Forest Ecology and Management, 66 (1994) 127-136 127

Elsevier Science B.V.

Granulated wood ash and a 'N-free' fertilizer to a

forest soil effects on P availability

Marianne Clarholm
Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,
Box 7072, S- 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
(Accepted 8 February 1993)

Abstract

Addition of wood ash to forest soils has been suggested as a measure to counteract decreases in pH
and amounts of cations caused by whole-tree harvesting or acid deposition. Four thousand kilograms
per hectare (3200 kg dry weight) of granulated wood ash containing (kg ha- t ) 25 P, 129 K, 448 Ca,
47 Mg and 9 S were added to a 22-year-old spruce forest stand with a low concentration of P in
needles. The effects of the additions on phosphorus availability to trees and microorganisms in the
humus layer were investigated 18 months (two growing seasons) after application. The ash treatment
was compared with a 'N-free' fertilizer treatment, containing (kg ha -~ ) 30 P, 50 K, 210 Ca, 47 Mg
and 80 S, all in readily available forms.
Amounts of P in microorganisms and amounts of labile P in the soil did not differ between treat-
ments. In the humus layer, the control contained 21.5 kg P in microorganisms, the ash treatment 17.6
kg and the 'N-free' fertilizer treatment 26 kg ha- t. Labile P varied from 3.3 kg h a - t in the ash treat-
ment to 4.4 kg ha-~ in the 'N-free' fertilizer treatment. Acid phosphatase activity in soil, expressed
per surface area, decreased significantly in the 'N-free' fertilizer treatment. In the ash treatment, the
situation was reversed, with a numerically higher mean value for acid phosphatase activity, but the
mean was not significantly different from that of the control. For individual plots, acid phosphatase
activity was negatively related to the P content in needles of the previous year. The acid phosphatase
activity in the humus was elevated in plots where the P concentration in the previous year's needles
was below 1.3 mg g- t dry weight, compared with plots with higher concentrations.
None of the P in the granulated ash was water-soluble, while around 20% was extractable with
ammonium acetate pH 4.2. An amendment with soluble P should be considered, if ash is added to
forests with low P status.

Introduction

In southwestern Sweden, decreases of 0.5-1.0 pH units have been observed

over the past 60 years in both the organic and the mineral layers of forests
soils (Tamm and Hallbiicken, 1988). The decrease in pH has been accom-
panied by a reduction in the pools of exchangeable base cations, by 20-70%
over the past 35 years (Falkengren-Grerup et al., 1987 ). The situation is be-
lieved to be mainly the result of acid deposition caused by various human
activities which involve burning fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels will also in-

© 1994 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved 0378-1127/94/$07.00

SSD10378-1127 (94) 06031 -D
128 M. Clarholm / ForestEcology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136

crease the atmospheric CO2 level, eventually raising air temperatures. The
interest in use of renewable energy sources such as wood, and also in whole-
tree harvesting, has therefore increased.
With an increased use of wood for energy purposes the production of ash
will increase. According to estimates made by the Swedish Energy Board, about
200 000 t of wood ash are produced annually, half or more within the paper,
pulp and saw mill industry (S.-O. Ericsson, personal communication, 1991 ).
Most of the ash is deposited in areas specially prepared for its storage. An
alternative use for wood ash is to return it to the forest. Except for N and S,
an addition of 1-5 t of ash h a - ~contains the amount of nutrients removed at
harvest. Absolute amounts depend on the productivity of the site and on the
mode of harvesting. Because of the continuing acidification, the most inter-
esting elements to add in relation to plant nutrition are the base cations, but
ash also contains 1-2% phosphorus of unknown availability.
The P availability in the young soils of Sweden has hitherto been consid-
ered satisfactory for tree growth, and N is generally the growth-limiting ele-
ment (Tamm, 1990). However, lately there have been reports of decreasing
levels of P in needles (Nihlghrd, 1990) in southwestern Sweden. The decrease
is particularly striking if the P content is related to the N content, which has
increased during the same period. The increase is, at least in part, caused by
deposition of nitrogen compounds. To improve the balance between N and
other elements in the soil, it has been suggested that a 'N-free' fertilizer should
be applied in areas with high N deposition. In a field trial in a 22-year-old
Norway spruce stand close to the southwestern coast of Sweden, such a treat-
ment (V treatment) has been applied. A granulated wood ash treatment (A
treatment), as an alternative substance to use for a 'N-free' fertilization, has
also been established.
This study was carried out to examine the effect of an addition of granu-
lated wood ash on P availability in soil. The ash treatment was compared with
the V treatment where soluble P had been applied twice, the last time con-
comitant with the ash application. Amounts of P in microorganisms, amounts
of labile P and acid phosphatase activity were investigated in the humus layer,
18 months after the application of 4000 kg h a - ~ (3200 kg dry weight ( D W ) )
of granulated ash. Phosphatases are partly induced enzymes. They are both
cellular and extracellular and can be quite long-lived. When roots and micro-
organisms have low access to P in relation to other nutrients, particularly ni-
trogen and carbon, acid phosphatase activity is reported to increase (Spiers
and McGill, 1978 ).
Microorganisms have been repeatedly suggested to be able to act as sinks
and sources of nutrients (Paul and Voroney, 1984; Smith and Paul, 1990),
and their ability to store the excess P added in the V treatment was investi-
gated. The labile P fraction in the soil contains both inorganic and organic P
and is considered to be available to plants (Olsen and Sommers, 1982).
M. Clarholm / Forest Ecology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136 129

