portlarrl , Oreg .
.
Barrett , Jarres W. , and C . T. Youngberg.
1970
Fertilizing planted ponderosa
pine on pumice soil s . In Regen­
eration of ponderosa pine , p. 82-8 8 ,
illus . R. K . Hermann , ed . Oreg.
state Univ. , Corvallis .
•
Brickell , Janes E .
19 70 . Test o f an equation for pre­
dicting bark thickness of western
MJntana sp:lCies . USDA. For . Serv .
Res . Note lNI'-10 7 , 7 p. , illus .
Intennt . For . am Range Exp. Stn. ,
Ogden , Utah .
Cochran , P . H .
19 73 . Response of individual pon­
derosa pine trees to fertilization .
USDA For . Serv . Res . Note PNW-206 ,
IS p . Pac . Northwest For . and
Range Exp. Stn . , Portland , Oreg.
Cochran , P . H.
19 76 . Predicting wood volurres for
ponderosa pine from outside bark
rreasurerrents . USDA For . Serv .
Res . Note PNW-283 , 8 p . Pac .
Northwest For . and Range Exp . Sm . ,
Portland , Oreg.
Cochran , P. H .
19 7 7 . Response o f ponderosa pine
8 years after fertilization .
USDA For . Serv . Res Note PNW- 301 ,
7 p.
Pac . Northwest For . and
Range Exp . Stn . , Portland , Oreg.
.
Geist , J. Michael .
19 74 . Chemical characteristics of
same forest and grassland soils
of northeastern Oregon .
II .
Progress in defining variability
in Tolo and Klicker soils . USDA
For . Serv . Res . Note PNW-2l7 ,
lS p . Pac . Northwest For . and
Range Exp. Stn . , Portland , Oreg .
Geist , J. Michael .
19 76 . Forested range fertilization
in eastern Oregon and Washington .
Rangeman ' s J. 3 ( 4 ) : 116-118 .
Geist , Jon M . , and Gerald S . Strickler .
19 70 . Chemical characteristics of
same forest and grassland soils of
northeastern Oregon .
I. Result
fran reference profile sarrpling on
the Starkey Experirrental Forest
and Range . USDA. For . Serv . Pes .
Note
13 7 , 11 p . Pac . Northwest
7
61
For . and Range Exp.
Portland , Oreg .
Stn . , '
GrosenDaugh , L. R.
1964 :
.
S'lX-FORrRAN 4 program for
tes
of tree populations
.. fran 3P sanple-tree rreasurercents .
For . Serv . Res . Pap . PSW-13 ,
49 p. Pac . Southwest For . am
Bange Exp. Stn. , Berkeley , Calif .
.
Ielaen, Bert .
1943.
Bole area as an expression
of grcMing stock .
J . For .
4 1 ( 11 ) : 883-885 .
M:>sher , Milton M.
1960 . A preliminary report of
irrigation and fertilization of
Wash . State
ponderosa pine .
Agric . Exp . Stn . Cire . 365 , 5 p.
FdJerts, S . , R. U . Vcxiraska , M . D .
Kauffman , an d E . H . Gardner .
1971 .
Methods of soils analysis
used in the soil testing
laboratory at Oregon State
University .
Agric . Exp. Stn .
Spec . Rep. 321 , 39 p .
Oreg.
State univ . , Corvallis .
Tiedenann , Arthur R . , · and
H. W. Berndt .
1972 . Vegetation and soils of a
30-year deer and elk exelosure
in central Washington .
Northwest Sci . 46 ( 1 ) : 59-66 ,
illus .
Tiedenann , Arthur R. , and
Glen O. Klock .
1977 . Maeks Table Research Natural
Area--reference sarrp1ing and
habitat classification .
USDA
For . Serv . Res . Pap . PNW-2 2 3 ,
19 p. , il lus
Pac . Northwest
For. aM Range Exp. Stn . ,
Portland , Oreg.
.
Wagle , R. F . , and R. S . Beasley .
196 8 .
'lWJ year effects of thinning
and nutrient treatrrents on the
growth of ponderosa pine .
J.
Ariz . Acad . Sci . 5 ( 1 ) : 45-55 .
8
Will , G. M. , and C. T. YOtmgberg.
1978 . Sulfur status of sane central Oregon pumice soils . Soil Sci . Soc . Am. J . 4 2 ( 1 ) : 132-134
•
YOtmgberg, C. T .
1975 .
Effects of fertilization and
thinning on the growth of p:mderosa
pine .
Soil Sci . Soc. Am. Proc .
39 ( 1 ) : 137-139 .
YOtmgberg, C. T . , and C . T. Dyrness .
196 5 .
Biological assay of pumice
soil fertility.
Soil Sci . Soc .
A . Proc . 2 9 ( 2 ) : 182-187 , illus .
62
SULFUR NUTRITION AND FERTILIZATION OF WESTERN CONIFERS : RESEARCH SUMMARY Comp l e te this form b e fore the mee t ing ; b r ing cop ies for di s tr ibution to
workshop partic ipants .
Comp l e te one form for each s tudy or for a series o f
related s tudies .
Please restrict the narrat ive o f s tudy results ' and
conclus ions to one page ; inc lude tables and figures on s ep arate sheets if
des ired .
"
S tudy Title :
Response O'f thinned , immature lodgep o le pine to fertilizat ion .
Inves t igator ( s ), ;
Rob Brockley , B CF S Research Branch
Addre s s and telephone : S tudy locat ion :
Kalamalka Research S tation & Seed Orchard
340 1 Res ervoir Road
VERNON , B . C . V 1B ' 2C 7
(604) 549-55 7 7
3 ins tal lations ( Cranb ro ok , Go lden , P rince George )
Ob e c t ives
;
j
To inve s t igate the respons ivenes s of lodgepole p ine to nit rogen a lone ( app lied as urea) compared, to nitrogen in comb ination with s ulphur ( 4 1-0-0- 1 2 ) . Convent ional , f ixed area plo t s wi th t reated b uf f e r
Experimental de s ign :
9 p lots / installat ion
3 treatments ' ( contro l , 2 0 0 N , 200 N+5 8S) x 3 rep s / t reatment
Comple tely randomi zed d e s i gn .
=
s o i l an d fo lia ge s amp l ing :
- Initial meas urement s ( dbh , height ) and foliar analy s i s completed fall 1 9 86 . -Fi r s t year foliar s ampl ing and needle weight measurement s comp let ed in Fall 1 9 8 7 . '
M e a s ureme nt s :
Summary o f results and conc lus ions :
-First year f o liar analy s i s data not availab le .
-Firs t year needle wei ght data ( g / 1000 fascicle s ) indi cate a small , but s ta t i s tically ins i gni fi cant , resp ons e from N+S over that obtained f rom N alone . I
63
D I S CUSS I ON SUMMARY :
Robert L .
SULFUR IN S O I LS AND FOLIAGE
Edmonds ,
f a c i l itator
The group exp l o red 5 que stions :
1.
What s o i l solut ion S - l evel s are needed by trees ?
2.
How do we d i agnos e S - de f i c i ent ' s o i l s ?
3.
What are crit ical
4 .
What i s the ut i l ity o f NIS or SIN rat i o s ?
5.
What are uptake rates o f S by trees?
1.
SOIL SOLUTION S- LEVELS NEEDED BY TREES
fol iar S - l evel s ?
The group b e l i eves th i s i s an important que s t ion .
Equ i l ibr ium s o i l solut i on concentrat ions may not give a
true p i cture o f ava i l ab l e - S for p l ant s .
We need
i n formation on kinet i c s .
There i s much variat ion in S concent rat i ons
s o l ut i ons
in s o i l
in upper pro f i l e s - - perhaps due to uptake
and minera l i z at i on .
There i s l e s s variation i n the
subs o i l .
We need to determine S -minera l i z at i on rate s .
T o determine crit ical s o i l s o lut i on l evel s ,
s o lution cul ture stud i e s .
w e could u s e
Crit ica l concentrat ions
b etween 0 . 0 1 and 0 . 0 2 roM have been ob s e rved for S itka
spruce in stat ic so lut ion cul ture ,
b t crit ical
concentrations could be l ower i n f l owing culture .
64
2 .
DIAGNO S I S OF S-DEFICIENT SOILS
John Bl ake exp l a ined how he used A and B hor i z on
( we ighted by stand age )
s 0 4 -concentrations to s e l ect
the SUD I C insta l l a t i ons in Wa shington and Orego n ;
all
o f h i s plots had s o i l s04 - concentrat i on indexes l e s s
than 2 9 - 3 0 ppm .
volume to N+ S
at a l l
The mean response
in b a s a l area and
fert i l i z at i on was great er than to N a l one
6 s ites .
However ,
means were not stat i st i c a l ly
d i f ferent between N+S and N a l one treatment s .
