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A simulation model of sulfur transformations in forested Spodosols

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Abstract

Transformations of organic and inorganic S in two forested Spodosols from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire and the Huntington Forest in the Adirondack Mts. of New York were investigated using laboratory35SO4 2- incorporation experiments. Sulfur transformations were modeled as a set of three reversible, first-order reactions in which soluble SO 2-4 is converted to adsorbed SO 2-4 , ester sulfate and carbon-bonded S. Reaction rate contants for35SO 2-4 adsorption/desorption and immobilization reactions involving ester sulfate and carbon-bonded S were determined using a fifth order Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg integration routine combined with least squares fitting. Model simulations were able to account for over 93% of the variation in the distribution of35S in S fractions. A hypothetical application of immobilization rate constants to field situations at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest suggests that large quantities of S cycle through organic forms in Northern Hardwood Forest Ecosystems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Civil Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    R. D. Fuller (Research Associate and Professor) & C. T. Driscoll (Research Associate and Professor)

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

    S. C. Schindler (Research Assistant and Professor) & M. J. Mitchell (Research Assistant and Professor)

Authors
  1. R. D. Fuller
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  2. C. T. Driscoll
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  3. S. C. Schindler
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  4. M. J. Mitchell
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Fuller, R.D., Driscoll, C.T., Schindler, S.C. et al. A simulation model of sulfur transformations in forested Spodosols. Biogeochemistry 2, 313–328 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02180323

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