Effects of Fire on Nutrient Availability in a North Carolina Coastal Plain Pocosin

Abstract
Nutrient availability was monitored in recently burned and unburned blocks of a large ombrotrophic shrub-bog in Jones Co., North Carolina. Availability of Mg, K, PO4-P, NH4-N and NO3-N was significantly increased, whereas available Ca was lower in the burned area than the unburned area. Concentrations of several nutrients, particularly PO4-P and NO3-N, were considerably more variable spatially in the burned area. Nutrient concentrations in peat from the clipped plots were not different from those of unmanipulated areas. Bioassays using Pinus serotina revealed P deficiency in unburned peat which was ameliorated by burning.

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