Symptoms of nitrogen saturation in two central Appalachian hardwood forest ecosystems

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• Peterjohn, William T.
• Adams, Mary Beth
• Gilliam, Frank S.

Year Published

1996

Source

Biogeochemistry. 35: 507-522.

Abstract

By synthesizing more than twenty years of research at the Fernow Experimental Forest, we have documented 7 symptoms of nitrogen saturation in two adjacent watersheds. The symptoms include: 1) high relative rates of net nitrification, 2) long-term increases in streamwater concentrations of nitrate and base cations, 3) relatively high nitrate concentrations in solution losses, 4) little seasonal variability in stream-water nitrate concentrations, 5) a high discharge of nitrate from a young aggrading forest, 6) a rapid increase in nitrate loss following fertilization of a young aggrading forest, and 7) low retention of inorganic nitrogen when compared with other forested sites. These data support current conceptual models of nitrogen saturation and provide a strong, and perhaps the best, example of nitrogen saturation in the United States.

Keywords

• acid rain
• central Appalachia
• global change
• nitrogen cycling
• nitrogen saturation
• temperate forests

Citation

Peterjohn, William T.; Adams, Mary Beth; Gilliam, Frank S. 1996. Symptoms of nitrogen saturation in two central Appalachian hardwood forest ecosystems. Biogeochemistry. 35: 507-522.

Last updated on: January 13, 2017

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