NITROGEN CONTENT AND BIOMASS: SCALING FROM THE TREE TO THE FOREST LEVEL

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth. Although much has been learned about its utilization and distribution within the plant body, little is known about the relationship between nitrogen content and standing biomass at the level of entire forests. Data for nitrogen content (N) and biomass (M) of 10 deciduous species in USA at the individual trees level and 37 species grown in three forest biomes (i.e. tropic, subtropics, and temperate) in China at stands level were gathered to determine the N versus M scaling relationships for different tissue- and organ-types (e.g. bark and leaves). Model Type II regression protocols were used to calculate scaling exponents and allometric constants (i.e. slopes and gamma -intercepts of log-log bivariate plots, respectively) between N and M to. At the level of individual plants, N scaled nearly isometrically with M for the different tissue- and organ-types (i.e. N alpha M super(0.97-1.04)). At the stand-level, N scaled similarly with respect to leaf, branch, and bark M, despite differences in stand size-frequency distributions and species composition. However, total stand N scaled allometrically with respect to total stem or root M and thus to total stand mass (i.e. N alpha M super(0.77-0.87)). This was attributed to the accumulation of wood (and other 'necromass' tissue components that have lower N content than physiologically active tissues) in progressively older (and thus more massive) tree stands. When coupled to the scaling of N with respect to annual plant growth rates, these exponents provide important boundary conditions with which to model forest nutrient cycling.