Abstract
The objectives of this study were to obtain information about trace metal levels in a montane ecosystem in western Maine, and to compare these results to levels of trace metals reported in the literature for other areas of New England. Forest floor samples were collected at Saddleback Mountain, Maine from sites along two elevational transects on the western and eastern slopes. Five sites were located on the western slope, each in a different vegetation zone, and three sites were selected on the eastern slope, each corresponding in elevation and vegetation type as closely as possible to three of the western sites. Forest floor samples were collected as 15 x 15 cm blocks to the surface of the underlying mineral soil and sectioned into 2 cm depth increments. Zinc and Cr concentrations in the forest floor were significantly greater on the western slope (118 and 3.7 mg kg−1, respectively), whereas Pb concentration was greater on the eastern slope (80 mg kg−1) Cadmium, Cr, Cu, Ni, V, and Zn contents were significantly greater on the western slope (45, 83, 79, 143, and 1432 mg in −2, respectively). Copper, Ni, Cd, and Zn concentrations and contents in the forest floor decreased with increasing elevation, and no trends of increasing trace metal contents with increasing elevation were evident. Trace metal concentrations and contents were always lower in the deepest increment of the forest floor as compared to the surface increment (except for Cr), but concentration and content trends with depth varied. Chromium tended to increase with depth where a depth trend was evident. Overall, forest floor trace metal levels were strongly related to forest stand type and forest floor properties.
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Moyse, D.W., Fernandez, I.J. Trace metals in the forest floor at saddleback mountain, maine in relation to aspect, elevation, and cover type. Water Air Soil Pollut 34, 385–397 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00282739
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00282739