We d i s cu s s ed current t echn i ques for determ in i ng S
l eve l s
in so i l s and fol iage and found s evera l p rob l ems .
Current l aboratory techn iques a re not a lways accurate .
The turb id imet r i c techn ique i s good for f o l i a r S04 -but
not for s o i l s .
The Johnson/Nish ita techn ique a s a
d i rect anal y s i s for S 0 4 has not been re l i able on p i n e
need l e t i s sue ,
but works we l l f o r tota l - S i n t i s sue and
s o i l s and for extractab l e S04
techn i c a l ski l l s ) .
in s o i l s
( as s uming good
There i s a prob l em w ith I CP-S
for
The old Leco ana l y z er was not
both fol i age and s o i l s .
re l i abl e for s o i l s but the new Leco S C - 1 3 2
is .
Ion
chromatogaphy i s a good method f o r extracta b l e S 0 4
soi l s .
John Bl ake also
indi cated that S 0 4 cou l d b e
determ i ned i nd i rectly in s o i l u s ing the fol l owing
expre s s ion :
Total S - Tota l N
15 =
S04 in
65
-
Prov id ing a l i st o f a l l current methods for s o i l and
t i s sue S analys i s and the i r strengths and weakn e s s e s
would be a valuab l e output f rom this workshop .
Attent ion needs t o b e given to QA/ QC
As surance/Qua l i ty Contro l )
( Qual i ty
for S -analys i s .
We shoul d
have standard i z ed t i s sue a n d s o i l mater i a l ava i l a b l e In
the absence o f National Bureau o f Standards
standard s .
( NBS )
Reid Carter wi l l obt a in and d i s t r ibute a
radiata pine standard from New Z e a land
( G raham Wi l l ) .
We might a l s o cons ider develop ing standard Dougl a s - f i r
and western heml ock need l e mater i a l .
We need t o quant i fy S - inputs
the fate o f S
into forests and determ i ne
in thes e ecosystems .
- - S de f i c iency i s most l ikely to occur on ash/pumice s o i l s
( based o n the exper ience in s outhern Oregon and New
Z ea l and ) .
Future stud i e s should cons ider stand age and root ing
depth .
The d i s t r ibut ion o f roots could b e important in
S uptake .
Root d i str ibut ion is qu ite d i f ferent in s o i l s
with hard pans
(e.g.
s ome g l a c i ated mater i a l s )
with deep pum ice s o i l s .
in agr icultural s o i l s ;
compa red
S ub s o i l s - i s qu ite ava i l ab l e
i s i t important i n fore s t s ?
Where a r e the S - s eeking r o o t s i n forests .
W e a l s o need
to bette r understand the ro l e o f mycorrh i z a e
in S ­
uptake .
Many Northwest s o i l s strongl y ads orb S
l i ttle into the s o i l solut i on .
and rel ease very
However ,
much o f
66
Testing i s
ads orbed 8 i s probab ly pl ant ava i l abl e .
requ ired t o veri fy the pl ant ava i l ab i l ity o f adsorbed
8°4 - 8 .
anions
3 .
804
i s more s l owly taken up than other nutr i ent
( P04 and N0 3 ) .
CRIT I CAL FOLIAR-S LEVELS
crit i c a l 8 0 4 - l eve l s have been reported to be in the
v i c in ity of 4 0 0 ppm but l ower l eve l s are now be ing
suggested .
I n genera l ,
it i s thought that 8
i s not
very mob i l e in the fol i age ;
yet 8
more mob i l e than w e think .
There may be reserves i n
the vacuol es ,
in fol i age may b e
but the s e may not be very ava i l ab l e .
8 0me p l ants are 8 - accumul ators
(e.g. ,
musta rd/Cruc i fereae wh ich must accumu l ate ester - 8 ) .
Y e l l ow current fol iage may be a symptom o f sul fur
de f i c i ency ;
whereas ye l l ow older fol i age
symptom o f N d e f i c i ency .
is a general
I n extreme c a s e s a l l the
fol iage may turn ye l l ow .
The fol l owing
8 0 4 data
( ppm )
were obta i ned for R .
rad i ata fol i age in New 8 0uth Wa l e s from John Turner on
s ites wh i ch have su f f i c i ent N .
Growth
Poor
80-200
Med ium
1 0 0- 2 5 0
Good
14 0 -3 0 0
Very h igh
1000
67
Fol i a r sul fate concentrat ions don ' t vary much s e a s ona l l y
in rad i ata p i ne .
