Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Soil Solution Chemical Response to Two Decades of Experimental Acidification at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine

  • Published:
Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We examined long-term changes in soil solution chemistry associated with experimental, whole watershed-acidification at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM). At BBWM, the West Bear (WB) watershed has been treated with bimonthly additions of ((NH4)2 SO4) since 1989. The adjacent East Bear (EB) watershed serves as a biogeochemical reference. Soil solution chemistry in the EB watershed was relatively stable from 1989–2007, with the exception of declining SO4–S concentrations associated with a progressive decline in SO4–S deposition during this period. Soil solution chemistry in WB reflected a progressive change in acid-neutralization mechanisms from base cation buffering to Al buffering associated with treatment during this period. Total dissolved Al concentrations progressively increased over time and were ~4× higher in 2007 than in 1989. Treatment of WB was also associated with long-term increases in soil solution H+, SO4–S, and NO3–N, whereas soil solution dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was unresponsive to treatment. For solutes such as Ca, H+, and SO4–S, changes in stream chemistry were generally parallel to changes in soil solution chemistry, indicating a close coupling of terrestrial and aquatic processes that regulate the chemistry of solutions in this first-order stream watershed. For other solutes such as Al and DOC, solute concentrations were higher in soil solutions compared with streams, suggesting that sorption and transformation processes along hydrologic flow-paths were important in regulating the chemistry of solutions and the transport of these solutes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aber, J., Mcdowell, W., Nadelhoffer, K., Magill, A., Berntson, G., Kamakea, M., et al. (1998). Nitrogen saturation in temperate forest ecosystems—Hypotheses revisted. BioScience, 48, 921–934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adams, M., Kochenderfer, J., & Edwards, P. (2007). The Fernow watershed acidification study: ecosystem acidification, nitrogen saturation and base cation leaching. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus, 7, 267–273.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, J., & Schofield, C. (1982). Aluminum toxicity to fish in acidic waters. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 18, 289–309.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bedison, J. E., & Johnson, A. H. (2010). Seventy-four years of calcium loss from forest soils of the adirondack mountains, New York. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 74, 2187–2195.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, W. D., Cleveland, C. C., Halada, L., Hresko, J., & Baron, J. S. (2008). Negative impact of nitrogen deposition on soil buffering capacity. Nature Geoscience, 1, 767–770.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, R. D., Hornbeck, J. W., Smith, C. T., Lemin, R. C., & McCormack, M. L. (2000). Long-term effects of forest management on nutrient cycling in spruce-fir forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 138, 285–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brye, K. R., & Norman, J. M. (2004). Land-use effects on anion-associated cation leaching in response to above-normal precipitation. Acta Hydrochimica et Hydrobiologica, 32, 235–248.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, D. A., Blett, T., Haeuber, R., & Pardo, L. H. (2008). Critical loads as a policy tool for protecting ecosystems from the effects of air pollutants. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6, 156–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carnol, M., Ineson, P., & Dickinson, A. L. (1997). Soil solution nitrogen and cations influenced by (NH4)2SO4 deposition in a coniferous forest. Environmental Pollution, 97, 1–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Church, M. R. (1999). The Bear Brook Watershed manipulation project: Watershed science in a policy perspective. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 55, 1–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Courchesne, F., Côté, B., Fyles, J. W., Hendershot, W. H., Biron, P. M., Roy, A. G., et al. (2005). Recent changes in soil chemistry in a forested ecosystem of Southern Québec, Canada. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 69, 1298–1313.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cronan, C. S. (1991). Differential adsorption of Al, Ca, and Mg by roots of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.). Tree Physiology, 8, 227–237.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Currie, W. S., Aber, J., & Driscoll, C. (1999). Leaching of nutrient cations from the forest floor: Effects of nitrogen saturation in two long-term manipulations. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 29, 609–620.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries, W., Reinds, G. J., & Vel, E. (2003). Intensive monitoring of forest ecosystems in Europe: 2: Atmospheric deposition and its impacts on soil solution chemistry. Forest Ecology and Management, 174, 97–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dentener, F., Drevet, J., Lamarque, J. F., Bey, I., Eickhout, B., Fiore, A. M., et al. (2006). Nitrogen and sulfur deposition on regional and global scales: A multimodel evaluation. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 20, GB 4003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillon, P. J., & Molot, L. A. (1990). The role of ammonium and nitrate retention in the acidification of lakes and forested catchments. Biogeochemistry, 11, 23–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dise, N., & Wright, R. (1995). Nitrogen leaching from European forests in relation to nitrogen deposition. Forest Ecology and Management, 71, 153–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dise, N. B., Matzner, E., Armbruster, M., & MacDonald, J. (2001). Aluminum output fluxes from forest ecosystems in Europe: A regional assessment. Journal of Environmental Quality, 30, 1747–1756.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll, C., Driscoll, K., Mitchell, M., & Raynal, D. J. (2003). Effects of acidic deposition on forest and aquatic ecosystems in New York State. Environmental Pollution, 123, 327–336.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elvir, J. A. (2004). Effects of enhanced nitrogen deposition on foliar chemistry, gas exchange, and forest growth at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Ph.D. Thesis. Orono: University of Maine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, I. J., Rustad, L., David, M., Nadelhoffer, K., & Mitchell, M. (1999). Mineral soil and solution responses to experimental N and S enrichment at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 55, 165–185.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, I. J., Rustad, L. E., Norton, S. A., Kahl, J. S., & Cosby, B. J. (2003). Experimental acidification causes soil base-cation depletion at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 67, 1909–1919.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, I. J., Karem, J. E., Norton, S., & Rustad, L. (2007). Temperature, soil moisture and streamflow at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM). Maine agricultural and forest experiment station technical bulletin 196, The University of Maine, 32pgs.

