%0 Research article
%T Variation in soil nutrient concentrations and bulk density within peatland forest sites
%A Laiho, Raija
%A Penttilä, Timo
%A Laine, Jukka
%D 2004
%J Silva Fennica
%V 38
%N 1
%R doi:10.14214/sf.433
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/433
%X The within-site variability of soil characteristics on sites with  different soil types remains poorly quantified, although this  information is crucial for the success of research on soil properties,  and especially for monitoring soil properties over time. We used  coefficients of variation and multilevel variance component models to  examine the within-site variation of soil (0–30 cm) mineral nutrient  concentrations (P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, mg g–1; Mn, Zn, mg g–1) and bulk  density (kg m–3) on boreal deep-peat sites. We then evaluated the  reliability of the site-level estimates (sample means) obtained using  different sampling intensities (numbers of samples per site). Our 11  sites represented a single original site type within the oligotrophic  nutrient level. Two of the sites were undrained while the rest had been  drained for forestry at different points in time. Overall, P  concentrations showed the smallest and Mn concentrations the largest  within-site variation. The sampling depth contributed more than 50% of  the total variance in all other characteristics except the  concentrations of P and Fe, and bulk density. The variance proportions  of peatland basin, site (within basin), and sampling location (within  site) varied by sampling depth for most soil characteristics. The  estimates obtained when using a certain number of samples per site were  always more reliable for the 0–30 cm layer’s composite samples than for  any single 10-cm layer at any depth sampled. On average, it was found  that between 4 (P) and some 200 (Mn) samples per site would be needed  for the estimates to have a theoretical 10% maximum deviation.