We don ' t know what happens with
Dougl a s - f i r .
I n Dougl a s - f i r i n Wash ington and British Columb i a ,
i t was
noted that fol i ar-s04 concentrat ions go down a fter N
fert i l i z at i on on N - l imited s ites .
Th is contrasts -with
the rad iata pine data above .
We need t o obt a i n s im i l a r data t o that obta ined for
radiata p i ne for Doug l a s - f i r and oth e r western spec i e s .
4.
VALUE OF NIS RATIOS
In agricu l ture ,
NI S rat i o s work b etter than c r i t i c a l
l eve l s .
Rat i o s work we l l at the gro s s l evel
( for extreme s ) ,
but
perhaps are not good for fine tun ing .
NI S rat i o s are not always constant .
At h igh N value s ,
the rat i o becomes unstabl e because N i s stored in a
form not rel ated to S .
constant ,
At l ow N ,
the rat io i s f a i rly
perhaps related to the S -content o f Rub i s c o
( a key e n z yme ) .
I s the NIS rat i o sens itive to l ev e l s o f S04
in fol iage?
68
5.
S UPTAKE RATES FOR TREES
It has been suggested that uptake rates a re i n the
v i c inity of
10 kg/ha/yr ,
but we have no rea l ly good
data .
We need to determine relat ionships between input rates
and uptake .
We need better data on atmospheric inputs ,
and rates o f minera l i z at i on ,
weather ing and uptake .
S ome data on atmospheric inputs a re be ing obt a i ned from
stud i e s conducted by Univer s ity o f Wash i ngton
s c ient i st s in the Puget S ound and Olymp i c Pen insula
areas .
Thes e stud i e s are be ing funded by the E l ectric
Power Resea rch Institute and NAPAP
( National
Atmo spher ic prec ipitat ion A s s e s sment Program ) .
69
D I S CUS S ION SUMMARY :
SULFUR FERTILIZATION TRIALS
S teve Web s ter , Fac i l i tator
I . Review o f RFNRP - SUDIC resul ts
A . Data analys i s : Not a l o t t o b e gained from further analy s i s .
pos s ib i l i ty woul d b e to us e relative dens i ty as a covar i ate .
One
B . Fol iar analys i s
1. 1 9 84 and 1 9 8 5 N and S fo l i ar analys i s data needed ; get analys i s data
from New South Wal e s , Aus tral ia lab 2. Re s olve pos s ible data discrepanc ies
C . P l o t measurement s . Cont inued measurements o f the plots prob ably would not reveal any new informat ion . Pro tect the p l o t s , remeasure at l e s s frequent
intervals . II . What do we know?
A . Re spons e s have be en clear ly documented in p onderosa p ine and lodgep o l e p ine
in eas tern Oregon and interior B . C . However , the relationship of response
to . s o i l s , p arent materials , s i te condit ions , and by o ther species i s no t
ful ly unders tood .
B . Added sulfur is no t taken up by trees .
Th i s i s very perp l exing and may
be impor tant ly re lated to l ack of respons e .
C . Car ter - Kl inka S tudy in B . C . :
Fer t i l i z er p l o ts in Douglas - fi r s tands ,
The
te s t ing sulfur , e s t ab l i shed at many locat ions on Vancouver I s l and .
results could help answer many unknowns .
1. July 1 9 8 8 - - Date at which e ffec t s on fo l iar dimens ions and nutrients
contents will be ava i l able .
2. March 1 9 9 0
Date a t wh ich 3 - year respons e w i l l b e ava i l able .
There are a gre at many unknowns with regard to s ource
E . Source of sul fur
of sulfur and how it influenc es sulfur ava i l ab i l i ty and up t ake .
F . Rate of app l i c at i on - - Th i s i tem is virtual ly unexp lored .
70
I I I . Research D i rec tions
A . An integrated approach is favored .
B . A cons iderab le amount of fundamental work should be c onduc ted in advance
of estab l ishing fixed - area plo t s to asses s response in terms o f wood per
uni t area . Thi s work should be done on a few selected s i tes where sulfur
defic ienc ies have been es tabli shed . S creening tr ials are probably one good
In addit ion to us ing s creening tr ials
way to as ses s s ulfur defi c ienc ies .
to select intens ive research s i tes , s creening trials should probably als o
b e used t o select s tands for fixed - area plot exper iments , once the
fundamental work has contr ibuted enough informat ion to make fixed - are plot
experiments effect ive and effic ient .
