Abstract
As acid deposition declines, recovery from acidification is delayed by the fact that the soil processes that earlier buffered against acidification are now being reversed. Monitoring of within catchment processes is thus desirable. However, soil sampling is destructive and not suitable for long-term monitoring at a single site, whereas sampling of soil water with suction lysimeters may be more suitable. In this paper we evaluate 8–11 years of soil water chemistry from E- and B-horizons in three acid forest soil plots within monitored catchments. Five years of sampling also included the C-horizon. To our knowledge, this is the first long-term lysimeter study including the E-horizon showing recovery from acidification, and one of few studies including the B-horizon. Soil water concentrations of SO4 decreased significantly between –9.5 and –1.4 μeq L-1 yr-1, with much higher rates of change at two southern sites compared to a northern site, where levels and changes of deposition were lower. The average annual bulk deposition of S ranged between 3 kg S ha-1 at the northernmost site to 11 kg S ha-1 at the southernmost site. The SO4 decline in E-horizons was smaller than the decline in deposition, which indicated leaching of SO4 from the O-horizon. At the two southern sites, a weaker decline in SO4 in the B-horizon compared to the E-horizon indicated desorption of SO4. The negative trends in SO4 were to a large extent balanced by decreases in base cations but there were also tendencies of recovery from acidification in soil solution at the southern sites by increasing pH and ANC. However, these were contradicted by increasing Al concentrations. A high influence of marine salts in the early 1990s may have delayed the recovery. Decreasing trends of the Ca/(H+)2 ratio in the soil solution, most pronounced at one of the southern sites, suggested that the soils were becoming more acidic, although the soil solution tended to recover.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alewell, C., Manderscheid, B., Gerstberger, P. and Matzner, E.: 2000, ‘Effects of reduced atmospheric deposition on soil solution chemistry and elemental contents of spruce needles in NE Bavaria, Germany’, J. Plant Nutrit. Soil Sci. 163, 509-516.
Beier, C., Butts, M., Von Freiesleben, N. E., Høgh-Jensen, K. and Rasmussen, L.: 1989, ‘Monitoring of Soil Water Chemistry and Ion Fluxes in Forests’, in B. Nihlgård (ed.), Methods of Integrated Monitoring in the Nordic Countries, Environmental Report 1989, Vol. 11, Nordic Council of Ministers, Lund, pp. 63–137.
Cirmo, C. P. and McDonnell, J. J.: 1997, ‘Linking the hydrological and biogeochemical controls of nitrogen transport in near-stream zones of temperate-forested catchments: A review’, J. Hydrology 199, 88-120.
Clow, D. W. and Mast, M. A.: 1999, ‘Long-term trends in streamwater and precipitation chemistry at five headwater basins in the northeastern United States’, Water Resour. Res. 35, 541-554.
Ek, A., Grahn, O., Hultberg, H. and Renberg, I.: 1995, ‘Recovery from acidification in Lake Orvattnet, Sweden’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 85, 1795-1800.
Forsberg, C., Morling, G. and Wetzel, R. G.: 1985, ‘Indications of the capacity for rapid reversibility of lake acidification’, Ambio 14, 164-166.
Franzen, L. G.: 1990, ‘Transport, deposition and distribution of marine aerosols over southern Sweden during dry westerly storms’, Ambio 19, 180-188.
Fölster, J. and Wilander, A.: 2002, ‘Recovery from acidification in Swedish forest streams’, Environ. Pollut. 117, 379-389.
Giesler, R., Moldan, F., Lundstrom, U. and Hultberg, H.: 1996, ‘Reversing acidification in a forested catchment in southwestern Sweden: Effects on soil solution chemistry’, J. Environ. Qual. 25, 110-119.
Gustafsson, M. E. R. and Larsson, E. H.: 2000, ‘Spatial and temporal patterns of chloride deposition in Southern Sweden’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 124, 345-369.
Hallgren, L. E., Knulst, J. C., Lövblad, G., Malm, G., Sjöberg, K. and Westling, O.: 1997, Luftföroreningar i södra Sverige 1985-1995. Aneboda, Sweden, IVL.
Helsel, D. R. and Hirsch, R.M.: 1992, StatisticalMeasures inWater Research, Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam.
Hindar, A., Henriksen, A., Kaste, O. and Torseth, K.: 1995, ‘Extreme acidification in small catchments in southwestern Norway associated with a sea salt episode’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 85, 547-552.
Hirsch, R. and Slack, J. R.: 1984, ‘A non-parametric trend test for seasonal data with serialdependance’, Water Resour. Res. 20, 727-732.
Karltun, E.: 1995, ‘Sulphate Adsorption on Variable-charge Minerals in Podzolized Soils in Relation to Sulphur Deposition and Soil Acidity’, Doctoral Thesis, Department of Soil Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Uppsala.
Karltun, E.: 1998, ‘Baskatjoner och adiditet i svensk skogsmark - Tillstånd och förändringar’, Rapport 5, Jönköping, Skogsstyrelsen.
Kirchner, J. W. and Lydersen, E.: 1995, ‘Base cation depletion and potential long-term acidification of Norwegian catchments’, Environ. Sci. Technol. 29, 1953-1960.
