Effect of radiata pine on soil chemical characteristics

Soil nutrient contents and distributions beneath planted mature pine (P. radiata) have been compared with those beneath adjacent native eucalypt at two sites (Wee Jasper and Billapaloola) in the Tumut District, N.S.W. The soil nutrients studied included total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sodium, together with exchangeable aluminium, calcium, magenesium, potassium and sodium. Planting of pine resulted in a redistribution of nutrients within the ecosystem. At Wee Jasper, nutrients accumulated in the pine stand and it appeared that this had occurred from deeper rooting in the soil profile, while at Billapaloola, nutrients were removed to a greater degree from the soil surface. Changes in total quantities of nutrients were small and there was no evidence of a potential productivity decline in the subsequent rotation from these changes.