C . S tandardize procedures - - needle weights , nutr ient concentration , nutrient
content , etc .
IV . F inal comments from the subcommittee .
A . Research should probably not overlook western hemlock . A recent tr ial with
sulfur - c oated urea showed promis ing response .
Several add i t ional trials
by USFS pers onnel are underway .
B . The ques t i on o f whether or not sulfur defic ienc ies will be induced by
repeated applicat ions o f nitrogen needs to b e res olved .
c. The role o f fire and sulfur
under s tood and an intens ive
S ilviculture Lab i s planned .
nutri tion in pine fore s t s needs to be
inve s t igation spearheaded by the Bend
D . Methods of di agno s ing sulfur defic iency needs res olut ion - - sulfate - sulfur
in the fo l i age , sulfate - s ulfur in the s o il , effects o f sea s on on t i s sue
sulfur , etc .
E. F.
G. A very important miss ing link is unders t anding the fate o f s ulfur when
appl ied - - chemical trans format ions and fixation , b iolo g i c al fixation , etc .
I s there a po tential for foliar appl ication o f S ?
As the next s tep , i t i s very important to
proces s /mechanisms and on S defic ient s i tes .
concentrate
research
on
71
SULFUR NUTRITION WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
B i l l Benne t t
C o l l ege o f Fores t Res ources
Univer s i ty o f Washington
S eattle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
Robert Harr i s on
C o llege of Fore s t Re s ource s
Univers i ty o f Washington
S eattle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
J ohn Blake
S chool of Forestry
Auburn Univers i ty
Auburn , AL 3 6 84 9
Peter Homann
C o l lege of Fo res t Re s ources
Univers i ty o f Washington
S eattle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
Rob Brockley
B . C . Mini s try o f For e s t s & Lands
Kalamalka Re s e arch S tat ion
3 4 0 1 Reservo i r Road
Vernon , BC V1B 2 C 7
Douglas Maguire
C o l lege of Forest Re s ources
Unive r s i ty o f Washington
Seattle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
Re i d Carter
Facul ty o f Fores try
Univers ity of B r i t i s h Co lumb ia
2 7 0 - 2 3 5 7 Main Mal l
Vancouver , BC V6T 1W5
Nick Chappell
C o l lege o f Fore s t Res ourc es
Unive r s i ty o f Washington
S e attle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
Pat Co chran
USDA Fore s t S ervice
PNW Re search S ta t ion
1 0 2 7 NW Trenton Ave .
B end , OR 9 7 7 0 1
Richard Dick
Department of S o i l S c ienc e
Oregon S tate Unive r s i ty
C o rval l i s , OR 9 7 3 3 1
Robert Edmonds
C o l l ege of Fo res t Re s ources
Unive r s ity o f Washington
S e attle , wI\. 9 8 1 9 5
S tan G e s s e l
C o l lege o f Fore s t Res ources
Unive r s i ty o f Washington
S e attle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
Richard Miller
USDA Fo r e s t S ervice
PNW Re s earch S tation
3 6 2 5 9 3 rd Ave SW
Olymp i a , WA 9 8 5 0 2
David Myrold
Department o f Soil S c i ence
Oregon S tate Univers i ty
Co rval l i s , OR 9 7 3 3 1
Ted Nason
Dep artment of S o i l S c i ence
Oregon S tate Unive r s ity
C o rvallis , OR 9 7 3 3 1
Wi l l i am S c o t t
Weyerhaeus er Company
WTC 2H5
Tacoma , WA 9 84 7 7
J ohn Shumway
Wash ington Department o f Natural
Re s ources
Fore s t Land Management Center
Olymp i a , WA 9 8 504
Kathryn S tegemoeller
C o l lege o f Fore s t Re s ources
Univers ity o f Washington
S e attle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
72
Tony Tro fymow
Canadian Fores try S e rvice
Pac i fic Fores try Centre
506 W . Burns i de Rd .
V i c to r i a , BC V8 Z 1M5
Richard Walker
Department of B o tany
Univers i ty o f Washington
Seattle , WA 9 8 1 9 5
S t eve Web s ter
Lewis County Extension Office
P . O . Box 708
Cheha l i s , WA 9 8 5 3 2
73
LITERATURE
LIS T
Re ferences noted i n presentat ions , res earch summar ies and repr ints dis tributed
at the Sulfur Nut r i t ion and Fer t i l iz ation of We s tern Conifers workshop :
Charac terization of s o i l nitrogen and sulfur availab i l i ty
Blake , J . I . 1 9 8 5 .
in relation to vo lume response of Douglas - fir ( Ps eudotsuga menz ies i i
[ Mirb . J Franco ) in Wes tern Ore gon and Washington . Ph . D . d i s s e rtation , Univ
Washington , S eatt le ; 1 3 2 p .
