article id 281,
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                            This investigation focuses on the development and nutrient status of the  first Sitka spruce and Norway spruce stands established on milled  cutaway peatlands in Ireland in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Phosphatic fertilization at planting is critical for the establishment  of trees on cutaway peatlands but may not be sufficient to see the  stands close canopy. Results from this study indicate the likely demand  for P and N fertilizer during the rotation of these plantations. During  the ten-year-study period (1994–2004), the nutrient status of both  Norway and Sitka spruce stands deteriorated with the passage of time.  Twenty-seven out of the twenty-eight examined stands became P deficient  before 10 years old and half of the plots were N deficient within 13 to  15 years. Sitka spruce stands became N and P deficient earlier than  Norway spruce. Regardless of species, tree stands growing on Sphagnum  peat entered the critical N deficiency threshold sooner and were all  severely deficient by 2004 compared to 22% of the trees growing on  Phragmites peat. The effects of aerial re-fertilization were also site  specific and although P deficiency was cured, the trees were likely to  suffer from nutrient imbalance (N and Cu especially). These results  demand a change of standard fertilization practices, which should be  related more specifically to peat type and species requirements. Peat  type identification and foliar analysis monitoring should become  standard management tools while the long-term continuous monitoring of  these new forests would be very valuable throughout their first  rotation.
                        
                
                                            - 
                            Renou-Wilson,
                            University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
                                                        E-mail:
                                                            frw@nn.ie
                                                                                        
                                                     
                                            - 
                            Farrell,
                            University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
                                                        E-mail:
                                                            epf@nn.ie