Source: UNIVERSITY OF MAINE submitted to NRP
FOREST SOILS OF MAINE--RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL ALTERATIONS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
MCINTIRE-STENNIS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0200326
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2004
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2009
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
(N/A)
ORONO,ME 04469
Performing Department
PLANT, SOIL, & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Non Technical Summary
Long-term, chronic deposition of atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur from air pollution, combined with a changing climate, are changing forest ecosystems. This research provides information on how forested ecosystems function in these changing pollution and climatic regimes. This will help us predict future conditions in forests, develop policy to limit negative effects on forests and surface waters, and development management strategies to adapt.
Animal Health Component
30%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
30%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
10203201070100%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0320 - Watersheds;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;
Goals / Objectives
This project focuses on biogeochemical cycling research in forested ecosystems of New England. The primary emphasis within the research program is soil processes, but as they related to whole ecosystem function. As such, a wide range of research is undertaken to achieve project goals. In addition, the project is directed towards understanding the effects of environmental perturbations on biogeochemical cycling, with issues of acidification, nitrogen saturation, base cation depletion, climate change, and residuals land application providing the policy and social context for this research. The specific objectives of this research are to: (1) Quantify and characterize nutrient, metal, and hydrologic cycling dynamics in selected forest ecosystems of Maine. (2) Evaluate the influence of perturbations to the ecosystem due to climatic warming, atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur, and residuals utilization. These objectives will be addressed by the achieving the goals outlined below. OBJECTIVE I Quantify and characterize nutrient, metal, and hydrologic cycling dynamics in selected forest ecosystems of Maine. Goal A Continue to improve our understanding of biogeochemical cycling at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM), as well as satellite research sites such as the watersheds in Acadia National Park during the next five year period. Goal B Build on the comprehensive studies at BBWM by linking this project to other intensive study sites beyond Maine to allow a regionalization of selected study components that will initially include the hardwood and pine forests of the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, and the high elevation spruce-fir of Mt. Ascutney, Vermont. OBJECTIVE II Evaluate the influence of perturbations to the ecosystem due to climatic warming, atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur, and residuals utilization. Goal A Determine the fate of atmospherically derived nitrogen and sulfur in forested ecosystems, with emphasis on soil processes controlling both ecosystem response and recovery. Goal B Evaluate the evolution of base cation depletion, nitrogen saturation, and metal mobilization (e.g. Al and Fe) on a decadal timescale at the BBWM. Goal C Define the role of fine root biomass and turnover in N cycling for northern New England forest soils in a range of forest types and conditions. Goal D Determine the environmental and ecological consequences of various loading rates for lime stabilized sludge in forests in Maine.
Project Methods
The underlying philosophy of this MAFES project is that a quantitative, process-oriented understanding of biogeochemical cycling in Maine forested ecosystems is the foundation for management and policy issues related to these forest resources. Therefore, each of the major study sites and initiatives above includes a program of measurements to characterize major elemental pools and fluxes within these ecosystems. This includes programs of measurement of soils, vegetation, precipitation, throughfall, stream export, soil respiration, soil temperature, soil moisture, and fine root dynamics. Not all measurements are conducted continuously at all sites. Hydrologic and hydrochemical input-output measurements are continuous at BBWM and Acadia and form the basis for these intensive, whole-watershed studies. During the next five year project period we will focus on the study of the evolution of soil acidification, nitrogen saturation, base cation depletion, and most recently the complex relationship between metals (i.e. iron and aluminum) and phosphorus through various phases of acidification. The BBWM project is a long-term whole-watershed experimental acidification study that provides the framework for this research. Studies will be done that include soil analyses, N dynamics, root growth and chemistry, tree growth and foliar chemistry, and microbial studies within the framework of whole-watershed input-output budgets measured by v-notch weirs and precipitation collectors. Some of this research includes participation in multi-site studies where data are shared and integrated. In the case of the study on roots, we will be doing fine root growth and chemistry measurements at BBWM as well as nitrogen treated sites at the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts as well as Mt. Ascutney in Vermont. A major focus will include studies of soil metal and phosphorus processes including extensive soils studies using fractionation techniques. This research will be most active at the BBWM site, but also includes other research sites in Maine, Virginia, and Europe. The research conducted in this project on residuals applications to forest soils is largely carried out by plot studies at sites where specific materials have been applied. The goal is to evaluate changes in space and time in the chemistry of soils and soil solutions, and ultimately the impact on freshwater and vegetation.

Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Outputs from the project period include a range of professional activities that conveyed the findings of the research across four broad areas of focus from the project. (1) The first area of investigation focused on continuing the long history of research on the land application of residuals and biosolids in forests. During this most recent project period we investigated the potential land application of a lime-stabilized biosolid product in a relatively young deciduous forest stand. The research was conducted on private land in close collaboration with the company interested in pursuing this line of research. We also met with state regulators and others to discuss the focus of this research, and information gained along the way was continuously available to both practitioners and regulators. (2) The second area of research emphasis was on the biogeochemistry of forested watersheds as they are influenced by atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur, and as they are influenced by climate. The majority of this research was focused on gauged, forested watersheds in both Acadia National Park and on private land at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. The Bear Brook site has been in operation for 20 years extending well beyond the most recent project period reported here. There were numerous tours of interested parties and visiting scientists conducted during the project period, and significant leveraging of this project for additional extramural funding, largely through the National Science Foundation. Therefore, dissemination of the findings of this phase of the project also benefits from the outlets provided through the National Science Foundation venues. (3) The third area of activity within the project has been in utilizing some of the insights from the research on watershed biogeochemistry to guide local and regional activities on climate change adaptation and mitigation, including the development of a data base on forest soil carbon in Maine, involvement in offering a major climate change conference in the fall of 2008, and developing a climate change effects assessment for the Governor's office that led to an ongoing stakeholder adaptation process in Maine. (4) The fourth area of emphasis builds on research in the other areas and involves evaluating the effects of biomass harvesting on forest nutrient supplies. The growth of biomass energy comes with increasing pressure on biomass removal from forests. This research has recently begun to use forest growth and nutrient uptake models to determine the effects of various management regimes on nutrient removal, and compare those insights to the knowledge base developed through this project and in the literature dealing with soil nutrient supplies. All components of this project have actively involved graduate and undergraduate students in research, with regular participation in national and international meetings by both the principal investigator as well as the students. Web sites listed in the annual reports offer information on program activities, and real-time stream gauging at the Bear Brook site in collaboration with the US Geological Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Project collaborators have been numerous throughout the project period. Key collaborations include Drs. Lindsey Rustad of the USDA Forest Service in Durham, New Hampshire who worked with us on Bear Brook forest ecology. Dr. Mary Beth Adams from the USDA Forest Service in West Virginia who worked with us on a watershed intercomparison study. The US Geological Survey collaborates with us in gauging streams at Bear Brook and has done so in the Acadia watersheds in the past. We have collaborations with colleagues internationally dealing with watershed biogeochemistry that include Dr. Marie-Claire Pierret-Neboit from the University of Strasbourg in France, who is also with us in Maine on a one year fellowship this year. Last year we were joined by Dr. Tomas Navratil of the Czech Geological Survey, Czech Republic who also oversees a collaboration watershed in his home country. Data from the Bear Brook watershed has been utilized in numerous synthesis studies comparing key research sites in North America and Europe. Graduate students involved in the project during the study period have included Farrah Fatemi (PhD), Michael SanClements (MS), Chandra McGee (MS), Jessica Sherman (MS), Andrea Burke (MS), Erin Redding (MS), Sarah Schneider (MS), Michael Banaitis (MS), Cullen Wilson (MS), and Jay Raymond (MS). Undergraduate students working in both laboratory and field research interactively with this project and others in our laboratory during the past five years numbered >25. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences during the project period included students (information on research provided during class activities and in research), fellow scientists (provided information through peer-reviewed publications and public presentations from popular interest talks to scientific meetings), and participation in various outreach activities through informal discussions, meetings, and organized committee work. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: None.

Impacts
Outcomes and impacts from this project include a series of presentations at scientific meetings and peer reviewed scientific publications detailing the results of the research program. In the research on biosolids we have identified higher rates of loading than are allowed by current regulations on agricultural lands that might be suitable for forest land applications. Because of the high buffering capacity of northern forest soils, and the involvement of the entire soil system in biosolids amendment response, there appears to be a greater buffering capacity in forests. No significant metal accumulations were evident in the studies conducted as well. Therefore, if future opportunities exist to implement the practice of land application of lime stabilized biosolids, this research will provide foundational studies upon which new regulations and management recommendations would be developed. Our intensive whole-watershed biogeochemical research has provided findings that have been influential in the development of state, regional and federal policy. The Bear Brook project was initiated in the 1980s to support the 1990 Clean Air Act Reauthorization, and it did provide data for that process. Since then the project has continued to provide information on the mechanisms and trajectory of change for forest and surface water acidification, recovery, and related phenomenon such as soil base cation depletion, ecosystem nitrogen saturation, and recovery from acidification, and most recently on the response of ecosystems to a changing climate. The Bear Brook site, because of the intensity of the research, also is able to provide insights for new initiatives, such as providing data on soil carbon pools and contrasts among forest types that has been helpful to those concerned with managing greenhouse gas emissions in Maine and in developing regional cap and trade plans such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the northeastern US. The Bear Brook project was a key site included in a US EPA synthesis study of recovery in response to sulfur emissions reductions. The whole-ecosystem research in this project has also branched out into how this information can be used in considering adaptation strategies to climate change, and the principal investigator has been involved in carrying out a climate change assessment (Maine's Climate Future) in 2008 through 2009. This assessment document was provided to the Maine Governor, who then initiated a stakeholder adaptation process in response to this assessment which is ongoing and continues to involve the principal investigator of this project. Finally, the recent modeling and assessment research on the effects of biomass harvesting on nutrient availability in forests is also foundational research that will contribute to develop specific guidelines for biomass harvesting practices in Maine.