Changes in labile P could possibly reveal changes in transfer rates of micro-

bial P into microbial necromass and in mineralisation from the necromass.
To make it possible to couple soil processes with changes in trees, some
preliminary results on P in trees and in the humus layer have been generously
made available by other scientists working at the Skogaby site, where the pres-
ent study was performed.

Site

The site is situated in Skogaby on the southwest coast of Sweden where N

deposition is 16-20 kg h a - 1 year- 1 (B. Bergkvist, personal communication,
1991 ). The vegetation is a homogeneous, relatively healthy Norway spruce
forest planted in 1966. It is the second generation of coniferous forest, replac-
ing an approximately 50-year-old Scots pine stand planted on a former heath
on an acid till soil. The climate is wet, with an annual precipitation of around
1100 mm. The soil has a pH (H20) of around 4.0 in the humus layer, increas-
ing to 4.5 at the top of the mineral soil. It is poor in cations and rich in alu-
minium. The humus layer had an average dry weight of 6130 g m -2, and
contained 2500 g C, 92 g N and 4.1 g P ( n = 2 4 ) (J. Bergholm, personal com-
munication, 1991 ). The experiment has a randomised block design with four
replicates. The plot size is 2000 m 2.

Treatments

The experiment started in 1988 and had eight treatments (Nilsson and
Wiklund, 1993 ) of which the 'N-free' fertilizer treatment (V), the granulated
ash treatment (A) and the control (C), were used in this study. The 'N-free'
fertilizer treatment was applied through manual addition of 500 kg SkogVital
ha -1 year -I (Supra, Karlskrona, Sweden) in 1988 and 1989. The wood ash
was supplied by the municipal heating plant at Eskilstuna and was granulated
(diameter 0.2-1.8 cm) with 2% cement. Four thousand kilograms of ash per
hectare (3200 kg after drying at 105 °C) was added manually in June 1989, 1
year after the start of the other treatments. Total amounts of nutrients added
are given in Table 1.

Methods

Soil samples were collected on 4 December 1990 when 15 cm × 15 cm pieces

of the humus layer were cut at four different places on each plot. The needle
litter and the bottom, sand-mixed part of the humus layer, as well as any ash
granules, were removed. The samples were kept intact in plastic bags at 5 ° C
for 48 days before they were analysed. Storage of soil under similar conditions
was reported to decrease acid phosphatase activity to 80% of starting values
130 M. Clarholm / ForestEcology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136

Table 1
Amounts of nutrients (kg ha -J ) applied in the 'N-free' fertilizer (SkogVital) treatment and in the
treatment with granulated wood ash. The top two rows give absolute amounts. Plant-available nu-
trients were extracted with 0.5 M a m m o n i u m acetate, set at pH 4.2 after the ash addition

P K Ca Mg S

SkogVital 48 43 218 46 75
Wood ash 25 129 448 47 9
Water-extractable 0 24 2 0 ND
Plant-available 5 44 364 27 ND

ND, not determined.

after 45 days (Speir and Ross, 1975 ). The microbial P values found were in
good agreement with values recorded at later samplings where the humus was
fumigated the day after sampling, thus indicating that the 48 day storage at
5 °C did not change the results.
The day before analysis, a composite sample was prepared for each plot and
kept at 5 °C overnight. The following morning humus was weighed into glass
bottles for the fumigation treatment, to estimate microbial P and labile P.
Samples were also taken for acid phosphatase activity estimations and for dry
weight estimation. The pH values of the mixed samples were estimated in a
mixture of fresh humus and distilled water ( 1:5 ).
Acid phosphatase activity was estimated according to Tabatabai and Brem-
ner( 1969 ), on 1.0 g fresh weight (FW) samples at pH (H20) 5.0, which gave
the highest activity in a preliminary test. Microbial biomass P was estimated
by fumigation and direct extraction of 10.0 g FW of humus with 100 ml 0.5
M NaHCO3 pH 8.5 using Kp=0.41 (Brookes et al., 1982). Labile P (plant
available P) was the sum of organic and inorganic P extracted before fumi-
gation (Olsen and Sommers, 1982).
Needles from the nodular shoots of the first and second order side branches
of the seventh whorl were collected in February 1990 and analysed for P as
well as for other nutrients (U. Rosengren and H. Lundkvist, unpublished data,
1991).
Five grams of ash granules, with three replicates, were shaken for 300 min
with 200 ml distilled water and with 0.5 M sodium acetate set to pH 4.2 with
acetic acid after ash addition. The extracts were filtered and analysed for P,
B, K, Ca, Mg and S on an ICP Emission Spectrometer, Jobin Yvon JY-70 plus
(Longiumeau, France).
To examine treatment and block differences, data were subjected to analy-
sis of variance, followed by Tukey-Kramer's test (at the 0.05 significance
level).
M. Clarholm / Forest Ecology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136 131

