Acidic Precipitation: Case Studies

320 Pages·1989·11.959 MB·English

by  D. W. Johnson, S. E. Lindberg (auth.), D. C. Adriano, M. Havas (eds.)

Advances in Environmental Science
D.C. Adriano and W. Saiomons, Editors
Editorial Board:
Series Editors:
D.C. Adriano W. Salomons
University of Georgia's Savannah Delft Hydraulics Laboratory
River Ecology Laboratory Institute for Soil Fertility
Aiken, South Carolina 29801 NL-9750 RA Haren (GR)
USA The Netherlands
D.C. Adriano, Coordinating Editor
Associate Editors:
B.L. Bayne, Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Plymouth
PLl 3DH UK
M. Chino, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113, Japan
AA Elseewi, Southern California Edison, Rosemead, CA 91770, USA
M. Firestone, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
U. Forstner, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, 2100 Hamburg
90, Federal Republic of Germany
B.T. Hart, Chisholm Institute of Technology, Victoria 3145, Australia
T.C. Hutchinson, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 1A4, Canada
S.E. Lindberg, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831,
USA
M.R. Overcash, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27650, USA
AL. Page, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
Acidic Precipitation
Volume 1
Case Studies
Edited by D.C. Adriano and M. Havas
Springer-Verlag
New York Berlin Heidelberg
London Paris Tokyo
Volume Editors:
D.C. Adriano M. Havas
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Institute of Environmental Studies
University of Georgia University of Toronto
Aiken, SC 29801 Toronto M5S lA4
USA Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Acidic precipitation 1 volume editors, D.C. Adriano and M. Havas.
p. cm.-(Advances in environmental science)
Bibliography: v. I, p.
Includes index.
Contents: -v. 1. Case studies.
1. Acidic deposition-Environmental aspects-Case studies.
I. Adriano, D.C. II. Havas, M. III. Series.
TD196.A25A26 1989
363.7'386-dcI9 88-37418
Printed on acid-free paper
© 1989 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1989
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the
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The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even if the
former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by
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Typeset by McFarland Graphics.
9 8 7 6 5 432 1
ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-8179-5 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-3616-0
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4612-3616-0
Preface to the Series
In 1986, my colleague Prof. Dr. W. Salomons of the Institute for Soil Fertility of
the Netherlands and I launched the new Advances in Environmental Science with
Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. Immediately, we were faced with a task of what
topics to cover. Our strategy was to adopt a thematic approach to address hotly
debated contemporary environmental issues. After consulting with numerous
colleagues from Western Europe and North America, we decided to address Acidic
Precipitation, which we view as one of the most controversial issues today.
This is the subject of the first five volumes of the new series. which cover
relationships among emissions, deposition, and biological and ecological effects
of acidic constituents. International experts from Canada, the United States,
Western Europe, as well as from several industrialized countries in other regions,
have generously contributed to this subseries, which is grouped into the following
five volumes:
Volume 1 Case Studies
(D.C. Adriano and M. Havas, editors)
Volume 2 Biological and Ecological Effects
(D.C. Adriano and A.H. Johnson, editors)
Volume 3 Sources, Depositions, and Canopy Interactions
(S.E. Lindberg, A.L. Page, and S.A. Norton, editors)
Volume 4 Soils, Aquatic Processes, and Lake Acidijication
(S.A. Norton, S.E. Lindberg, and A.L. Page, editors)
Volume 5 International Overview and Assessment
(T. Bresser and W. Salomons, editors)
From the vast amount of consequential information discussed in this series, it
will become apparent that acidic deposition should be seriously addressed by many
countries of the world, in as much as severe damages have already been inflicted
on numerous ecosystems. Furthermore, acidic constituents have also been shown
to affect the integrity of structures of great historical values in various places of the
world. Thus, it is hoped that this up-to-date subseries would increase the
VI Series Preface
"awareness" of the world's citizens and encourage governments to devote more
attention and resources to address this issue.
The series editors thank the international panel of contributors for bringing this
timely series into completion. We also wish to acknowledge the very insightful
input of the following colleagues: Prof. A.L. Page of the University of California,
Prof. T.C. Hutchinson of the University of Toronto, and Dr. Steve Lindberg of the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
We also wish to thank the superb effort and cooperation of the volume editors in
handling their respective volumes. The constructive criticisms of chapter review
ers also deserve much appreciation. Finally, we wish to convey our appreciation to
my secretary, Ms. Brenda Rosier, and my technician, Ms. Claire Carlson, for their
very able assistance in various aspects of this series.
Aiken, South Carolina Domy C. Adriano
Coordinating Editor
Preface to Acidic Precipitation, Volume 1
(Advances in Environmental Science)
As a result of pioneering research in the 1960s and because of the perceived and
real environmental effects described during the ensuing years, the terms acidic
rain, acidic deposition, or acidic precipitation have become commonplace in the
scientific and popular literature. In the last decade, governments throughout the
world have responded to public pressure and to the concerns of the scientific
community by establishing research programs on national and international scales.
These programs have been designed to enhance our understanding of the important
links between atmospheric emissions and their potential environmental effects in
both industrialized and developing nations. Acidic precipitation was studied
initially because of its effects on aquatic systems. However, because reports from
Western Europe in the early 1980s suggested a link with forest decline, acidic
precipitation is now considered a potential environmental stress in terrestrial
systems as well as in aquatic systems. Most recently, scientists viewed acidic