Publications

  • Jacobson, G.L., I.J. Fernandez, P.A. Mayewski, and C.V. Schmitt (editors). 2009. Maine's Climate Future: An Initial Assessment. Orono, ME: University of Maine. 72 pp.
  • Jacobson, G.L., I.J. Fernandez, P.A. Mayewski, and C.V. Schmitt. 2009. Maine's Climate Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Maine Policy Review Vol. 17, No. 2. pp. 16-23
  • Dail, David Bryan, David Y. Hollinger, Eric A. Davidson, Ivan J. Fernandez, Herman C. Sievering, Neal A. Scott, and Elizabeth Gaige. 2009. Distribution of nitrogen-15 tracers applied to the canopy of a mature spruce-hemlock stand, Howland, Maine, USA. Oecologia 160:589-599.
  • Bethers, Suzanne, Michael E. Day, G. Bruce Wiersma, Ivan J. Fernandez and J. Alexander Elvir. 2009. Effects of chronically elevated nitrogen and sulfur deposition on sugar maple saplings: nutrition, growth and physiology. For. Ecol. Manag. (in press).
  • Kenlan, Peter, G.B. Wiersma, A.S. White, and I.J. Fernandez. 2009. Composition and biomass of forest floor vegetation in experimentally acidified paired watersheds at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 202. University of Maine, Orono, Maine. 17 pp.
  • SanClements, Michael D., Ivan J. Fernandez, and Stephen A. Norton. 2009. Mechanisms defining spatial patterns in P fractions in a forest lake watershed at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. For. Ecol. Manag. 258:2318-2325.
  • Banaitis, Michael R., Ivan J. Fernandez, Cullen Wilson, Stephen A. Norton, and D. Bryan Dail. 2009. Biogeochemical response of a northern forest ecosystem to biosolids amendments. J. Environ. Qual. 38:792-803.
  • Nelson, S.J., I.J. Fernandez, and J.S. Kahl. 2009. Mercury concentration and deposition I snow in eastern temperate North America. Hydrolog. Proc. (in review).
  • Fernandez, Ivan J. 2008. Carbon and nutrients in Maine forest soils. Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 200. University of Maine, Orono, Maine. 24 pp.


Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Results from this research influence are disseminated through informal communications by telephone and e-mail with stakeholders and regulators dealing with issues of air pollution and climate change effects on forests, carbon in forests, and biosolids land application, particularly as it relates to forested ecosystems. Numerous papers have been presented at conferences as noted here. Fatemi, Farrah R., Ivan J. Fernandez, Kevin S. Simon, D. Bryan Dail, and Lindsey E. Rustad. 2008. Response of forest soil CNP dynamics to N enrichment at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine: Clues from extracellular enzyme activities. (Paper 596-4). Presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings. Houston, Texas. October 5-9. [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison, WI. SanClements, Michael D., Ivan J. Fernandez, Stephen A. Norton, Aria Amirbahman and Lindsey E. Rustad. 2008. Metal controls on forest floor and B horizon extractable phosphorus in forested watersheds. (Paper 596-2). Presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings. Houston, Texas. October 5-9. [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison, WI. Fernandez, Ivan J., Stephen A. Norton, Lindsey E. Rustad, G. Bruce Wiersma, and Kevin S. Simon. 2008. New challenges for the third decade of whole-ecosystem experimental manipulations at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM). (Paper 699-20). Presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings. Houston, Texas. October 5-9. [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison, WI. Fernandez, I.J. 2008. Carbon and nutrients in Maine forest soils. Abstract and presentation at the 11th North American Forest Soil Conference. Blacksburg, VA. p. 106. Fatemi, F.R., I.J. Fernandez, L.E. Rustad, K.S. Simon and S.A. Norton. 2008. The effects of N enrichment on forest CNP stoichiometry at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Abstract and presentaiton at the 11th North American Forest Soil Conference. Blacksburg, VA. p. 66. SanClements, M.D., I.J. Fernandez, and S.A. Norton. 2008. Evolution of phosphorus fractions from an upland watershed to lake sediments. Abstract and presentation at the 11th North American Forest Soil Conference. Blacksburg, VA. p. 100. Nelson, S.J., I.J. Fernandez, J.S. Kahl. 2008. Mercury concentration and deposition in snow in eastern temperate North America. Eastern Snow Conference, Fairlee, VT, May 28-30, 2008. In addition, there are two web sites associated with the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine study that provides information about the research (http://www.umaine.edu/DrSoils/bbwm/bbwm.html) as well as real-time stream flow at East Bear (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/me/nwis/uv/site_no=01022294&PARAmeter_cd= 00065,00060) and West Bear (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/me/nwis/uv/site_no=01022295&PARAmeter_cd= 00065,00060). The project PI is regularly involved in activities related to forest ecosystem services and climate change, and in the past year co-chaired a major conference on climate change in Maine (CC21) and is co-chairing a Maine Climate Change Assessment at the request of the Governor. Numerous graduate and undergraduate students are involved in this program with 6 undergraduate students and 5 graduate students directly involved in carrying out this research. PARTICIPANTS: PI Ivan J. Fernandez Responsible for all supervision, mentoring, product deliverables and extramural funding for this project. Graduate Student SanClements, Michael Fatemi, Farrah Bethers, Suzanne Huntress, David Johnson, Dustin Undergraduate Student Harrington, Robert Drouin, Anthony Parent, Mary Beth Finch, Benjamin Montgomery, Alison Devine, Susan Organizational Partners USDA Forest Service - Northeastern Forest Experiment Station There are ongoing interactions with members for the USDA Forest Service regarding the BBWM project. Of particular note is Dr. Lindsey Rustad, a USDA Forest Service scientist, who has been part of the BBWM scientific team since the beginning of the project and that collaboration continues to today. US Geological Survey The US Geological Survey has been a partner in the development and monitoring of hydrology in both East and West Bear streams since the beginning of the project. This activity is cost-shared between the program and the USGS with their personnel actively responsible for instrumentation at the site. Sustainable Forest Technologies LLC Sustainable Forest Technologies LLC manages forest lands owned by GMO, Inc. which includes the land for the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Staff from SFT help in supporting administrative logistics of the long-term lease, logistics of site maintenance including cost-sharing of road improvements, and provide an opportunity to inform corporate forest land managers about the findings of the BBWM project. University Louis Pasteur We have been involved with a project funded by other NSF support collaborating with scientists at the University Louis Pasteur (Bertrand Fritz, Marie-Claire Pierret-Neboit, Gaetana Quaranta-Millet)and conducting research at their Strengbach watershed. There has been an exchange of scientists and sampling in both directions. This exchange continues in the development of data dependent on measurements being made in this project. Czech Academy of Sciences We have had an ongoing exchange of scietists and sampling between BBWM and Czech colleagues. Dr. Tomas Navratil has hosted our visits to the Czech Republic and facilitated sampling at their Lesni potok watershed supported by other NSF funding. Dr. Navratil is currently on a fellowship at the University of Maine with us to study geochemical processes at the BBWM. Nacional de Ciencias Forestales Honduras Dr. Alex Elvir is a faculty member at Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Forestales in Honduras in forestry but has had an ongoing scientific collaboration with us on the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine project. Over the past year he once again spent his summer in Maine collaborating on vegetation research that focuses on the sugar maple decline hypotheses we are testing. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences are land managers and environmental regulators for the results of this project. Information is exchanged by participation in meetings and outreach through individual contacts. A good example of this work over the past year is the PIs leadership role with others in developing a climate assessment for Maine that is directly influencing the development of programs by state environmental regulators to address adaptation and opportunity aspects of the climate change challenge for Maine and beyond. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Over the past year this project has had direct impacts on three areas of information needs regarding environmental quality and the sustainability of forest resources. 1 In our long-term watershed biogeochemistry research we have studied the interactive effects of chronic acid deposition and climate change on forest health. Our studies demonstrate that the Clean Air Act reauthorization of 1990 resulted in improvements in sulfur deposition that are evident in watersheds, but that recovery is not as great as we would have expected. For complete recovery, further reductions in sulfur emissions are required. We also show that there is little change in nitrogen deposition, that nitrogen deposition can contribute to nutrient imbalances in forest soils and nitrogen enrichment is interactive with climate warming and moisture stress. This information helps us to understand the way in which forests are already beginning to respond to climate change, and what symptoms of response we should be monitoring in order to adapt to a changing climate. The findings from our watershed studies have also been part of a number of international synthesis studies that have significant effects on the development of international regulations on air pollution issues ranging from acid deposition to greenhouse gas emissions. Our watershed research also provides unique, detailed data on nutrient cycling in forests and is being utilized in assessments of forest soil carbon sequestration potential, and the sustainability of forests under increased utilization due to emerging bioproduct opportunities. 2 This project has had a long history of research on biosolids and effluent land application on forests and forest soil response. In the reporting period we have completed a study of various rates of lime stabilized biosolids application and determined the relatively buffered nature of forest soils to significantly higher loading rates than currently regulated in the state. Depending on the market incentives for the utilization of this material, these findings would be important to develop regulations governing land application rates for forests and monitoring programs that would ensure environmental quality. 3 A third area of accomplishment during the most recent project period is the completion of the field sampling and analysis phase of a study on the effects of forest soil properties on Northern white cedar growth and health. While not yet complete, these findings are an important piece of the puzzle that foresters are looking for to assure future supplies of this raw material given the dwindling growing stock on the landscape.