Results

Mean amounts of microbial biomass P (Fig. 1 ) and labile P (Fig. 2) in the

humus layer showed the same pattern, with the highest mean value in the V
treatment and the lowest in the A treatment. There was a considerable varia-
tion between replicate plots and the means were not significantly different
when compared on an area basis. When expressed per gram dry weight,
amounts of labile P were significantly lower in the A treatment (data not
shown).
The acid phosphatase activity was significantly lower ( P = 0.0028, F = 18.23,
d.f. = 2) in the V treatment compared with the C and A treatments (Fig. 3).
A negative relation was found between the acid phosphatase activity and the
needle P content (Fig. 4). There were no block effects.

3.50

3.00

'E 2.50

o. 2.00

1.50
o
.o 1.00

0.50

0.00
V C A

Fig. 1. Microbial biomass P in the humus layer of the 'N-free' fertilizer treatment (V), the
control (C) and the granulated ash treatment (A). Different letters within the columns indicate
significant difference ( P < 0.05 ); error bars indicate one standard deviation (n = 4 ).

0.50

0.40
o~

E
0.30
G.

_o 0.20
.O
m
--I
0.10

0.00
V C A

Fig. 2. Labile, plant-available P in the humus layer. Treatments as in Fig. 1.

132 M. Clarholm / Forest Ecology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136

>,~-.
"~ 'E 6
~ ',- 5
• --
¢h
m~4

o ,~

'U D.

V C A

Fig. 3. Acid phosphatase activity of the humus layer. Treatments as in Fig. I.

90

>.... 80

o F ,,. 7 0
m.

g "~ 6 0 \
g s0 []
,,& []
~ e~ 40
X
X
30 Xx

20 I I I ! I I I I | | I I I I I

.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Needle P (mg g-1 dw)

Fig. 4. Acid phosphatase activity in December 1990 plotted against P concentration in the pres-
ent year's needles sampled in February 1990. Individual values for the four replicates of each
treatment. Filled squares, granulated ash treatment; open squares, control; X, 'N-free' fertilizer
treatment.

The acid ammonium acetate extractions indicated that 20% of the P, 34%
of the K, 81% of the Ca, and 57% of the Mg in the ash were plant-available.
Only K was extracted with distilled water (Table 1 ).

Discussion

The absolute amounts of P added in the ash were about half the amount
added with the 'N-free' fertilizer (Table 1 ). The extractions further revealed
M. Clarholm /Forest Ecology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136 133

that very little of the P added with the ash was immediately available in the
water phase, while 96% of the P in the 'N-free' fertilizer was added in water/
citrate soluble form. With tree uptake ofP (Nilsson and Wiklund, 1993 ) sub-
tracted, only 19 of the 48 kg P added in the 'N-free' fertilizer treatment re-
mained unaccounted for. Although not statistically different, the mean value
for microbial P in the 'N-free' fertilizer treatment was 4.5 kg ha- 1higher than
in the control. Trees were thus more successful in storing P than microorga-
nisms. The latter possibly lacked a suitable energy source to form energy-rich
polyphosphates, the form in which surplus P is stored in microorganisms
(Beever and Burns, 1980).
Acid phosphatases in soil are produced mainly by tree roots and fungi. The
acid phosphatase activity indicated that the organisms in the ash treatment
had a higher demand for P compared with the control (Fig. 3 ). This could be
created both by increased tree growth and by diminished P availability in soil.
No growth measurements are yet available for the A treatment. A possible
mechanism to decrease P availability could be that P released through decom-
position reacted with calcium added with the ash and formed insoluble com-
plexes (Pungh et al., 1978 ). Observations in a field lysimeter study with ash
from the same batch indicated that 35% or more of the Ca had left the gran-
ules after 3 months (H. Eriksson, personal communication, 1991 ). Total acid
phosphatase activity is made up from more than one source. Enzymes pro-
duced inside cells for metabolic purposes will, for example, be released on cell
death. In a separate treatment within the Skogaby project where P is added
frequently through irrigation, the acid phosphatase activity was only slightly
lower than in the V treatment (M. Clarholm, unpublished data, 1991 ). This
means that there is a background phosphatase activity against which changes
have to be evaluated.
For individual plots, there was a close negative relation between acid phos-
phatase activity per area in the humus layer and the P concentration of the
previous year's needles (Fig. 4). This observation indicated that low P con-
centration in the tree triggered enzyme production by tree roots and their
mycorrhizae. A positive correlation between acid phosphatase activity and
hyphal length was found by H~iussling and Marschner (1989 ) in the humus
layer of a Norway spruce forest soil.
Phosphatase activity values will vary over the season and with the growth
rate of the tree (Harrison, 1987 ). This makes the time of sampling crucial for
the absolute value obtained. Acid phosphatase activity thus seems to be a
sensitive parameter for comparison of P availability between treatments. A
single estimate cannot, however, be used for determining P deficiency, since
the baseline value is unknown. Possibly, a decrease in acid phosphatase activ-
ity after a P addition (Fox and Comerford, 1992 ) could give an indication of
a suboptimal P availability.
Did P availability determine growth rate of trees in any of the treatments?
134 M. Clarholm / Forest Ecology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136

