Responses of fine roots and soil N availability to short-term nitrogen fertilization in a broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest in northeastern China

Knowledge of the responses of soil nitrogen (N) availability, fine root mass, production and turnover rates to atmospheric N deposition is crucial for understanding fine root dynamics and functioning in forest ecosystems. Fine root biomass and necromass, production and turnover rates, and soil nitrate-N and ammonium-N in relation to N fertilization (50 kg N ha(-1) year(-1)) were investigated in a temperate forest over the growing season of 2010, using sequential soil cores and ingrowth cores methods. N fertilization increased soil nitrate-N by 16% (P