Senescent leaf decomposition in a Mediterranean pear orchard |
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| Authors: | Cláudia Neto Corina Carranca Josué Clemente |
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| Institution: | 1. L-INIA, Quinta do Marquês, Av. República, 2784-505 Oeiras, Portugal;2. Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Technical University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal;3. Selectis, Herdade das Praias, Apartado 120, E.C. Bonfim, 2901-877 Setúbal, Portugal;1. Radiation Oncology Department, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;2. School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;3. Radiation Oncology Department, Radiation Oncology Mater Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;4. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;1. Departamento de Fruticultura y Enología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Región Metropolitana, Chile;2. Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias de la Agricultura, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Región Metropolitana, Chile;1. Department for Ion Beam Technologies, GNS Science, 30 Gracefield Road, Lower Hutt, New Zealand;2. The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, New Zealand;1. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China;2. Sanrun Environmental Protection Technology Limited Company, Shandong 250000, China;1. Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest and Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, B-9090 Melle, Belgium;2. Faculty of Applied Bioscience Engineering, University College Ghent, Ghent University Association, Schoonmeersstraat 52, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium;3. Department of Soil Management and Soil Care, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium;4. Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry and Applied Ecochemistry, Department of Applied Analytical and Physical Chemistry, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | In a pear orchard, when leaf senescence occurs, nitrogen (N) is added to the soil by the fallen leaves and can be re-used by the tree after undergoing decomposition and mineralization processes. Studies on leaf decomposition and N mineralization in orchards are scarce but essential to understand the N balance in the tree–soil ecosystem in a sustainable or precision agriculture. This study aimed to quantify the contribution of pear tree senescent leaves to N cycling in the orchard and its re-cycling by the crop. ‘Rocha’ pear unlabelled leaves were incubated in situ using the litter-bag technique and 15N-enriched leaves were placed at the soil surface in undisturbed confined cores.One- to six-year-old pear trees returned to the soil between 1 kg N ha?1 year?1 and 6 kg N ha?1 year?1 from senescent leaves that decomposed at rates varying from 0.0025 day?1 (d?1) to 0.0047 d?1 (estimated by both techniques, respectively). In the litter-bags, after 506–641 days, only 18–35% of initial DW was recovered in the soil, whereas in the soil cores the weight loss was higher, resulting in only 30–6% of initial DW after 398–406 d. After this period, between 36% and 110% of the initial N of the senescent leaves was recovered as organic 15N in the surface soil layer (0–7.5 cm), depending on climatic conditions, and being more prone to be absorbed by weeds. |
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