1 9 8 5 . Re spons e s to sulfur in
Blake , J . I . , S . P . G e s s e l , and S . R . Web s ter .
nitrogen fer t i l i z e d Douglas - fir . Agron . Ab s tr . 1 9 8 5 : 2 1 6 .
1988 .
B l ake , J . , S . R . Web s te r , and S . P . G e s s el .
S o i l sulfate - sulfur and
growth respons e s of ni trogen - fert i l i z e d Douglas - fi r to sulfur . S o i l S c i .
Am . J . 5 2 : 1 141 - 1 147 .
Response of a p o le - s i z e ponderosa p ine s t and to
Cochran , P . H . 1 9 7 8 .
ni trogen , phosphorus , and sulfur . USDA Fore s t S ervice Res . Note PNW - 3 l 9 .
8 p.
The relationship b e tween sulphur and
Ke l ly , J . and M . J . Lambert . 1 9 7 2 .
'
nitrogen in the fo l i age of Pinus radiata . Plant S o i l 3 7 : 3 9 5 - 40 7 .
1986 .
C omp arat ive effe c ts o f
M i l l e r , R . E . , M . V . Atherton , and J . E . Wilcox .
three nitrogen fer t i l i zers app l i ed in fall and spr ing t o a 2 9 - year - ol d
Douglas - fir p l antat ion .
Can . J . For . Re s . 1 6 : 9 10 - 9 1 7 .
In Pre s s .
E ffects o f di fferent urea
Radwan , M . A . and D . S . DeBe l l .
(Manus c r ipt
fer t i l i z ers on a young thinned s tand o f wes tern hemlock .
submi tted for pub l i cation) 1 9 84 .
D i fferent
Radwan , M . A . , D . S . DeBell , S . R . Web s ter , and S . P . Ges s e l .
nitro gen s ourc e s for fer t i l i z ing wes tern heml ock in we s te rn Washington .
C an . J . For . Res . 14 : 1 5 5 - 1 6 2 .
1983 .
S o i l nitrogen , sulfur , and phosphorus
Radwan , M . A . and J . S . Shumway .
in relation to respons e o f we s tern hemlock to ni tro gen fer t i l i z ation .
For . S c i . 2 9 : 4 6 9 - 4 7 7 . 1984 .
S i te index and s e l e c te d s o i l properties
Radwan , M . A . and J . S . Shumway .
in relat ion to respons e o f Douglas - fir and we s tern hemlock to nitrogen
p . 8 9 - 104 In E . L . S tone , ed . , Fore s t s o i l s and treatment
fe rti l i z e r .
impac ts . Proc 6 th N . Amer . Forest S o i l s Conf . , Univ . Tenne s s ee , Knoxv i l le .
1985 .
Re s pons e of D ougl as - fir s eedl ings to
Radwan , M . A . and J . S . Shumway .
nitrogen , sulfur , and pho sphorus fer t i l i z e r s . USDA For e s t S e rvice Re s .
14 p . Pap . PNW - 346 .
1979 .
Turner , J .
Inte rac t ions of sul fur with nitrogen in forest s tands . p .
1 1 6 - 1 2 5 I n : S . P . Ge s s e l , R . M . Kenady , and W . A . Atkinson . , eds . Proc .
Fo res t Fe r t i l i z ation C onference . Univers i ty of Washington , S e attle .
I
.
74
Turner , J . , S . P . G e s s e l , and M . Lamb e r t .
1979 .
Sulfur requirements o f
n i tro gen fe r t i l ized Douglas - fir . Fo r e s t S c i 2 5 ( 3 ) : 4 6 1 - 46 7 .
Turne r , J . , J . W . J ohnson , and M . J . Lambert .
1980 .
Sulphur cycl ing in a
Douglas - fir for e s t and its modification by nitrogen app l ication . Deco1 .
Plant . 1 : 2 7 - 3 5 .
Turne r , J . , M . J . Lamb e r t , and S . P . G e s s e l .
1977 .
Use o f foliage sulphate
concentrations to predict respons e to urea appl icat i on by D ougl as - fir . Can
J For Re s : 7 : 47 6 - 48 0 .