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Soil Base Saturation Combines with Beech Bark Disease to Influence Composition and Structure of Sugar Maple-Beech Forests in an Acid Rain-Impacted Region

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Abstract

Sugar maple, an abundant and highly valued tree species in eastern North America, has experienced decline from soil calcium (Ca) depletion by acidic deposition, while beech, which often coexists with sugar maple, has been afflicted with beech bark disease (BBD) over the same period. To investigate how variations in soil base saturation combine with effects of BBD in influencing stand composition and structure, measurements of soils, canopy, subcanopy, and seedlings were taken in 21 watersheds in the Adirondack region of NY (USA), where sugar maple and beech were the predominant canopy species and base saturation of the upper B horizon ranged from 4.4 to 67%. The base saturation value corresponding to the threshold for Al mobilization (16.8%) helped to define the species composition of canopy trees and seedlings. Canopy vigor and diameter at breast height (DBH) were positively correlated (P < 0.05) with base saturation for sugar maple, but unrelated for beech. However, beech occupied lower canopy positions than sugar maple, and as base saturation increased, the average canopy position of beech decreased relative to sugar maple (P < 0.10). In low-base saturation soils, soil-Ca depletion and BBD may have created opportunities for gap-exploiting species such as red maple and black cherry, whereas in high-base saturation soils, sugar maple dominated the canopy. Where soils were beginning to recover from acidic deposition effects, sugar maple DBH and basal area increased progressively from 2000 to 2015, whereas for beech, average DBH did not change and basal area did not increase after 2010.

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Acknowledgements

Support for this work was provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) through a contract with E&S Environmental Chemistry. Thanks to Rachel Riemann for assistance with Adirondack Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and to Ivan Fernandez for his helpful manuscript review. Any use of trade, firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. U.S. Geological Survey, 425 Jordan Road, Troy, New York, 12180, USA

      Gregory B. Lawrence & Michael R. Antidormi

    2. E&S Environmental Chemistry, Inc., Corvallis, Oregon, 97339, USA

      Todd C. McDonnell & Timothy J. Sullivan

    3. Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, New York, 13210, USA

      Martin Dovciak & Michael R. Zarfos

    4. USDA Forest Service, Hubbard Brook Experiment Station, North Woodstock, New Hampshire, 03262, USA

      Scott W. Bailey

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    1. Gregory B. Lawrence
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    Correspondence to Gregory B. Lawrence.

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    Author contribution GBL: wrote the paper, contributed to study design, performed research; TCM: performed research, analyzed data; TSS: conceived of, and contributed to study design; MD: performed research; SWB: contributed to study design, performed research; MRA: performed research; MRZ: performed research.

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    Lawrence, G.B., McDonnell, T.C., Sullivan, T.J. et al. Soil Base Saturation Combines with Beech Bark Disease to Influence Composition and Structure of Sugar Maple-Beech Forests in an Acid Rain-Impacted Region. Ecosystems 21, 795–810 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0186-0

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