Life Sciences Commons^™

Variation In Overstory Nitrogen Uptake In A Small, High-Elevation Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Watershed, M. Barker, H. Van Miegroet, N. S. Nicholas, I. F. Creed

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

High-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) – Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) forests of the southern Appalachians exhibit considerable spatial heterogeneity in structure, and possibly in N uptake, because of a combination of natural disturbances and heavy fir mortality caused by infestations of the exotic balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz). The objectives of this study are to determine spatial variability in tree N uptake in a small high-elevation catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, compare outcomes among calculation methods, and assess the influence of stand and landscape properties on N uptake. Tree N uptake is estimated …