Return to Plant Uptake Component
to Table 4

Table 5. Comparison between deciduous and coniferous species in relation to plant uptake and nutrient return(*). This table shows that rates of cycling are more rapid for deciduous trees than coniferous species. Coniferous species generally grow on soils of lower nutrient status and thus tend to conserve their nutrients, receiving a greater proportion of their nutrients from internal cycling (e.g. retranslocation). By retaining their foliage longer and retranslocation of nutrients, conifers have a much lower uptake requirement each year.

Element	Deciduous	Coniferous	Deciduous	Coniferous
	Uptake (kg/ha/yr)		return (kg/ha/yr)
N	70	39	57	30
K	48	25	40	20
Ca	84	35	67	29
Mg	13	6	11	4
P	6	5	4	4

(*) Data from Cole and Rapp (1981)

Return to Plant Uptake Component
to Table 4