Suburban Development And Change In Vegetation Nutritional-Status

In a study of species presence/absence and soil properties in bushland around northern Sydney, Clements (1983) found that species groupings were related to total soil phosphorus. This report presents analysis of foliage nutrient concentrations in species within these groupings. The highest concentrations of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and potassium occurred in the suburban/disturbed group. The lowest overall concentrations were found in foliage from species in the dry sclerophyll communities. Mean foliage phosphorus was 0.099%, 0.125% and 0.042% for wet sclerophyll, disturbed and dry sclerophyll groups, respectively. Exotic species, particularly in disturbed environments, had the highest foliage nutrient concentrations. Results presented here showed that foliage nutrient concentrations are consistent with definitions of these groups on the basis of total soil phosphorus. These changes are considered to be important for management and conservation of bushland areas around Sydney.