Several explanations have been advanced to account for the decline in forest net primary productivity (NPP) with age in closed-canopy stands including the hypotheses that: (1) sapwood maintenance respiration rate increases, reducing the availability of carbon to support new growth; (2) stomatal conductance and hence photosynthetic efficiency decline; and (3) soil nutrient availability declines. To evaluate these hypotheses we applied the ecosystem model G'DAY to a 40- and a 245-year-old stand of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.), growing on infertile soils. Net primary productivity estimated from biomass data was 0.47 and 0.25 kg C m(-2) year(-1) and foliar nitrogen/carbon ratio (N/C) was 0.0175 and 0.017 for the 40- and 245-year-old stands, respectively. Productivities of the young and old stands were derived from a graphical analysis of the G'DAY model. The graphical analysis also indicated that the observed age-related decline in NPP can be explained in terms of interacting processes associated with Hypotheses 2 and 3. However, the relative importance of these two hypotheses differed depending on key model assumptions, in particular those relating to variation in soil N/C ratio. Thus, if we assumed that soil N/C ratio can vary significantly during stand development, then Hypotheses 2 and 3 jointly explain the decline in NPP, whereas if we assumed that soil N/C ratios are constant, then Hypothesis 3 alone explains the decline in NPP. The analysis revealed that only a small fraction of the decline of NPP can be explained in terms of increasing sapwood respiration.
Several explanations have been advanced to account for the decline in forest net primary productivity (NPP) with age in closed-canopy stands including the hypotheses that: (1) sapwood maintenance respiration rate increases, reducing the availability of n class="Chemical">carbon to support new growth; (2) stomatal conductance and hence photosynthetic efficiency decline; and (3) soil nutrient availability declines. To evaluate these hypotheses we applied the ecosystem model G'DAY to a 40- and a 245-year-old stand of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.), growing on infertile soils. Net primary productivity estimated from biomass data was 0.47 and 0.25 kg C m(-2) year(-1) and foliar nitrogen/carbon ratio (N/C) was 0.0175 and 0.017 for the 40- and 245-year-old stands, respectively. Productivities of the young and old stands were derived from a graphical analysis of the G'DAY model. The graphical analysis also indicated that the observed age-related decline in NPP can be explained in terms of interacting processes associated with Hypotheses 2 and 3. However, the relative importance of these two hypotheses differed depending on key model assumptions, in particular those relating to variation in soil N/C ratio. Thus, if we assumed that soil N/C ratio can vary significantly during stand development, then Hypotheses 2 and 3 jointly explain the decline in NPP, whereas if we assumed that soil N/C ratios are constant, then Hypothesis 3 alone explains the decline in NPP. The analysis revealed that only a small fraction of the decline of NPP can be explained in terms of increasing sapwood respiration.