HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (21) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bailey, S. W. Articles by Hallett, R. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Bailey, S. W. Articles by Hallett, R. A. Agricola Articles by Bailey, S. W. Articles by Hallett, R. A. Related Collections Watershed and Landscape Processes Plant and Soil Interactions

DIVISION S-7—FOREST & RANGE SOILS

Influence of Edaphic Factors on Sugar Maple Nutrition and Health on the Allegheny Plateau

^a USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, 234 Mirror Lake Rd, Campton, NH 03223
^b USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Irvine, PA 16365
^c USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Delaware, OH 43015
^d USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Durham, NH 03824

^* Corresponding author (swbailey{at}fs.fed.us).

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) decline has been a problem on the Allegheny Plateau for the last two decades. Previous work found that sugar maple is predisposed to decline by poor nutrition and incited to decline by severe insect defoliation. Nutritional diagnoses have been based on foliar chemistry; there is little information on soil attributes that influence susceptibility. We evaluated relationships among soil characteristics, foliar chemistry, and sugar maple decline for 43 stands on the Allegheny Plateau in New York and Pennsylvania using correlation and stepwise regression techniques. Foliar Ca and Mg concentrations correlated with soil exchangeable cations expressed on a concentration or site capital basis. Expression of base cation availability as a saturation value, or in ratio with Al, slightly improved the relationships, suggesting that antagonistic cations are important to sugar maple nutrition. The best predictions of foliar chemistry were made by regressions that considered soil chemistry across the depth of the B horizon, suggesting the importance of looking at more than one depth to assess nutrition. Landscape position and glacial history determined whether weathering products were effectively delivered to the rooting zone, resulting in the observed landscape gradients. All declining stands were on unglaciated upper landscape positions where soils had lower Ca and Mg levels compared with other landscape positions. Declining stands had <2% Ca saturation and <0.5% Mg saturation in the upper B and <4% Ca saturation and <0.6% Mg saturation in the lower B. These thresholds may be useful in predicting susceptibility to sugar maple decline.

Abbreviations: defsev10, defoliation severity index • PDEADSM, percentage of dead sugar maple basal area

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Beckage, B. Osborne, D. G. Gavin, C. Pucko, T. Siccama, and T. Perkins A rapid upward shift of a forest ecotone during 40 years of warming in the Green Mountains of Vermont PNAS, March 18, 2008; 105(11): 4197 - 4202. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Thiffault, D. Pare, N. Belanger, A. Munson, and F. Marquis Harvesting Intensity at Clear-Felling in the Boreal Forest: Impact on Soil and Foliar Nutrient Status Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., February 27, 2006; 70(2): 691 - 701. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. W. Bailey, S. B. Horsley, and R. P. Long Thirty Years of Change in Forest Soils of the Allegheny Plateau, Pennsylvania Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., April 11, 2005; 69(3): 681 - 690. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]