Soil chemistry and nutrition of North American spruce-fir stands: Evidence of recent change. [Picea rubens Sarg]

Journal Article · · Journal of Environmental Quality; (United States)

OSTI ID:5456956

Joslin, J D; Kelly, J M; Van Miegroet, H ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

One set of hypotheses offered to explain the decline of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) in eastern North America focuses on the effect of acidic deposition on soil chemistry changes that may affect nutrient availability and root function. Long-term soils data suggests that soil acidification has occurred in some spruce stands over the past 50 yr, with plant uptake and cation leaching both contributing to the loss of cations. Studies of tree ring chemistry also have indicated changes in Ca/Al and Mg/Al ratios in red spruce wood, suggesting increases in the ionic strength of soil solution. Irrigation studies using strong acid inputs have demonstrated accelerated displacement of base cations from upper horizons. Spruce-fir (Abies spp.) nutrient budgets indicate that current net Ca and Mg leaching loss rates are of the same order of magnitude as losses to whole tree harvest removals, spread out over a 50-yr rotation. For most cations, red spruce foliar nutrient levels decline with elevation, but it is difficult to assess the contribution of the elevational gradient in atmospheric deposition to this pattern. Compared to northeastern sites, spruce-fir soil solutions in the southern Appalachians have higher nitrate levels and higher Al concentrations, which at times approach the Al toxicity threshold for red spruce seedlings and frequently are at levels known to interfere with cation uptake. There is little evidence that either nutrient deficiencies or Al toxicity are primary causes of red spruce decline in the Northeast, though both may play a role in the Southeast.

• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5456956
• Journal Information: Journal of Environmental Quality; (United States), Vol. 21:1; ISSN 0047-2425
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
ACID RAIN
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
SOILS
ACIDIFICATION
SPRUCES
INJURIES
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CATIONS
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
LEACHING
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
NUTRIENTS
SOIL CHEMISTRY
TOXICITY
TREE RINGS
UPTAKE
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMISTRY
CONIFERS
DISSOLUTION
IONS
PINOPHYTA
PLANTS
RAIN
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TREES
VARIATIONS
540210* - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)
540120 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
010900 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Environmental Aspects