Fate and distribution of sulfur-35 in yellow poplar and red maple trees

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988 · Oecologia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379598· OSTI ID:978734

Garten, Jr, Charles T ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Two deciduous tree species (yellow poplar and red maple) on Walker Branch Watershed (WBW), near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, were radiolabeled with {sup 35}S (87 day halflife) to study internal cycling, storage, and biogenic emission of sulfur (S). One tree of each species was girdled before radiolabeling to prevent phloem translocation to the roots, and the aboveground biomass was harvested prior to autumn leaf fall. Aboveground biomass, leaf fall, throughfall, and stemflow were sampled over a 13 to 24 week period. Sulfur-35 concentrations in tree leaves reached nearly asymptotic levels within 1 to 2 weeks after radiolabeling. Foliar leaching of {sup 35}S and leaf fall represented relatively unimportant return pathways to the forest soil. The final distribution of {sup 35}S in the nongirdled trees indicated little aboveground storage of S in biomass and appreciable (>60%) capacity to cycle S either to the belowground system by means of translocation or to the atmosphere by means of biogenic S emissions. Losses of volatile {sup 35}S were estimated from the amount of isotope missing ({approx}33%) in final inventories of the girdled trees. Estimated {sup 35}S emission rates from the girdled trees were {approx}10{sup -6} to {approx}10{sup -7} {micro}Ci cm{sup -2} leaf d{sup -1}, and corresponded to an estimated gaseous S emission of approximately 0.1 to 1 {micro}g S cm{sup -2} leaf d{sup -1}. Translocation to roots was a significant sink for {sup 35}S in the red maple tree (40% of the injected amount). Research on forest biogeochemical S cycles should further explore biogenic S emissions from trees as a potential process of S flux from forest ecosystems.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 978734
• Journal Information: Oecologia, Journal Name: Oecologia Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 76; ISSN OECOBX; ISSN 0029-8549
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
BIOMASS
CAPACITY
DECIDUOUS TREES
DISTRIBUTION
ECOSYSTEMS
FORESTS
INVENTORIES
LEACHING
MAPLES
POPLARS
STORAGE
SULFUR
SULFUR 35
TENNESSEE
THROUGHFALL
TRANSLOCATION
TREES
WATERSHEDS