Publications

  • Evans, Chris D., Christine L. Goodale, Simon J.M. Caporn, Nancy B. Dise, Bridget A. Emmett, Ivan J. Fernandez, Chris D. Field, Stuart E.G. Findlay, Gary M. Lovett, Henning Meesenburg, Filip Moldan, and Lucy J. Sheppard. 2009. Does elevated nitrogen deposition or ecosystem recovery from acidification drive increased dissolved organic carbon loss from upland soil A review of evidence from field nitrogen addition experiments. Biogeochem. (in press).
  • Navratil, Tom, Jan Rohovec, Aria Amirbahman, Stephen A. Norton, and Ivan J. Fernandez. 2009. Amorphous aluminum hydroxide control on sulfate and phosphate in sediment-solution systems. Water Air Soil Pollut (in press).
  • Campbell, John L., Lindsey E. Rustad, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Sheila F. Christopher, Charles T. Driscoll, Ivan J. Fernandez, Peter M. Groffman, Daniel Houle, Jana Kiekbusch, Alison H. Magill, Myron H. Mitchell, and Scott V. Ollinger. 2008. Consequences of climate change for biogeochemical cycling in forests of northeastern North America. Can J For Res (in press).
  • Dale, Virginia H., Gregory R. Biddinger, Michael C. Newman, James T. Oris, Glenn W. Suter, Timothy Thompson, Thomas M. Armitage, Judith L. Meyer, Richelle M. Allen-King, G. Allen Burton, Peter M. Chapman, Loveday L. Conquest, Ivan J. Fernandez, Wayne G. Landis, Lawrence L. Master, William J. Mitsch, Thomas C. Mueller, Charles F. Rabeni, Amanda D. Rodewald, James G. Sanders, and Ivor L. van Heerden. 2008. Enhancing the ecological risk assessment process. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 4:306-313.
  • Hunt, James F., Tsutomu Ohno, and Ivan J. Fernandez. 2008. Influence of foliar phosphorus and nitrogen content on chemical properties of water extractable organic matter derived from fresh and decomposed sugar maple leaves. Soil Biol. Biochem. 40:1931-1939.
  • Nelson, Sarah J., Kenneth B. Johnson, Kathleen C. Weathers, Cynthia S. Loftin, Ivan J. Fernandez, Jeffrey S. Kahl, and David P. Krabbenhoft. 2008. A comparison of winter mercury accumulation at forested and no-canopy sites measured with different snow sampling techniques. Applied Geochemistry 23:384-398.
  • McNeil, Brenden, Jane Read, Tim Sullivan, Ivan Fernandez, and Charles Driscoll. 2008. The spatial pattern of nitrogen cycling in the Adirondack Park, New York. Ecol. Applic. 18:438-452.
  • Catherine H. Rosfjord, Katherine E. Webster, Jeffrey S. Kahl, Stephen A. Norton, Ivan J. Fernandez, and Alan T. Herlihy. 2007. Anthropogenically driven changes in chloride complicate interpretation of base cation trends in lakes recovering from acidic deposition. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41 (22), 7688 -7693.
  • Fernandez, Ivan J., Joseph E. Karem, Stephen A. Norton, and Lindsey E. Rustad. 2007. Temperature, soil moisture, and streamflow at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM). Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 196. University of Maine, Orono, Maine. 26 pp.


Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Research activities in this project have led to the continued development of both long-term intensive project data sets such as from the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, as well as single project data sets such as the research on biosolids applications to forest soils. These data are continuously used in various assessments related to the specific project, in the development of journal articles, as reference for policy decisions and for project reporting to sponsors. Events attended by the PI and graduate students included the Gordon conferences in the summer of 2007 and the Soil Science Society of America national convention in the fall. The data developed by this project are being used as inputs to ecosystem models with examples being the MAGIC and SAFE models. In addition, all of the soils data developed by this project are being utilized in assessments of forest soil carbon. Dissemination is by (a) presentations at scientific conferences, (b) interactions with scientific colleagues through informal communications by phone, e-mail and at meetings, (c) scientific exchanges such as our current visiting scientist from the Czech Republic (Dr. Tomas Navratil) on a fellowship at our institution, and (d) regular informal interactions and committee work with policy makers. PARTICIPANTS: Numerous investigators worked on this project and its various subcomponents. These include University of Maine scientists Ivan Fernandez, Stephen Norton, Aria Amirbahman, Kevin Simon, Bruce Wiersma, Sarah Nelson, John Cangelosi, Cheryl Spencer, Joseph Karem, Dennis Anderson, and Michael Day. Scientists from other institutions include Lindsey Rustad from the US Forest Service, Alex Elvir from the University of Honduras (Honduras), Tomas Navratil from the Czech Geological Survey (Czech Republic), Marie-Claire Pierret-Neboit from the University Louis Pastuer (France), staff from the US Geological Survey in Maine, J. Stephen Kahl from Plymouth State University, Myron Mitchell from Syracuse University and other minor exchanges in the past 12 months. Undergraduate student workers included Mary Beth Parent, Anthony Drouin, Alison Montgomery and Benjamin Lynch. All of the sites for research within this project provide opportunities ongoing for graduate student and undergraduate student research projects. The long-term Bear Brook Watershed in Maine project in particular serves in an ongoing manner as a site for long-term data often used by various synthesis and integration activities. None were brought to conclusion in the last 12 months. TARGET AUDIENCES: Scientists and students are afforded experiential learning and research opportunities through the long-term ecosystem studies conducted under this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No major changes.

Impacts
A change in knowledge over the past year was largely a result of (a) training of graduate students in forest soil and soil solution sampling and analysis, (b) specific knowledge from results of our research on soil phosphorus fractions and soil solution chemistry, and (c) the beginnings of our knowledge in the development of techniques to measure forest soil enzyme activities. A change in actions over the past year would be mostly the result of the beginning of the development of new methods for both (a) soil solution event-based sampling, and (b) soil enzyme analyses. Soil solution event-based sampling techniques were developed and implemented but weather conditions prohibited a completion of planned research in 2007 which will be conducted in 2008. New techniques are being developed to evaluate soil enzyme activities to better understand carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling and methods development will continue in 2008 for deployment. No change in condition occurred in the last 12 months as a result of research in this project. This project has, however, influenced regulations and management in the past as a result of ongoing research in the areas of (a) acid deposition, (b) forest management, and (c) residuals applications on forest soils. Ongoing activities will also influence forest management and policy for the purposes of carbon sequestration and measurement.