A level of 1.5 mg g-l DW, below which growth was reduced by more than
10%, was reported for needles of Douglas-fir grown under high N availability
due to air pollution (Mohren et al., 1986). A deficiency value of 1.3 mg g-~
DW has been suggested for spruce needles by Nihlg~ird (1990). For Norway
spruce in Germany I. 1 mg P was considered critical (Hiittl, 1987). Accord-
ing to Nihlghrd (1990), all the plots in the V treatment and two of the control
plots were not deficient while two control plots and all ash plots were below
the suggested limit (Fig. 4). The increased acid phosphatase activity in the
six plots with low level of P in needles thus supported 1.3 mg P g-1 DW
(Nihlghrd, 1990) as the level at which P becomes the growth rate determining
nutrient.
One way of evaluating the physiological state of a tree is to relate the con-
centration of an element to the concentration of N, the generally most growth-
limiting element. In the control, the mean P in needles was 8.2% of N, which
was the lowest level before growth retardation was observed for birch (Erics-
son and Ingestad, 1988 ). In the A treatment, the mean needle P content was
7.3% of the mean N content, which is close to the minimum level for good
physiological functioning in birch (Ericsson and Ingestad, 1988). The rec-
ommended P value of 13% of N (Ingestad, 1991 ) was reached only in the 'N-
free' fertilizer treatment.
The granulation of the ash retarded the release of ions, thus avoiding large,
rapid increases in pH. A modest rise of 0.3 pH units in the humus, after the
application of 4000 kg ha-1 (3200 kg DW) of ash in granulated form in the
present study, could be compared with increases from 3.8 to 5.3 and 6.4, re-
spectively, in a pine forest 12 months after application of 3000 kg and 7500
kg h a - 1of ash in powder form (Erland and S6derstr/Sm, 1991 ).
Granulated wood ash is at least not a short-term P fertilizer. On the con-
trary, all results obtained indicated that ash addition slightly decreased P
availability to trees and microorganisms, at least during the first year. De-
creased P contents after ash amendments have been observed for vegetables
(Elseewi et al., 1978). Lumme and Laiho (1988) found larger, positive ef-
fects of bark ash addition on P availability to Salix in the second year after
application compared with the first.
Even if there were a temporary decrease in tree growth after ash application
to a forest soil, it could still be wise to restore and increase cation pools to
keep up sustained productivity. In areas with high S and N deposition, it would
be particularly appropriate to apply ash granules on the surface to neutralise
acid deposition and to protect lower horizons from cation leaching. If ash is
to be added to a forest with a low P status, the possibility of adding some
soluble P should also be considered.

Acknowledgements
I thank J. Bergholm, H. Lundkvist, L.-O. Nilsson and K. Wiklund, Depart-
ment of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish University of Agri-
M. Clarholm / ForestEcology and Management 66 (1994) 127-136 135

cultural Sciences, Uppsala and B. Bergkvist and U. Rosengren, Department

of Plant Ecology, Lund University, Lund, who have allowed me to use parts
of their unpublished data sets on P uptake in trees (L.-O.N. and K.W. ), P and
N in needles (U.R. and H.L. ), N deposition (B.B.) plus P content, and weight
of the humus layer (J.B.). Acid phosphatase estimations were made in coop-
eration with T. Sj6kvist at the National Swedish Laboratory for Agricultural
Chemistry, Uppsala, Sweden.
This work was made possible through a grant from the National Board for
Industrial and Technical Development. The Skogaby project is financed by
the National Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and the Foundation
of Forestry Reseach. The associated ash treatment obtains financial support
from Vattenfall and Skogskraft.

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