Summary
Total S, organic S and sulfate were measured in foliage, litter, roots, soil and solutions at a hardwood site within the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Sulfate as a percentage of total S was similar in foliage and litter (10%), but was greater in roots (30%). Sulfur constituents in the hardwood forest ecosystem were dominated by C-bonded S (60 g m−2) and ester sulfate (16 g m−2) which are formed by biological processes. Because sulfur mineralization (1.42 g m−2 yr−1) was greater than wet precipitation inputs (0.82 g m−2 yr−1), those factors that influence mineralization-immobilization processes are important in evaluating S cycling and sulfate fluxes in this ecosystem. Ester sulfate was formed within the forest floor by the soil biota and was leached to mineral horizons. Annual turnover of this pool was high (25%) within the mineral forest floor. Forest-floor C-bonded S was derived from root and above-ground litter, and substantial amounts were leached to mineral horizons. Calculated storage + outputs (1.64 g m−2 yr−1) was much greater than wet inputs (0.82 g m−2 yr−1).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aber JD, Botkin DB, Melillo JM (1978) Predicting the effects of different harvesting regimes on forest floor dynamics in northern hardwoods. Can J For Res 8:306–315
Connell WE, Patrick WH Jr (1969) Reduction of sulfate to sulfide in waterlogged soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 33:711–714
David MB (1983) Organic and inorganic sulfur cycling in forested and aquatic ecosystems in the Adirondack region of New York State. PhD thesis, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York
David MB, Driscoll CT (1984) Aluminum speciation and equilibria in soil solutions of a Haplorthod in the Adirondack Mountains (New York, USA). Geoderma 33:297–318
David MB, Mitchell MJ (1987) Transformations of organic and inorganic sulfur: Importance to sulfate flux in an Adirondack forest soil. J Air Pollut Control Assoc 37:39–44
David MB, Mitchell MJ, Nakas JP (1982) Organic and inorganic sulfur constituents of a forest soil and their relationship to microbial activity. Soil Sci Soc Am J 46:847–852
David MB, Schindler SC, Mitchell MJ, Strick JE (1983) Importance of organic and inorganic sulfur to mineralization processes in a forest soil. Soil Biol Biochem 15:671–677
David MB, Mitchell MJ, Schindler SC (1984) Dynamics of organic and inorganic sulfur constituents in hardwood forest soils. In: Stone L (ed) Forest soils and treatment impacts. Sixth North American Forest Soils Conference, Knoxville, Tenn, pp 221–245
Eaton JS, Likens GE, Bormann FH (1973) Throughfall and stemflow chemistry in a northern hardwood forest. J Ecol 61:495–508
Federer CA, Lash D (1978) BROOK: A hydrologic simulation model for eastern forests. Water Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham NH, Research Report Number 19
Fuller RD, David MB, Driscoll CT (1985) Sulfate adsorption relationships in some forested Spodosols of the northeastern US. Soil Sci Soc Am J 49:1034–1040
Fuller RD, Driscoll CT, Schindler SC, Mitchell MJ (1986) A simulation model of sulfur transformations in forested Spodosols. Biogeochemistry 2:313–328
Goldstein RA, Gherini SA (1984) The integrated lake-watershed acidification study, vol 4. Summary of major results. Electric Power Research Institute Report EA-3221, Palo Alto, Calif
Hamburg SP (1984) Effects of forest growth on soil nitrogen and organic matter pools following release from subsistence agriculture. In: Stone EL (ed) Forest soils and treatment impacts. Sixth North American Forest Soils Conference Knoxville, Tenn, pp 145–158
Johnson DW, Henderson GS, Huff DD, Lindberg SE, Richter DD, Shriner DS, Todd DE, Turner J (1982) Cycling of organic and inorganic sulphur in a chestnut oak forest. Oecologia (Berlin) 54:141–148
Kelly JM (1984) Sulfur input, output and distribution in two oak forests. In: Stone EL (ed) Forest soils and treatment impacts. Sixth North American Forest Soils Conference Knoxville, Tenn, pp 265–290
