Nitrogenous and Phosphorus Soil Contents in Tierra del Fuego Forests: Relationships with Soil Organic Carbon, Climate, Vegetation and Landscape Metrics

Soil nitrogen (SN) and soil phosphorus (SP) contents support several ecosystem services and define the forest type distribution at local scale in Southern Patagonia. The quantification of nutrients during forest surveys requires soil samplings and estimations that are costly and difficult to measure. For this, predictive models of soil nutrients are needed. The objective of this study was to quantify SN and SP contents (30 cm depth) using different modelling approaches based on climatic, topographic and vegetation variables. We used data from 728 stands of different forest types for linear regression models to map SN and SP. The fitted models captured the variability of forest types well (R2-adj. 92–98% for SN and 70–87% for SP). The means were 9.3 ton ha−1 for SN and 124.3 kg ha−1 for SP. Overall, SN values were higher in the deciduous forests than those in the mixed evergreen, while SP was the highest in the Nothofagus pumilio forests. SN and SP are relevant metrics for many applications, connecting major issues, such as forest management and conservation. With these models, the quantification of SN and SP stocks across forests of different protection status (National Law 26,331/07) and national/provincial reserve networks is possible, contributing to the determination of nutrient contents at landscape level.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Martínez Pastur, Guillermo José, Aravena Acuña, Marie-Claire, Chaves, Jimena Elizabeth, Cellini, Juan Manuel, Silveira, Eduarda M.O., Rodríguez‑Souilla, Julián, Von Müller, Axel, La Manna, Ludmila, Lencinas, María Vanessa, Peri, Pablo Luis
Format:	info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	MDPI 2023-04-28
Subjects:	Primary Forests, Soil, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Ecosistem Services, Forest Types (by species composition), Models, Deciduous Summer Forests, Bosque Primario, Suelo, Nitrógeno, Fósforo, Servicios de los Ecosistemas, Tipos Forestales, Modelos, Bosques de Frondosas Caducas, Evergreen mixed forests, Bosques mixtos siempreverdes, Nothofagus pumilio, Forest management, Manejo forestal sustentable, Conservation, Conservación, Soil fertility, Fertilidad del suelo, Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), Land use planning, Planificación del uso del suelo, Vegetation productivity, Productividad de la vegetación, Forest structure, Estructura forestal, Linear regression, Regresión lineal, Región Patagónica,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14628 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/5/983 https://doi.org/10.3390/land12050983
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