Publications

  • Nelson, Sarah J., Kenneth B. Johnson, Kathleen C. Weathers, Cynthia S. Loftin, Ivan J. Fernandez, Jeffrey S. Kahl, and David P. Krabbenhoft. 2007. A comparison of winter mercury accumulation at forested and no-canopy sites measured with different snow sampling techniques. Applied Geochemistry (in press).
  • Dale, Virginia H., Gregory R. Biddinger, Michael C. Newman, James T. Oris, Glenn W. Suter, Timothy Thompson, Thomas M. Armitage, Judith L. Meyer, Richelle M. Allen-King, G. Allen Burton, Peter M. Chapman, Loveday L. Conquest, Ivan J. Fernandez, Wayne G. Landis, Lawrence L. Master, William J. Mitsch, Thomas C. Mueller, Charles F. Rabeni, Amanda D. Rodewald, James G. Sanders, and Ivor L. van Heerden. 2007. Enhancing the ecological risk assessment process. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (in press).
  • McNeil, Brenden, Jane Read, Tim Sullivan, Ivan Fernandez, and Charles Driscoll. 2007. The spatial pattern of nitrogen cycling in the Adirondack Park, New York. Ecol. Applic. (in press).
  • Ohno, Tsutomu, Ivan J. Fernandez, Syuntaro Hiradate, and Jessica F. Sherman. 2007. Effects of soil acidification and forest type on water soluble soil organic matter properties. Geoderma 140:176-187.
  • Gaige, E., D. B. Dail, D.Y. Hollinger, E.A. Davidson, I.J. Fernandez, H. Sievering, A. White, and W. Halteman. 2007. Changes in canopy processes following whole-forest canopy nitrogen fertilization of a mature spruce-hemlock forest. Ecosystems DOI: 10.1007/s10021-007-9081-4.
  • Kahl J. S., S. J. Nelson, I. Fernandez, T. Haines, S. Norton, G. B. Wiersma, G. Jacobson Jr., A. Amirbahman, K. Johnson, M. Schauffler, L. Rustad, K. Tonnessen, R. Lent, M. Bank, J. Elvir, J. Eckhoff, H. Caron, P. Ruck, J. Parker, J. Campbell, D. Manski, R. Breen, K. Sheehan and A. Grygo. 2007. Watershed nitrogen and mercury geochemical fluxes integrate landscape factors in long-term research watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Environ. Monitor. Assess. DOI 10.1007/s10661-006-9328-0. (on-line release, print version spring 2007).
  • McGee, Chandra J., Ivan J. Fernandez, Stephen A. Norton, and Constance S. Stubbs. 2007. Cd, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations in forest vegetation and soils in Maine. Water Air Soil Pollut. 180:141-153.
  • Nelson, S. J., K. B. Johnson, J. S. Kahl, T. A. Haines, and I. J. Fernandez. 2006. Mass balances of mercury and nitrogen in burned and unburned forested watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Environ. Monitor. Assess. (10.1007/s10661-006-9332-4). (on-line release, print version spring 2007).
  • Fatemi, Farrah, Ivan J. Fernandez, Johanna Szillery, Stephen Norton and Lindsey E. Rustad. 2007. Insights from soil solutions on long-term acidification at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. (Paper 313-1). Presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings. New Orleans, Louisiana. November 4-8. [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison, WI.
  • SanClements, Michael, Ivan Fernandez, Mary Beth Adams, Stephen Norton and Lindsey Rustad. 2007. Effects of long term experimental acidification on forest soil phosphorus. (Paper 347-1). Presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings. New Orleans, Louisiana. November 4-8. [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison, WI.
  • Rustad, Lindsey, Ivan Fernandez, Stephen G. McNulty and Alison Magill. 2007. Temporal and spatial response of fine root growth and turnover to experimentally elevated nitrogen deposition at three long-term study sites in the northeastern United States. (Paper 312-2). Presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings. New Orleans, Louisiana. November 4-8. [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madison, WI.
  • SanClements, M.D., I.J. Fernandez, S.A. Norton, M.B. Adams, and L.E. Rustad. 2007. Soil phosphorus fractions from six acidic forested watersheds in the U.S. and Europe. Gordon Conference on Catchment Science: Interactions of Hydrology, Biology and Chemistry. Colby-Sawyer College, New London, New Hampshire. July 8-13.
  • Norton, S. A., J. Kopacek, I. J. Fernandez, P. Porcal, A. Amirbahman, T. Wilson, B. Lake, M. SanClements, D. Huntress. 2007. Al-Fe-DOC-P Coupling in Forested Ecosystems. Gordon Conference on Catchment Science: Interactions of Hydrology, Biology and Chemistry. Colby-Sawyer College, New London, New Hampshire. July 8-13.
  • Sullivan, T., C. Driscoll, B. Cosby, J. Zhai, I. Fernandez, A. Herlihy, K. Snyder, R. Stemberger, T. McDonnell, D. Moore, J. Sutherland, N. Nowicki, C. Boylen, and S. Nierzwicki-Bauer. 2007. Representativeness of Adirondack Long Term Monitoring Lakes and Recovery from Acidification. Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Protection in New York: Linking Science and Policy. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Albany, New York. November 15-16, 2007.
  • Kenefic, Laura, Andy Reinmann, Ivan Fernandez, and Walter Shortle. 2006. Effect of Harvest Intensity on Soil Productivity and Red Spruce Growth Response. Invited presentation at the National Workshop on Forest Productivity and Technology: Cooperative Research to Support a Sustainable and Competitive Future. Sponsored by USDA Forest Service in partnership with Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance, AF&PA, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, US Dept. of Energy Nov. 8-9 2006, Washington, DC.


Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06

Outputs
This project examines various aspects of the effects of environmental purturbations on forested ecosystem biogeochemistry. The emphasis of this research is on the role of soils in these processes, and in the past year issues of watershed acidification, metals in the environment, and biosolids land application. Watershed studies continue to focus on the long-term, whole-watershed N and S experiment at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Most recently emphasis has been on the effects of long-term acidification on Al and Fe mobilization, and subsequent consequences for P dynamics. This is supported by several National Science Foundation grants. This work has allowed us to extend our hypothesis testing to a suite of sites include Bear Brook, two other watersheds in Maine, one in West Virginia, one in France and one in the Czech Republic. The past year has seen a continue exchange of scientists and students among sites with the initial results from this program appearing in student theses, talks and publications. Another watershed study focusing on N and S deposition along with Hg and other metals is at Acadia National Park. The two watersheds are located in a burned and an unburned area of the part with different pools and processes of biogeochemical cycling as a result of the 1947 fire. This past year we completed a project looking at the importance of the flux of Hg in litterfall, which turns out to be potentially equal in magnitude to the atmospheric Hg inputs from precipitation. We also completed a project in the past year looking at the exposure of moose to Cd in their browse by studying Cd and other metals in tree foliage, lake vegetation and soils in areas where moose browse. This study grew from concerns by Native Americans in Maine for Cd accumulation in moose livers, a source of human food for these cultures, and an interest in determining where in the environment these metals come from. The study documented differences among forest species, with species such as aspen and birch having higher concentrations than others in the study. This project has long been involved with studying the effects of ash, effluent, and other biosolid applications to forest soils. In the past several years we have been studying the effects of land application of a commercial lime stabilized biosolid on young hardwood stands at experimental rates in excess of current regulating loading rates for agricultural soils. This study is documenting both the risks and opportunities that might result from these practices in forests, and includes repeated measurements of soil chemistry, foliar chemistry, and the use of ion exchange resins. Two students are completing their thesis research this year and we expect to be reporting on their findings over the first half of the next fiscal year of the project.

Impacts
Research conducted under this project is valuable for management and policy concerns across a wide range of environmental issues. Specific topics that have been, and will continue to be, influenced by this research include acid deposition, nitrogen saturation, climate change, heavy metals in the environment including mercury and cadmium, and the regulation of residuals (e.g., sludge, ash, composts, effluents and manufactured soil products) land application in forests.

Publications

  • Szillery, Johanna E., Ivan J. Fernandez, Stephen A. Norton, Lindsey E. Rustad, and Alan S. White. 2006. Using ion-exchange resins to study soil response to experimental watershed acidification. Environ. Monitor. Assess. 116: 383-398.
  • Sheehan, Katherine D., Ivan J. Fernandez, J. Stephen Kahl, and Aria Amirbahman. 2006. Litterfall mercury in two forested watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Water Air Soil Pollut. 170:249-265.
  • Wallenstein, Matthew D., Steven McNulty, Ivan J. Fernandez, Johnny Boggs, and William H. Schlesinger. 2005. Nitrogen fertilization decreases forest soil fungal and bacterial biomass in three long-term experiments. For. Ecol. Manag. 222:459-468.
  • McGee, Chandra J., Ivan J. Fernandez, Stephen A. Norton, and Constance S. Stubbs. 2006. Cd, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations in forest vegetation and soils in Maine. Water Air Soil Pollut. (in press).
  • McGee, Chandra J., Ivan J. Fernandez, Stephen A. Norton and Constance S. Stubbs. 2006. Element Concentrations in Maine Forest Vegetation and Soils. Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 159. University of Maine, Orono, Maine. 25 pp.
  • Norton, S. A., Fernandez, I.J. Amirbahman, A., Coolidge, K., and Navratil, T., 2006. Aluminum, Phosphorus, and Oligotrophy - Assembling the pieces of the puzzle: Proc. Soc. Intern. Limnol. (in press).
  • Sherman, Jessica, Ivan J. Fernandez, Stephen A. Norton, Tsutomu Ohno, and Lindsey E. Rustad. 2006. Soil aluminum, iron, and phosphorus dynamics in response to long-term experimental nitrogen and sulfur additions at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA. Environ. Monitor. Assess. 121: 421-429.
  • Elvir, J.A., G.B. Wiersma, M.E. Day, M.S. Greenwood, and I.J. Fernandez. 2006. Effects of enhanced nitrogen deposition on foliar chemistry and physiological processes of forest trees at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. For. Ecol. Manag. 221:207-214.
  • Nelson, S. J., K. B. Johnson, J. S. Kahl, T. A. Haines, and I. J. Fernandez. 2006. Mass balances of mercury and nitrogen in burned and unburned forested watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Environ. Monitor. Assess. (10.1007/s10661-006-9332-4).
  • Sullivan, T.J., I.J. Fernandez, T.C. McDonnell, N.A. Nowicki, A.T. Herlihy, K.U. Snyder, and J.W. Sutherland. 2006. Acid-base characteristics of soils in the Adirondack Mountains, New York. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 70: 141-152.