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Factors controlling soil water and stream water aluminum concentrations after a clearcut in a forested watershed with calcium-poor soils

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Abstract

The 24 ha Dry Creek watershed in the Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York State USA was clearcut during the winter of 1996–1997. The interactions among acidity, nitrate (NO −3 ), aluminum (Al), and calcium (Ca2+) in streamwater, soil water, and groundwater were evaluated to determine how they affected the speciation, solubility, and concentrations of Al after the harvest. Watershed soils were characterized by low base saturation, high exchangeable Al concentrations, and low exchangeable base cation concentrations prior to the harvest. Mean streamwater NO −3 concentration was about 20 μmol l−1 for the 3 years before the harvest, increased sharply after the harvest, and peaked at 1,309 μmol l−1 about 5 months after the harvest. Nitrate and inorganic monomeric aluminum (Alim) export increased by 4−fold during the first year after the harvest. Alim mobilization is of concern because it is toxic to some fish species and can inhibit the uptake of Ca2+ by tree roots. Organic complexation appeared to control Al solubility in the O horizon while ion exchange and possibly equilibrium with imogolite appeared to control Al solubility in the B horizon. Alim and NO −3 concentrations were strongly correlated in B-horizon soil water after the clearcut (r 2 = 0.96), especially at NO −3 concentrations greater than 100 μmol l−1. Groundwater entering the stream from perennial springs contained high concentrations of base cations and low concentrations of NO −3 which mixed with acidic, high Alim soil water and decreased the concentration of Alim in streamwater after the harvest. Five years after the harvest soil water NO −3 concentrations had dropped below preharvest levels as the demand for nitrogen by regenerating vegetation increased, but groundwater NO −3 concentrations remained elevated because groundwater has a longer residence time. As a result streamwater NO −3 concentrations had not fallen below preharvest levels, even during the growing season, 5 years after the harvest because of the contribution of groundwater to the stream. Streamwater NO −3 and Alim concentrations increased more than reported in previous forest harvesting studies and the recovery was slower likely because the watershed has experienced several decades of acid deposition that has depleted initially base-poor soils of exchangeable base cations and caused long-term acidification of the soil.

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Abbreviations

Al:

Aluminum

Al3+ :

Trivalent monomeric aluminum

Aln+ :

Sum of positively charged aluminum species

Alim :

Inorganic monomeric aluminum

Almono :

Total monomeric aluminum

Alorg :

Organic monomeric aluminum

Altot :

Total aluminum

ANC:

Acid-neutralizing capacity

Ca2+ :

Calcium

CB :

Sum of base cations

CB−CAA :

Sum of base cations minus sum of acid anions

Cl- :

Chloride

CEC:

Cation exchange capacity

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

DOC:

Dissolved organic carbon

F:

Fluoride

H+ :

Hydrogen

HBEF:

Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

HNO3 :

Nitric acid

K+ :

Potassium

Mg2+ :

Magnesium

Na+ :

Sodium

NO −3 :

Nitrate

RCOO− :

Organic acidity

SiO2 :

Silicon dioxide

SO 2−4 :

Sulfate

%BS:

Percent base saturation

%C:

Percent carbon

%N:

Percent nitrogen

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Tom Suleski, James Anderson, Deborah Horan-Ross, Gretchen Wall, and Hannah Ingleston for assistance with field work and the staff at the US Geological Survey Laboratory in Troy, NY the for chemical analyses. Financial support for this research was provided by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the US Geological Survey. The Frost Valley YMCA owns the land this research was conducted on and Frost Valley foresters conducted the forest harvest; their support is greatly appreciated. The authors thank Tom Huntington and Jill Baron from the US Geological Survey and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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  1. Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, 425 Jordan Road, Troy, NY, 12180, USA

    Michael R. McHale, Douglas A. Burns, Gregory B. Lawrence & Peter S. Murdoch

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  1. Michael R. McHale
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  2. Douglas A. Burns
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Correspondence to Michael R. McHale.

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McHale, M.R., Burns, D.A., Lawrence, G.B. et al. Factors controlling soil water and stream water aluminum concentrations after a clearcut in a forested watershed with calcium-poor soils. Biogeochemistry 84, 311–331 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-007-9124-0

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