Variations in Precipitation and Streamwater Chemistry at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest during 1964 to 1977

Cleavitt et al. (2018, Can. J. For. Res. 48(1): 23–31, doi: 10.1139/cjfr-2017-0233 ) report a lack of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) regeneration in Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), Watershed 5 (W5), following whole-tree clearcut harvesting and purport that harvesting-induced soil calcium depletion contributed to regeneration failure of this species. In New England, clearcutting is a silvicultural strategy used to promote less tolerant species, especially birch (Betula spp.; Marquis (1969), Birch Symposium Proceedings, USDA Forest Service; Leak et al. (2014), doi: 10.2737/NRS-GTR-132 ), which is just the outcome that the authors report. While this study reports an impressive, long-term data set, given broad interest in sugar maple and sustainability of forest management practices, we feel that it is critical to more fully explore the role of nutrition on sugar maple dynamics, both prior to and during the experiment, and to more fully review the scientific record on the role of whole-tree clearcutting in nutrient-induced sugar maple dynamics.

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Longitudinal patterns of concentration-discharge relationships in stream water draining the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire

Journal of Hydrology ◽

10.1016/0022-1694(90)90120-m ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 116 (1-4) ◽

pp. 147-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

G.B. Lawrence ◽

C.T. Driscoll

Keyword(s):

New Hampshire ◽

Stream Water ◽

Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest ◽

Hubbard Brook ◽

Longitudinal Patterns

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Assessing the Origin of Sulfate Deposition at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

Journal of Environmental Quality ◽

10.2134/jeq2000.00472425002900030011x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 759-767 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

C. Alewell ◽

M. J. Mitchell ◽

G. E. Likens ◽

R. Krouse

Keyword(s):

Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest ◽

Hubbard Brook ◽

Sulfate Deposition

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Long-term responses in soil solution and stream-water chemistry at Hubbard Brook after experimental addition of wollastonite

Environmental Chemistry ◽

10.1071/en15113 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 528 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Shuai Shao ◽

Charles T. Driscoll ◽

Chris E. Johnson ◽

Timothy J. Fahey ◽

John J. Battles ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Solution ◽

New Hampshire ◽

Stream Water ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Forest Health ◽

Aluminium Toxicity ◽

Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest ◽

Acid Base ◽

Hubbard Brook ◽

Acid Base Status

Environmental context Calcium silicate was added to a forest watershed in New Hampshire, USA, to accelerate its recovery from acid rain. The acid–base status of soil and stream quality improved over the 12-year study, with the most pronounced response in the upper elevation and the upper soil of the watershed. A total of 95% of the added calcium and 87% of the added silica were retained in the watershed over the study period. Abstract In October 1999, 3450kgha–1 of wollastonite (CaSiO3) was applied to Watershed 1 at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, USA, with the objective of restoring calcium that had been depleted from soil-exchange sites by chronic inputs of acid deposition. After the treatment, the concentrations and fluxes of calcium and dissolved silica significantly increased in both soil solution and stream water throughout Watershed 1, as did the acid-neutralising capacity. The concentrations and fluxes of inorganic monomeric aluminium significantly decreased. The treatment improved the acid–base status and decreased the potential for aluminium toxicity in stream water, especially in the lower reaches of the watershed. Approximately 4.7% of the added calcium and 17% of the added silica from the wollastonite treatment was exported from Watershed 1 in stream water by the end of 2010. Meanwhile, ~1825mmolm–2 of the added calcium and 2125mmolm–2 of the added silica were either transported to lower mineral soil horizons – as particulate wollastonite, or as dissolved solutes (calcium 77.6mmolm–2; silica 592.2mmolm–2), thus contributing to increases in soil pools – or were taken up by vegetation and incorporated into internal calcium and silica cycles of the watershed ecosystem. This experimental wollastonite addition was an effective tool for mitigating the acidification of the ecosystem and restoring the calcium status and forest health of this base-poor watershed.

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