School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 1 of 1
-
ItemNutritional physiology of eucalyptus grandis and pinus radiata irrigated with municipal effluent( 1998)The aim of this study is to compare the processes of accumulation and use of N, P, K, Mg and Ca between two and four years of age in plantations of Eucalyptus grandis and Pinus radiata irrigated at several rates with municipal effluent, and with bore water. A series of five harvests over two years was used to estimate above-ground biomass and nutrient content. Growth rate was greater in E. grandis than in P. radiata. Total biomass at 34 months ranged from 34 to 45 t ha-1 in E. grandis and from 21 to 26 t ha-1 in P. radiata, with a trend towards higher rates of growth with increased irrigation rate. Foliage mass and leaf area index (LM) were initially greater in E. grandis than P. radiata. However, the rate of increment in foliage mass and LAI in E. grandis decreased after canopy closure (at about 20 months). At 34 months foliage mass averaged 5.9 t ha-1 in E. grandis and 7.4 t ha-1 in P. radiata. Nutrient accumulation was primarily a function of growth rate, in particular the rate of canopy development. Rate of nutrient accumulation in E. grandis was greatest prior to canopy closure, decreasing thereafter, and in P. radiata it was greatest in the last year. As a result, mean annual increment of nutrient accumulation was maximum in E. grandis at 28 months, and in P. radiata at the end of the study. Implications for management of effluent-irrigated plantations are discussed. The mass of each nutrient accumulated varied greatly and decreased in the order Ca