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Science 6 July 1984:
Vol. 225. no. 4657, pp. 51 - 52
DOI: 10.1126/science.225.4657.51
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Articles

Mechanisms of Nitrogen Retention in Forest Ecosystems: A Field Experiment

PETER M. VITOUSEK 1 and PAMELA A. MATSON 2

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
2 Life Sciences, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035

Intensive forest management led to elevated losses of nitrogen from a recently harvested loblolly pine plantation in North Carolina. Measurements of nitrogen-15 retention in the field demonstrated that microbial uptake of nitrogen during the decomposition of residual organic material was the most important process retaining nitrogen. Management practices that remove this material cause increased losses of nitrogen to aquatic ecosystems and the atmosphere.

Submitted on February 24, 1984
Accepted on April 24, 1984


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