Nutrient budgets of two watersheds on the Fernow Experimental Forest

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• Adams, M. B.
• Kochenderfer, J. N.
• Angradi, T. R.
• Edwards, P. J.

Year Published

1995

Publication

In: Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Fosbroke, Sandra L. C., ed. Proceedings, 10th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 1995 March 5-8; Morgantown, WV.: Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-197. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 119-130

Abstract

Acidic deposition is an important non-point source pollutant in the Central Appalachian region that is responsible for elevated nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) inputs to forest ecosystems. Nitrogen and calcium (Ca) budgets and plant tissue concentrations were compared for two watersheds, one that received three years of an artificial acidification treatment and an adjacent reference watershed, both located on the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia Treatments consisted of ammonium sulfate fertilizer applied aerially three times per year at an annual rate of 61 kg S ha^-1 and 54 kg N ha^-1. Trees of four species (Betula lenta L., Prunus serotina Ehrh., Acer rubrum L. and Liriodendron tulipifera L.) were harvested for biomass and nutrient determinations. Some tree species on the treated watershed showed elevated N and decreased Ca levels in some tissues, particularly foliage, but no consistent pattern for any species or tissue component was found. Compared to other watersheds in the central and southern Appalachians, Fernow watersheds are losing more N in streamflow. This loss is almost solely in the form of NO₃, which appears to bring about increased leaching of Ca from watersheds.

Citation

Adams, M. B.; Kochenderfer, J. N.; Angradi, T. R.; Edwards, P. J. 1995. Nutrient budgets of two watersheds on the Fernow Experimental Forest. In: Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Fosbroke, Sandra L. C., ed. Proceedings, 10th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 1995 March 5-8; Morgantown, WV.: Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-197. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 119-130

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