Factors controlling nitrogen cycling and nitrogen saturation in northern temperate forest ecosystems

An analysis of the factors controlling rates of nitrogen in northern temperate forest ecosystems is presented based on a quantitative analysis of an extensive data set for forests in Wisconsin and Massachusetts as those data are synthesized in a computer model of organic matter and nutrient dynamics. The ultimate control on equilibrium N-cycling rates resides not within the N cycle itself but rather in ratios of resource-use efficiency by vegetation compared with the ratios of resource availability. Litter quality and allocation patterns, along with rates of N deposition, do affect the rate at which a system approaches the equilibrium cycling rate. -from Authors