Estimates of atmospheric deposition and canopy exchange for three common tree species in the Netherlands

Abstract

During one year, dry and wet deposition onto thirty forest stands is studied by sampling throughfall and bulk precipitation. Nine measurement sites are situated in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb. Franco) stands, ten in Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and eleven in Oak (Quercus robur L.) stands. Because the stands are situated in each other's proximity (i.e. within a radius of approximately 1.4 km) it is assumed that they experience an approximately equal air pollution load. For the acidifying compounds SO₄ ²⁻, NO₃ ⁻ and NH₄ ⁺ spatial variability in wet deposition was small within the area studied. Dry deposition, as estimated by net throughfall, displayed a much higher spatial variability. Significant differences existed between tree species and growing seasons. Douglas fir mostly displayed the highest, Oak the lowest and Scotch pine intermediate values for net throughfall fluxes of acidifying compounds. The annual net throughfall fluxes for nitrogen compounds were significantly higher for the coniferous tree species than the broadleaved tree species. For SO₄ ²⁻, however, Oak showed a relatively high throughfall flux during the summer. By comparing the temporal pattern of net throughfall fluxes between the three tree species it was concluded that considerable canopy leaching occurred for SO₄ ²⁻, Mg⁺, PO₄ ³⁻, HCO₃ ⁻ and K⁺ in Oak stands during the sprouting of leaves in spring. From surface wash experiments in the laboratory it is concluded that canopy leaching of these ions may also be enhanced when Oak leaves are infected by Oak mildew, a fungal disease caused by the fungus Microshaera aliphilitoides.