TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIABILITY IN SOIL NUTRIENT STATUS OF A FORMER BEACH PLAIN

As part of a research project on the variation in life-history characteristics within a population of Plantago major L. ssp. pleiosperma, seasonal and spatial variability in the availability of macronutrients (N, P, and K) were examined on a small scale in the 0-25 cm soil depth at a primary beach plain site, embanked since 1966. On the basis of distinct differences, among other things, in plant biomass, an a priori division into three different types of microhabitat occurring in a mosaic distribution pattern was made: an overall low-lying area (subsite 1) with slightly elevated patches of 0.5 to 1.5 m in diameter (subsite 2) and rather large patches, 20 to 40 m in diameter, of sea buckthorn shrubs, with small and relatively open spots (subsite 3) in the transitional zone from lower area into scrub. All three subsite types were studied within a total area of approximately 2000 m2. Three methods of analysis were applied: an inventory survey (sampling once at the start of the growing season), an analysis of the seasonal variation (sampling at approximately monthly intervals during the period April-November), and an assessment of nitrogen mineralization potentials in the laboratory (sampling once at the beginning of the growing season). All three procedures clearly demonstrated the occurrence of differences in the availability of nutrients over very short distances, i.e. a pronounced spatial variability among subsites. Particularly the availability of N and P appeared to have increased at the subsites 2 and 3, when compared to subsite 1. This small-scale differentiation in soil properties has occurred in an essentially homogeneous parent material (e.g. in texture and carbonate content) over a period of about 20 years. Besides a spatial variability, statistically significant temporal fluctuations were observed in the availability of N, P, and K. Relative fluctuations of mineral N (as indicated by the range/mean ratio) were especially large at the subsites 2 and 3. © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers.