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The role of Athyrium distentifolium in reduction of soil acidification and base cation losses due to acid deposition in a deforested mountain area

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Abstract

Background and Aims

The tall fern (Athyrium distentifolium Tausch ex Opiz) forms large stands in many deforested sites in Central European mountains. In the present study, we want to demonstrate that the effect of ferns on the leaching of nutrients is the same at low and high nitrogen (N) deposition.

Methods

Free-tension lysimeters with growing ferns, and some with bare forest soil were installed in field conditions in 2006. We monitored the chemistry of lysimetric water at ambient and enhanced (plus 50 kg N ha-1) levels of N deposition during five growing seasons.

Results

Results indicate that during the growing seasons ferns slightly decreased of acidity and conductivity of lysimetric water and substantially reduced losses of base cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+). The concentration of leached base cations was three to seven times higher from bare forest soil than from lysimeters with ferns. Higher N accumulation in fern biomass coincides with lower contents of leached N in lysimetric water.

Conclusions

The reduced losses of base cations were due to the ability of Athyrium to absorb and accumulate nutrients in large amounts in living biomass and in dead undecomposed plant matter and particularly in below-ground biomass.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks to Z. Oráč and D. Lekeš for their technical assistance in the field and laboratory works. This study was supported by grants IAA600050616 (GA AV ČR) and MSM6215648905 (Research plan MSM), by project CzechGlobe (CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0073), and by Research Intentions AV0Z 60050516 and AV0Z 60870520. We are indebted to Prof. J.M. Bernard and Prof. F. Seischab (USA) for their reviews of the text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agronomy, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, Brno, 613 00, Czech Republic

    Ivan Tůma & Jaroslav Záhora

  2. Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Lidická 25, Brno, 602 00, Czech Republic

    Ivan Tůma & Karel Fiala

  3. Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Bělidla 4a, Brno, 603 00, Czech Republic

    Petr Holub

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  1. Ivan Tůma
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Correspondence to Petr Holub.

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Responsible Editor: Klaus Butterbach-Bahl.

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Tůma, I., Fiala, K., Záhora, J. et al. The role of Athyrium distentifolium in reduction of soil acidification and base cation losses due to acid deposition in a deforested mountain area. Plant Soil 354, 107–120 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1048-8

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