Cited by 99Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsSoil and Water Nutrient DynamicsMycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions

Calcium Additions and Microbial Nitrogen Cycle Processes in a Northern Hardwood Forest

Groffman, Peter M., Fisk, Melany C., Driscoll, Charles T., Likens, Gene E., Fahey, Timothy J., Eagar, Christopher, Pardo, Linda H.·2006·Ecosystems

Abstract

Evaluating, and possibly ameliorating, the effects of base cation depletion in forest soils caused by acid deposition is an important topic in the northeastern United States. We added 850 kg Ca ha-¹ as wollastonite (CaSiO₃) to an 11.8-ha watershed at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), a northern hardwood forest in New Hampshire, USA, in fall 1999 to replace calcium (Ca) leached from the ecosystem by acid deposition over the past 6 decades. Soil microbial biomass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations, gross and potential net N mineralization and nitrification rates, soil solution and stream chemistry, soil:atmosphere trace gas (CO₂, N₂O, CH₄) fluxes, and foliar N concentrations have been monitored in the treated watershed and in reference areas at the HBEF before and since the Ca addition. We expected that rates of microbial C and N cycle processes would increase in response to the treatment. By 2000, soil pH was increased by a full unit in the Oie soil horizon, and by 2002 it was increased by nearly 0.5 units in the Oa soil horizon. However, there were declines in the N content of the microbial biomass, potential net and gross N mineralization rates, and soil inorganic N pools in the Oie horizon of the treated watershed. Stream, soil solution, and foliar concentrations of N showed no response to treatment. The lack of stimulation of N cycling by Ca addition suggests that microbes may not be stimulated by increased pH and Ca levels in the naturally acidic soils at the HBEF, or that other factors (for example, phosphorus, or Ca binding of labile organic matter) may constrain the capacity of microbes to respond to increased pH in the treated watershed. Possible fates for the approximately 10 kg N ha-¹ decline in microbial and soil inorganic pools include components of the plant community that we did not measure (for example, seedlings, understory shrubs), increased fluxes of N₂ and/or N storage in soil organic matter. These results raise questions about the factors regulating microbial biomass and activity in northern hardwood forests that should be considered in the context of proposals to mitigate the depletion of nutrient cations in soil.

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Crossref · 10.1007/s10021-006-0177-z

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  • Amendment of acidic organic-rich soils with silicate minerals, and resultant pH increase, had no effect on respiratory CO2 fluxes.

    “Compatibility of ERW and SOC sequestration may be realistic given that amendment of acidic organic-rich soils with silicate minerals, and resultant pH increase, had no effect on respiratory CO2 fluxes 28,29 , contrary to concerns that increased soil pH may accelerate organic matter decomposition 30 .”

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Authors
Groffman, P. M., Fisk, M. C., Driscoll, C. T., Likens, G. E., Fahey, T. J., Eagar, C., & Pardo, L. H.
Affiliations
  • Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (US)
  • Appalachian State University (US)
  • Syracuse University (US)
  • Cornell University (US)
  • US Forest Service (US)
Corresponding author
Groffman, Peter M.
Venue
Ecosystems
Published
2006-12
Volume
9
Issue
8
Pages
1289-1305
ISSN
  • 1432-9840 (ISSN-L)
  • 1435-0629
OpenAlex
W2040870195
Cited by
99
References
95
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 10
FWCI
4.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Ecosystems (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions
Keywords
calcium addition, wollastonite, acid deposition, base cation depletion, northern hardwood forest, soil microbial biomass, nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, soil pH, soil nitrogen cycling, trace gas fluxes, stream water chemistry, leaf nitrogen content, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

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