  • Fernandez, I. J., Adams, M., Sanclements, M., & Norton, S. (2010). Comparing decadal responses of whole-watershed manipulations at the Bear Brook and Fernow experiments. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 171, 149–161.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, D., Smith, R., Muller, J., Cape, J. N., Sutton, M., Erisman, J. W., et al. (2007). Long term trends in sulphur and nitrogen deposition in Europe and the cause of non-linearities. In P. Brimblecombe, H. Hara, D. Houle, & M. Novak (Eds.), Acid rain—Deposition to recovery (pp. 41–47). Netherlands: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Galloway, J. N., Dentener, F. J., Capone, D. G., Boyer, E. W., Howarth, R. W., Seitzinger, S. P., et al. (2004). Nitrogen cycles: Past, present, and future. Biogeochemistry, 70, 153–226.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson, J. P. (2009). Visual MINTEQ version 2.61.

  • Houle, D., Ouimet, R., Paquin, R., & Laflamme, J. G. (1999). Interactions of atmospheric deposition with a mixed hardwood and a coniferous forest canopy at the Lake Clair watershed (Duchesnay, Quebec). Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 29, 1935–1943.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hruška, J., Krám, P., McDowell, W. H., & Oulehle, F. (2009). Increased dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Central European streams is driven by reductions in ionic strength rather than climate change or decreasing acidity. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 4320–4326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntress, D. W. (2008). Chemical dynamics during high discharge events at three forested catchments in Eastern Maine, USA (Master’s thesis). Orono: University of Maine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jefts, S., Fernandez, I. J., Rustad, L. E., & Bryan Dail, D. (2004). Decadal responses in soil N dynamics at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 189, 189–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahl, J., Norton, S., Fernandez, I., Rustad, L., & Handley, M. (1999). Nitrogen and sulfur input–output budgets in the experimental and reference watersheds, Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 55, 113–131.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kraske, C. R., & Fernandez, I. J. (1993). Biogeochemical responses of a forested watershed to both clearcut harvesting and papermill sludge application. Journal of Environmental Quality, 22, 776–786.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kruskal, W. H., & Wallis, W. A. (1952). Use of ranks in one-criterion variance analysis. Journal of the American Statisal Association, 47, 583–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, G. B., Roy, K. M., Baldigo, B. P., Simonin, H. A., Capone, S. B., et al. (2008). Chronic and episodic acidification of Adirondack streams from acid rain in 2003–2005. Journal of Environmental Quality, 37, 2264–2274.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lovett, G. M., Weathers, K. C., Arthur, M. A., & Schultz, J. C. (2004). Nitrogen cycling in a northern hardwood forest: Do species matter? Biogeochemistry, 67, 289–308.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magill, A. H., Aber, J. D., Currie, W. S., Nadelhoffer, K. J., Martin, M. E., McDowell, W. H., et al. (2004). Ecosystem response to 15 years of chronic nitrogen additions at the Harvard Forest LTER, Massachusetts, USA. Forest Ecology and Management, 196, 7–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majer, V., Krám, P., & Shanley, J. B. (2005). Rapid regional recovery from sulfate and nitrate pollution in streams of the western Czech Republic—Comparison to other recovering areas. Environmental Pollution, 135, 17–28.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meiwes, K. J., Merino, A., & Beese, F. O. (1998). Chemical composition of throughfall, soil water, leaves and leaf litter in a beech forest receiving long term application of ammonium sulphate. Plant and Soil, 201, 217–230.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monteith, D. T., Stoddard, J. L., Evans, C. D., deWit, H. A., & Forsius, M. (2007). Dissolved organic carbon trends resulting from changes in atmospheric deposition chemistry. Nature, 450, 537–540.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J., & Riley, J. P. (1962). A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Analytica Chimica Acta, 27, 31–36.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Navrátil, T., Kurz, D., Krám, P., Hofmeister, J., & Hruska, J. (2007). Acidification and recovery of soil at a heavily impacted forest catchment (Lysina, Czech Republic)–SAFE modeling and field results. Ecological Modelling, 205, 464–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Navrátil, T., Norton, S., Fernandez, I., & Nelson, S. (2010). Twenty-year inter-annual trends and seasonal variations in precipitation and stream water chemistry at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 171, 23–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, S., Kahl, J. S., Fernandez, I., Rustad, L., Haines, T. A., Nodvin, S., et al. (1999). The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 55, 7–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Norton, S. A., Fernandez, I. J., Kahl, J. S., & Reinhardt, R. L. (2004). Acidification trends and the evolution of neutralization mechanisms through time at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM), U.S.A. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus, 4, 289–310.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, S., Driscoll, C., & Johnson, C. (2004). Long-term trends in soil solution and stream water chemistry at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest: Relationship with landscape position. Biogeochemistry, 68, 51–70.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pellerin, B. A., Fernandez, I. J., Norton, S. A., & Kahl, K. S. (2002). Soil aluminum distribution in the near-stream zone at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 134, 189–204.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt, R. L., Norton, S. A., Handley, M., & Amirbahman, A. (2004). Dynamics of P, Al, and Fe during high discharge episodic acidification at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, U.S.A. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus, 4, 311–323.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rustad, L. E., Kahl, J. S., Norton, S. A., & Fernandez, I. J. (1994). Underestimation of dry deposition by throughfall in mixed northern hardwood forests. Journal of Hydrology, 162, 319–336.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schulze, E. D. (1989). Air pollution and forest decline in a spruce (Picea abies) forest. Science, 244, 776–783.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, J., Fernandez, I. J., Norton, S. A., Ohno, T., & Rustad, L. E. (2005). Soil aluminum, iron and phosphorus dynamics in response to long-term experimental nitrogen and sulfur additions at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA. Environmental Monitoring and Assesssment, 121, 419–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, D. I. (2006). Reversal of the trend in global anthropogenic sulfur emissions. Global Environmental Change, 16, 207–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strahm, B. D., & Harrison, R. B. (2007). Mineral and organic matter controls on the sorption of macronutrient anions in variable-charge soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 71, 1926–1933.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stumm, W., & Morgan, J. J. (1981). Aquatic chemistry: An introduction emphasizing chemical equilibria in natural waters (p. 780). New York: Wiley-Interscience.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, T., Eilers, J., Cosby, B., & Vaché, K. (1997). Increasing role of nitrogen in the acidification of surface waters in the Adirondack Mountains, New York. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 95, 313–336.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Szillery, J.S. 2003. Soil solution dynamics in response to elevated nitrogen and sulfur treatments at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. doi:http://worldcat.org/oclc/62275814

