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Response of forest soil properties to urbanization gradients in three metropolitan areas

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Abstract

We investigated the effects of urban environments on the chemical properties of forest soils in the metropolitan areas of Baltimore, New York, and Budapest. We hypothesized that soils in forest patches in each city will exhibit changes in chemistry corresponding to urbanization gradients, but more strongly with various urban metrics than distance to the urban core. Moreover, differences in parent material and development patterns would differentially affect the soil chemical response in each metropolitan area. Results showed that soil chemical properties varied with measures of urban land use in all three cities, including distance to the urban core, which was an unexpected result. Moreover, the results showed that the spatial extent and amount of change was greater in New York than in Baltimore and Budapest for those elements that showed a relationship to the urbanization gradient (Pb, Cu, and to a lesser extent Ca). The spatial relationship of the soil chemical properties to distance varied from city to city. In New York, concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Ca decreased to approximately background concentrations at 75 km from the urban core. By contrast, concentrations of these elements decreased closer to the urban core in Baltimore and Budapest. Moreover, a threshold was reached at about 75% urban land use above which concentrations of Pb and Cu increased by more than twofold relative to concentrations below this threshold. Results of this study suggest that forest soils are responding to urbanization gradients in all three cities, though characteristics of each city (spatial pattern of development, parent material, and pollution sources) influenced the soil chemical response.

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Acknowledgments

We thank B. Hanlon for her comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Funding support was provided by the US Forest Service’s Northern Global Change Program and Research Work Unit (NE-4952), Syracuse, NY; Baltimore Ecosystem Study grant from the National Science Foundation (DEB 97-14853); and University of Maryland Baltimore County, Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (R-82818204).

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Author notes

  1. Jonathan Russell-Anelli

    Present address: Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, 624 Bradfield Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, University of Maryland Baltimore County, c/o Baltimore Ecosystem Study, 5200 Westland Blvd, Baltimore, MD, 21227, USA

    Richard V. Pouyat & Ian D. Yesilonis

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Katalin Szlavecz

  3. Systematic Zoology Research Group of HAS and Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, H-1088, Hungary

    Csaba Csuzdi

  4. Institute for Biology, Szent Istvan University, Budapest, H-1078, Hungary

    Elizabeth Hornung

  5. Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, H-1088, Hungary

    Zoltan Korsós

  6. Center for Urban and Environmental Research and Education, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21227, USA

    Jonathan Russell-Anelli

  7. SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Vincent Giorgio

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  1. Richard V. Pouyat
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Correspondence to Richard V. Pouyat.

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Pouyat, R.V., Yesilonis, I.D., Szlavecz, K. et al. Response of forest soil properties to urbanization gradients in three metropolitan areas. Landscape Ecol 23, 1187–1203 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9288-6

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