%0 Research Notes
%T Long-term nutrient status of PK fertilized Scots pine stands on drained peatlands in North-Central Finland
%A Silfverberg, Klaus
%A Moilanen, Mikko
%D 2008
%J Suo - Mires and peat
%V 59
%N 3
%U http://suo.fi/article/9862
%X The low availability of usable phosphorus (P), as well as the scarcity of potassium (K), are often limiting tree growth on peatlands. Approximately one third of the 5.5 million ha of peatlands drained for forestry in Finland has been fertilized during the last 50 years. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effect of PK fertilization on the nutrient status of Scots pine on different site types of drained peatlands. Changes in nutrient concentrations (N, P, K) and dry mass of current needles was used for examining the effect of fertilization. The material included 82 fertilization experimental stands comprising a total of 892 needle samples; 434 from PK-fertilized and 458 from unfertilized control stands. The needles were collected and analyzed between 1980 and 2002. Depending on the experiment, a time period of 1–35 years had elapsed between fertilization and needle sampling. More than half (54%) of the control stands had P concentration below the defi ciency limit 1.3 mg g–1, and correspondingly, 48% had K concentration below 4.0 mg g–1. Fertilization increased considerably the needle dry mass and foliar P and K concentration raised above the deficiency limits. The lower the concentrations of foliar P and K and the higher the concentration of N were in control trees, the more pronounced the effect of PK fertilization was. Compared to control, the needle P concentration was still noticeably higher on the fertilized stands after 21–35 years of the fertilization. However, K concentration had decreased and was at the same level as in the control trees. The effect of fertilization was strongest on sites which had been treeless or sparsely forested before drainage and which had severe nutrient shortages or imbalances. The response to fertilization was very similar regardless of the temperature sum of the year the needles first appeared. The results of this study show that the P status of Scots pine could be improved for over 30 years with single fertilization. On the other hand, ensuring the K status will require 1–2 refertilization treatments during the rotation period.