Landers DH, David MB, Mitchell MJ (1983) Analysis of organic and inorganic sulfur constituents in sediments, soils and water. Int J Environ Anal Chem 14:245–256
Likens GE, Bormann FH, Pierce RS, Eaton JS, Johnson NM (1977) Biogeochemistry of a forested ecosystem. Springer, New York Heidelberg Berlin
Lindberg SE, Lovett GM, Richter DD, Johnson DW (1986) Atmospheric deposition and canopy interactions of major ions in a forest. Science 231:141–145
Lovett GM, Lindberg SE (1984) Dry deposition and canopy exchange in a mixed forest as determined by analysis of throughfall. J Appl Ecol 21:1013–1027
McClaugherty CA, Aber JD, Melillo JM (1982) The role of fine roots in the organic matter and nitrogen budgets of two forested ecosystems. Ecology 63:1481–1490
Mitchell MJ, Fuller RD (1987) Models of sulfur dynamics in forest and grassland ecosystems with emphasis on soil processes. Biogeochemistry (in press)
Mitchell MJ, David MB, Maymard DG, Telang SA (1986) Sulfur constituents in soils and streams of a watershed in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. Can J For Res 16:315–320
Mollitor AV, Raynal DJ (1982) Acid precipitation and ionic movements in Adirondack forest soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 46:137–141
Mollitor AV, Raynal DJ (1983) Atmospheric deposition and ionic input in Adirondack forests. J Air Pollut Control Assoc 33:1032–1036
Morgan CR, Mitchell MJ (1987) The effects of feeding by Oniscus ascellus on leaf litter sulfur constituents. Biol Fertil Soils 3:107–111
Pastor J, Aber JD, Melillo JM (1984) Biomass prediction using generalized allometric regressions for some Northeast tree species. For Ecol Manage 7:265–274
Raynal DJ, Raleigh FS (1983) Characterization of atmospheric deposition at Huntington Forest, Adirondack Mountains, New York, 1978–1982. State University of New York, Syracuse, NJ
Raynal DJ, Leaf AL, Manion PD, Wang JK (1980) Actual and potential effects of acid precipitation in a forest ecosystem in the Adirondack Mountains. NYS-ERDA 80-28
Richter DD, Johnson DW, Todd DE (1983) Atmospheric sulfur deposition, neutralization, and ion leaching in two deciduous forest ecosystems. J Environ Qual 12:263–270
Rochelle BP, Church MR, David MB (1987) Sulfur retention at intensively studied sites in the US and Canada. Water Air Soil Pollut 33:73–83
Schindler SC (1984) Sulfur transformations and movement in an Adirondack forest soil. MS thesis, State University of New York, College of Environ. Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NJ
Schindler SC, Mitchell MJ, Scott TJ, Fuller RD, Driscoll CT (1986) Incorporation of 35S-sulfate into organic and organic sulfur constituents of two forest soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50:457–462
Smith WH (1976) Character and significance of forest tree root exudates. Ecology 57:324–331
Strick JB, Nakas JP (1984) Calibration of a microbial sulfur technique for use in forest soils. Soil Biol Biochem 16:289–291
Strickland TC, Fitzgerald JW, Swank WT (1984) Mobilization of recently formed forest soil organic sulfur. Can J For Res 14:63–67
Swank WT, Fitzgerald JW, Ash JT (1984) Microbial transformation of sulfate in forest soils. Science 223:182–184
Turner J, Johnson DW Lambert MJ (1980) Sulphur cycling in a douglas-fir forest and its modification by nitrogen applications. Oecol Plant 1:27–35
Whittaker RH, Bormann FH, Likens GE, Siccama TG (1974) The Hubbard Brook ecosystem study: forest biomass and production. Ecol Monogr 44:252–253
Whittaker RH, Likens GE, Bormann FH, Eaton JS, Siccama TG (1979) The Hubbard Brook ecosystem study: forest nutrient cycling and element behavior. Ecology 60:203–220
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
David, M.B., Mitchell, M.J. & Scott, T.J. Importance of biological processes in the sulfur budget of a northern hardwood ecosystem. Biol Fert Soils 5, 258–264 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00256911
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00256911