Mineral Nutrition of Young Ash in Latvia

The research objectives were: 1) to determine healthy young ash supply with nutrients and their concentrations in natural growth conditions; 2) to estimate nutrient balance and inter-correlations within a system “soil-plants”; and 3) to determine the potential effect of environmental conditions (forest type, plant phytosociological group, soil group, etc.) on nutrient accumulation in soil and leaves of young ash. The investigation was conducted in 28 different forest sites with young ash in Latvia. The results demonstrated that young ash grows well on a wide range of site types in terms of soil composition, forest type and phytosociological tree group. Although highly heterogeneous, soil in ash stands in Latvia can provide a sufficient supply of nutrients. Therefore, the nutrient status of healthy young ash leaves can be characterized as sufficient, although low levels of P, Zn, and K in leaves was found for most sites. Significant impact of soil group and forest type was found on nutrient composition of ash soil, while leaf nutrient concentrations were more dependent on the forest type and phytosociological tree group. The obtained results confirmed the ability of ash to accumulate nutrients within a certain range from soils of different fertility, organic matter content and soil reaction in Latvia.