Krám, P., Bishop, K. and Moldan, F.: 2001, ‘Modelling long-term streamwater chemistry in the Berg catchment, southwestern Sweden’, Nordic Hydrol. 32, 249-264.
LaZerte, B. D.: 1993, ‘The impact of drought and acidification on the chemical exports from a minerotrophic conifer swamp’, Biogeochemistry 18, 153-175.
Loftis, J. C., Taylor, C. H., Newell, A. D. and Chapman, P. L.: 1991, ‘Multivariate trend testing of lake water quality’, Water Resour. Bull. 27, 461-473.
Löfgren, S., Aastrup, M., Bringmark, L., Hultberg, H., Kindbom, K. and Kvarnäs, H.: 2001, ‘Sulphur balances and dynamics in three forested catchments in Sweden’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 130, 631-636.
Löfgren, S. and Kvarnäs, H.: 1995, ‘Ion mass balances for three small forested catchments in Sweden’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 85, 529-534.
Marschner, B., Gensior, A. and Fischer, U.: 1998, ‘Response of soil solution chemistry to recent declines in atmospheric deposition in two forest ecosystems in Berlin, Germany’, Geoderma 83, 83-101.
Matschonat, G. and Vogt, R.: 1998, ‘Significance of the total cation concentration in acid forest soils for the solution composition and the saturation of exchange sites’, Geoderma 84, 289-307.
Moldan, F.: 1999, ‘Reversal of Soil andWater Acidification in SWSweden, Simulating the Recovery Process’, Doctoral Thesis, Silvestria 117, Department of Forest Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Umeå.
Mylona, S.: 1996, ‘Sulphur dioxide emissions in Europe 1880-1991 and their effect on sulphur concentrations and depositions’, Tellus 48, 662-689.
Nissinen, A., Kareinen, T., Tanskanen, N. and Ilvesniemi, H.: 2000, ‘Apparent cation - Exchange equilibria and aluminium solubility in solutions obtained from two acidic forest soils by centrifuge drainage method and suction lysimeters’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 119, 23-43.
Novak, M., Kirchner, J. W., Groscheova, H., Havel, M., Cerny, J., Krejci, R. and Buzek, F.: 2000, ‘Sulfur isotope dynamics in two Central European watersheds affected by high atmospheric deposition of SOx ’, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64, 367-383.
Oliver, B. G.: 1983, ‘The contribution of humic substances to the acidity of colored natural waters’, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 47, 2031-2035.
Pylvänäinen, P. (ed.): 1993, ‘Manual for Integrated Monitoring’, UN ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, Environmental Data Centre, Lisalmi.
Rapp, L.: 1998, ‘Critical Loads for Surface Waters: Validation and Challenges’, Licenciate Thesis, Department of Forest Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå.
Reuss, J. O. and Johnson, D. W.: 1986, Acid Deposition and the Acidification of Soils and Water, Ecological Studies, Vol. 59, Springer-Verlag, New York.
Rodhe, A.: 1987, ‘The Origin of Streamwater Traced by Oxygen-18’, Doctoral Thesis, Department of Physical Geography, Uppsala University.
Ruoho-Airola, T., Syri, S. and Nordlund, G.: 1998, ‘Acid deposition trends at the Finnish Integrated Monitoring catchments in relation to emission reductions’, Boreal Environ. Res. 3, 205-219.
Skjelkvåle, B. L., Tørseth, K., Aas, W. and Andersen, T.: 2001, ‘Decrease in acid deposition - Recovery in Norwegian waters’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 130, 1433-1438.
Torssander, P. and Mörth, C. M.: 1998, ‘Sulfur Dynamics in the Roof Experiment at Lake Gårdsjön Deduced from Sulfur and Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Sulfate’, in H. Hultberg and R. Skeffington (eds), Experimental Reversal of Rain Effects: Gårdsjön Roof Project,' John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, pp. 185–206.
Vesely, J., Hruska, J., Norton, S. A. and Johnson, C. E.: 1998, ‘Trends in the chemistry of acidified Bohemian lakes from 1984 to 1995: I. Major solutes’, Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 108, 107-127.
Westling, O. and Lövblad, G.: 2000, ‘Deposition Trends in Sweden’, in P. Warfvinge and U. Bertills (eds), Recovery from Acidification in the Natural Environment, Report 5034, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Trelleborg, pp. 15-22.
Wilander, A.: 1988, ‘Organic substances in natural water. A comparison of results from different analytical methods’, Vatten 44, 217-224.
Wilander, A., Johnson, R. K., Goedkoop, W. and Lundin, L.: 1998, Riksinventering 1995, Rapport 4813, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Stockholm.
Wilander, A. and Lundin, A.: 2000, ‘Recovery of Surface Waters and Forest Soils in Sweden’, in P. Warfvinge and U. Bertills (eds), Recovery from Acidification in the Natural Environment, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Trelleborg, Sweden, pp. 53-66.
Zabowski, D. and Ugolini, F. C.: 1990, ‘Lysimeter and centrifuge soil solutions - Seasonal differences between methods’, Soil Sci. Society Amer. J. 54, 1130-1135.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fölster, J., Bringmark, L. & Lundin, L. Temporal and Spatial Variations in Soil Water Chemistry at Three Acid Forest Sites. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 146, 171–195 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023991910275
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023991910275