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Interactions of Fire with Nutrients in the Herbaceous Layer of a Nutrient- Poor Coastal Plain Forest
Journal article

Interactions of Fire with Nutrients in the Herbaceous Layer of a Nutrient- Poor Coastal Plain Forest

Frank S. Gilliam
Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol.115(4), pp.265-271
10/01/1988
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2996158
Web of Science ID: WOS:A1988R843500001

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Abstract

Herbaceous layer nutrient relationships and the response to fire were examined in an oligotrophic Coastal Plain flatwoods ecosystem. Herb layer nutrient concentrations for this system were similar to those reported for herb layer plants of other oligotrophic conifer forests, but much lower than those reported for more eutrophic hardwood forests. Nutrient concentrations were similar in herb layer vegetation growing in upland and lowland areas of the study watershed. Nutrients varied in response to burning, with significant increases for K, P, and Mg, decreases for Ca, and no change for N and total ash content. Potassium and P were the only plant nutrients to be correlated significantly (positively) with extractable amounts in the mineral soil. Plant K was positively correlated with plant P, as were Ca:Mg and N:P. Results of this study support the hypothesis that nutrients limit herb layer production under non-fire conditions in these Coastal Plain flatwoods and that post-fire increases in production in these systems are a result of fire-caused increases in nutrient availability.

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