precipitation as part of a larger "global change" issue along with other issues such
as warming climate, increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and atmo
spheric ozone depletion.
As has been the case with many environmental issues of the twentieth century,
acidic precipitation has its origin in emissions to the atmosphere of numerous
compounds from both natural and man-made sources. This volume of the
subseries Acidic Precipitation emphasizes some of the classical interactions
between acidic deposition and ecological effects. It covers the cycling, behavior,
and effects of acidic components in nature. Included are the effects of acidic
deposition on soil chemistry, soil solution chemistry, aquatic chemistry, forest
productivity, and fish populations. Several major ecological consequences, such
as a decline in forest productivity, soil and water acidification, depletion of fish
populations, and slower litter decomposition are highlighted. A whole chapter is
devoted to the comparative biogeochemistry of aluminum, encompassing several
ecosystems in North America and Europe.
With the National Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program of the United
States nearing a 1990 completion date, and with programs in Canada and many
European countries accelerating to reach a consensus on the role that atmospheric
emissions and acidic precipitation play in the environment, publication of this
series is timely.
Vlll Preface
The editors wish to thank the contributors to this volume for their excellent
discussions of some of the most relevant ecosystem studies dealing with acidic
deposition. The authors also wish to thank reviewers for the volume chapters: Drs.
Lindsay Boring and John Dowd of the University of Georgia, Dr. Jack Waide of
the USDA Forest Hydrology Laboratory, Dr. Christopher Cronan of the Univer
sity of Maine, and Professor Egbert Matzner of the University of Gottingen. And,
finally, we are grateful for the expert assistance of my secretary, Ms. Brenda
Rosier, and my technician, Ms. Claire Carlson, that made our task bearable.
Aiken, South Carolina Domy C. Adriano
Toronto, Canada Magda Havas
Contents
Series Preface .................................................... v
Preface. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vll
Contributors ..................................................... Xlll
Acidic Deposition on Walker Branch Watershed .................. .
D. W Johnson and S.E Lindberg
I. Introduction .................................................. 2
II. Site Description ............................................... 3
III. Process-Level Studies .......................................... 5
IV. Ecosystem-Level Studies ....................................... 19
V. Long-Term Trends ............................................ 30
VI. Conclusions .................................................. 34
VII. Future Research ............................................... 35
References ................................................... 36
Acidic Precipitation: Case Study Soiling ........................... 39
E Matzner
I. Introduction .................................................. 39
II. Research Area ................................................ 40
III. Methods ..................................................... 40
IV. Results ....................................................... 43
V. Conclusions .................................................. 78
References ................................................... 81
Decline of Red Spruce in High-Elevation Forests
of New York and New England ................................... 85
A.H. Johnson, T. G. Siccama, WL. Silver, and J.J. Battles
I. Introduction .................................................. 85
II. The Occurrence of Spruce Decline ............................... 86
III. Patterns and Rates of Mortality .................................. 87
IV. Relationships between Mortality, Age, Aspects, and Elevation ........ 91
x Contents
V. Climatic Extremes as Initiating Stresses ........................... 94
VI. The Influence ofInsects and Diseases ............................ 98
VII. Summary of Natural Factors .................................... 99
VIII. The Possibility of Air Pollution Involvement ....................... 99
IX. Summary ..................................................... 109
References ................................................... 109
ALBIOS: A Comparison of Aluminum Biogeochemistry
in Forested Watersheds Exposed to Acidic Deposition .............. 113
CS. Cronan and RA. Goldstein
I. Introduction .................................................. 114
II. Study Sites ................................................... 115
III. Methods ..................................................... 117
IV. Results and Discussion ......................................... 119
V. Conclusions .................................................. 134
References ................................................... 135
Long-Term Acidic Precipitation Studies in Norway ................. 13 7
G. Abrahamsen, HM Seip, and A. Semb
I. Introduction .................................................. 138
II. Atmospheric Transport and Deposition ........................... 139
III. Acidification of Soil and Water. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . .. 144
IV. Effects on Organisms and Biological Processes in the Soil ........... 157
V. Effects on Aquatic Organisms ................................... 160
VI. Effects on Forest .............................................. 165
VII. Effects on Humans ............................................ 169
VIII. Current and Future Research .................................... 170
References ................................................... 171
Chemistry of Rocky Mountain Lakes .............................. 181
1. T. Turk and N.E Spahr
I. Introduction .................................................. 182
II. Purpose ...................................................... 182
III. Discussion .................................................... 182
IV. Future Research Needs ......................................... 204
V. Summary ..................................................... 205
References ................................................... 207
Influence of Airborne Ammonium Sulfate on Soils
of an Oak Woodland Ecosystem in the Netherlands:
Seasonal Dynamics of Solute Fluxes ............................... 209
N. van Breemen, P.MA. Boderie, and H W G. Booltink
I. Introduction .................................................. 209
II. Environmental Setting, Materials, and Methods .................... 21 0