Abstract
Acidic deposition has been well studied for its impacts on forest soils and plants and is thought to detrimentally affect sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in northeastern North America. The physiological mechanism driving reduced tree growth on acid impaired sites is not well understood, but has been suggested to involve increased autotrophic respiration rates. We measured foliar respiration and leaf elemental composition on two species with contrasting acid tolerances (sugar maple and American beech, Fagus grandifolia) across a naturally occurring soil base saturation (BS) gradient in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Foliar chemistry varied strongly as anticipated across the BS gradient, with decreases in base cations and increases in phytotoxic metals (e.g., Mn) on sites with highly acidified soils. However, foliar respiration rates were not correlated with most measures of acidity (e.g., BS, foliar concentrations of Ca, Mg, Al content). Respiration rates did correlate with other leaf traits (N content, leaf mass per unit area) reflective of leaf morphological variation in response to variable light availability. After accounting for multivariate trait covariation, mass-based respiration rates were associated with foliar Mn content, suggesting a positive relationship between the concentration of this phytotoxic metal and foliar respiration rates. Soluble foliar Ca, Mg, and Mn were closely correlated with total foliar concentrations of these elements. Overall these results demonstrate that soil acidification and loss of base cations is largely unrelated to foliar respiration rates, although the accumulation of foliar Mn on acidified soils may contribute to the metabolic burden of both sugar maple and American beech trees.
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Upon acceptance, the data for this project will be publically published in a research data repository managed by Moon Library, SUNY ESF (Dataverse @ ESF: https://libguides.esf.edu/c.php?g=159873&p=6180410).
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by funding from the USDA Forest Service McIntire-Stennis program (Project NYZ1149530). We thank Stacy McNulty and Michael Walen Zarfos (SUNY ESF) for their logistical assistance accessing sites, and Sashoy Milton and Anuli Onwumelu (SUNY ESF) for help with sample processing. We thank Marlene Braun (SUNY ESF) for her excellent assistance with ICP analysis. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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This work was supported by funding from the USDA Forest Service McIntire-Stennis program (Project NYZ1149530).
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AW led the data collection, analysis, and writing of this project. CB and GL contributed to the study design, data interpretation, and writing. JED was the senior scientific lead on the project- he contributed to the study design, data collection, analysis, and writing.
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Wills, A., Beier, C.M., Lawrence, G.B. et al. Foliar chemical composition and respiration rates of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees across a gradient of soil acidification. Biogeochemistry 162, 327–341 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-01010-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-01010-x