EFFECTS OF LIME AND PHOSPHATE ADDITIONS ON NUTRIENT STATUS AND GROWTH OF BEECH (FAGUS-SYLVATICA L) SEEDLINGS

Regenerating beech stands on Ferric Podzol and Dystric Cambisol were treated with crushed dolomitic lime and ground apatite (phosphorus fertiliser) alone or in combination in a randomised block design. The lime was applied 5 years before the P-fertiliser. Seedling growth, measured as stem diameter, was not affected by the treatments. The lime significantly affected 12, and the P-treatment 5, of 13 elements analyzed for foliar concentrations. The lime increased foliar Ca and Mg concentrations and decreased those of Al, Fe, K, Mn, Na and Zn. The effect of lime on N differed between years and sites. S and B responded significantly but not consistently in relation to the lime dose. The foliar concentrations of all the elements except B could be compared with values given in the literature. Liming with dolomite increased leaf Mg to levels above the range usually found in beech. For K there is a risk of deficiency if liming is carried out where K levels are originally low. The phosphate fertiliser increased leaf P by 23-28% in the Ferric Podzol and by 5-14% in the Dystric Cambisol. In the Ferric Podzol the effect of the P-fertiliser on foliar P was not related to the lime dose, and had increased to an average of + 28% after 4 years. In the Dystric Cambisol, the P-treatment effect on foliar P was initially negatively related to the amount of lime previously applied. The average effect on foliar P in the Dystric Cambisol decreased from about + 14% in 1988 to about + 5%, in 1992, and by this time no relationship between the P concentration and the lime dose remained. Crushed dolomite would efficiently correct Mg and Ca deficiencies, and ground apatite would efficiently correct P deficiencies.