Effects of stand conversion by thinning and underplanting on water and element fluxes of a pine ecosystem (P. sylvestris L.) on lignite mine spoil

Both measurement plots were characterized by considerable Ca and SO4-S leaching (up to 1.5 and 2.0 kmol ha−1 year−1, respectively). However, stand conversion had no major effect on the element budgets; despite higher soil water fluxes, element output by seepage water was quite unchanged. The stand still acted as almost complete sink for growth-limiting nutrients such as N and P with an annual storage of 1.7-2.1 and 0.023-0.026 kmol ha−1, respectively. Nutrient cycling was not decoupled as the minimal N fluxes in 20 cm soil depth indicate.