  • Thompson, W. B., & Borns, H. W., Jr. (1985). Surficial geologic map of Maine: 1:500,000. Augusta: Maine Geological Survey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Cañabate, P., Davidson, E., Bulygina, E., García-Ruiz, R., & Carreira, J. (2008). Abiotic immobilization of nitrate in two soils of relic Abies pinsapo forests under Mediterranean climate. Biogeochemistry, 91, 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warby, R. A. F., Johnson, C. E., & Driscoll, C. T. (2009). Continuing acidification of organic soils across the Northeastern USA: 1984–2001. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 73, 274–284.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waring, R. H., & Schlesinger, W. H. (1985). Forest ecosystems: Concepts and management. San Diego: Academic Press. 338 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watmough, S., Aherne, J., Alewell, C., Arp, P., Bailey, S., Clair, T., et al. (2005). Sulphate, nitrogen and base cation budgets at 21 forested catchments in Canada, the United States and Europe. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 109, 1–36.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • White, G., Fernandez, I., & Wiersma, G. (1999). Impacts of ammonium sulfate treatment on the foliar chemistry of forest trees at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 55, 235–250.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the individuals and funding agencies that helped make this research possible. A special thanks to Cheryl Spencer for providing field and laboratory assistance. We also thank the laboratory and field staff, including the University of Maine Sawyer Environmental Chemistry Research Laboratory, John Cangelosi, Karen Small, Mary Beth Parent, Benjamin Lynch, and Anthony Drouin. Kevin Simon and Bryan Dail provided helpful comments to improve this manuscript. This research was funded, in part, by the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station and the U.S. National Science Foundation (DEB-0415348 and DEB-0210257). Graduate research fellowship support for this project was provided by the University of Maine Graduate School and the New England Farm and Garden Association. This manuscript has not been subject to agency or corporate review, and no endorsements should be inferred. This is Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Publication #2618.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and the Environment, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, 19085, USA

    Farrah R. Fatemi

  2. School of Forest Resources and Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Ivan J. Fernandez

  3. S.W. Cole Engineering, Bangor, ME, USA

    Johanna Szillery

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Stephen A. Norton

  5. USDA Forest Service, Durham, NH, USA

    Lindsey E. Rustad

Authors
  1. Farrah R. Fatemi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ivan J. Fernandez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Johanna Szillery
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Stephen A. Norton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lindsey E. Rustad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Farrah R. Fatemi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fatemi, F.R., Fernandez, I.J., Szillery, J. et al. Soil Solution Chemical Response to Two Decades of Experimental Acidification at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Water Air Soil Pollut 223, 6171–6186 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-012-1348-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-012-1348-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation