Successional and physical controls on the retention of nitrogen in an undisturbed boreal forest ecosystem

Floristic succession in the boreal forest can have a dramatic influence on ecosystem nutrient cycling. We predicted that a decrease in plant and microbial demand for nitrogen (N) during the transition from mid- to late-succession forests would induce an increase in the leaching of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), relative to dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). To test this, we examined the chemistry of the soil solution collected from within and below the main rooting zones of mid- and late-succession forests, located along the Tanana River in interior Alaska. We also used a combination of hydrological and chemical analyses to investigate a key assumption of our methodology: that patterns of soil water movement did not change during this transition. Between stands, there was no difference in the proportion of DIN below the rooting zone. 84–98% of DIN at both depths consisted of nitrate, which was significantly higher in the deeper mineral soil than at the soil surface (0.46±0.12 mg NO⁻ ₃ –N l⁻¹ vs 0.17±0.12 mg NO⁻ ₃ –N l⁻¹, respectively), and 79–92% of the total dissolved N consisted of DON. Contrary to our original assumption that nutrients were primarily leached downward, out of the rooting zone, we found much evidence to suggest that the glacially-fed Tanana River (>200 m from these stands) was contributing to the influx of water and nutrients into the soil active layer of both stands. Soil water potentials were positively correlated with river discharge; and ionic and isotopic (δ¹⁸O of H₂O) values of the soil solution closely matched those of river water. Thus, our ability to elucidate biological control over ecosystem N retention was confounded by riverine nutrient inputs. Climatic warming is likely to extend the season of glacial melt and increase riverine nutrient inputs to forests along glacially-fed rivers.