Light attenuation in a 14-year-old loblolly pine stand as influenced by fertilization and irrigation

We examined empirical and simulated estimates of canopy light attenuation a t SETRES (Southeast Tree Research and Education Site), a 2x2 factorial stud y of water and nutrients. Fertilized plots had significantly lower under-ca nopy PAR transmittance (T-C) when compared to non-fertilized plots. Light i nterception efficiency, as measured by the canopy cosine-corrected light ex tinction coefficient, G, was significantly lower in irrigated plots for all dates examined. Estimates of G ranged from a low of 0.36 in irrigated plot s in September to a high of 0.64 in March For control plots. Study-wide ana lyses indicate that a G of 0.50 and a k (uncorrected light extinction coeff icient) of 0.69 may be reasonable parameter estimates of canopy light extin ction in intermediate-aged loblolly pine plantations across a range of stan d conditions and seasons when site-specific data are unavailable. Simulated Te from our version of the BIOMASS model corresponded well to the empirica l estimates. Varying the vertical distribution of foliage in simulations (f rom 10:60:30 to 40:40:10% in the upper, middle, and lower canopy positions, respectively) resulted in only a +/-7% change in total PAR intercepted, wh ereas varying G from 0.3 to 0.7 resulted in a 67% and 31% increase in light intercepted for control and fertilized plots, respectively. De creased G r esulted in an increased proportion of beam radiation intercepted - 63-67% o f total PAR intercepted by the middle canopy where 55-60% of the foliage wa s found. We hypothesize that proportionally increased productivity observed in irrigated treatments may be attributed to increased beam radiation inte rcepted deeper into the canopy by a greater foliage area.