The Sulphur stable isotope tracer study (E.P. 886.15) field experiment was installed in young lodgepole pine stands at two sites in the Prince George Forest Region in 2001, with fertilizer treatments applied in late 2002. These sites are designated as Kenneth Creek (east of Prince George) and Holy Cross (south of Fraser Lake). (The Kenneth Creek installation was established near plots of the older E.P. 886.13 in the same stand.) Full experimental details, including pretreatment soil and foliar date, were given in:
Sanborn, P., R.P. Brockley, B. Mayer, M. Yun, J. Prietzel. 2005. Sulphur fertilization of lodgepole pine: a stable isotope tracer study (E.P. 886.15): Establishment report. Tech. Rep. 020. B.C. Min. For., Res. Br., Victoria, BC. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Tr/Tr020.htm
The Kenneth Creek site was attacked by mountain pine beetle in 2006, resulting in at least 80% tree mortality. In 2013, the stand was levelled in order to enable replanting, and due to poor communications within the Ministry of Forests, the opportunity to salvage this installation was lost. The Holy Cross site was hit by a wildfire in 2010, and most of the research plots were destroyed.
Preliminary results from foliar analysis, sufficient to demonstrate that our stable isotope tracer approach could detect fertilizer uptake, were published in:
Sanborn, P.T., R.P. Brockley, and B. Mayer. 2011. Stable isotope tracing of fertilizer uptake by lodgepole pine: foliar responses. Can. J. For. Res. 41: 493-500. https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/X10-222