Acid-base chemistry of high-elevation streams in the great smoky mountains

Abstract Landscape-driven microclimates in mountainous terrain pose significant obstacles to predicting the response of organisms to atmospheric warming, but few if any studies have documented the extent of such finescale variation over large regions. This paper demonstrates that ground-level temperature regimes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina) vary considerably over fine spatial scales and are only partially linked to synoptic weather patterns and environmental lapse rates. A 120-sensor network deployed across two watersheds in 2005–06 exhibited finescale (<1000-m extent) temperature differences of over 2°C for daily minima and over 4°C for daily maxima. Landscape controls over minimum temperatures were associated with finescale patterns of soil moisture content, and maximum temperatures were associated with finescale insolation differences caused by topographic exposure and vegetation cover. By linking the sensor array data to 10 regional weather stations and topographic variables describing site radiation load and moisture content, multilevel spatial models of 30-m resolution were constructed to map daily temperatures across the 2090-km2 park, validated with an independent 50-sensor network. Maps reveal that different landscape positions do not maintain relative differences in temperature regimes across seasons. Near-stream locations are warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, and sites of low elevation more closely track synoptic weather patterns than do wetter high-elevation sites. This study suggests a strong interplay between near-ground heat and water balances and indicates that the influence of past and future shifts in regional temperatures on the park’s biota may be buffered by soil moisture surfeits from high regional rainfall.

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Long-Term Effects of Acidic Deposition on Water Quality in a High-Elevation Great Smoky Mountains National Park Watershed: Use of an Ion Input–Output Budget

Water Air & Soil Pollution ◽

10.1007/s11270-009-0187-5 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 209 (1-4) ◽

pp. 143-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Meijun Cai ◽

John S. Schwartz ◽

R. Bruce Robinson ◽

Stephen E. Moore ◽

Matt A. Kulp

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

National Park ◽

Acidic Deposition ◽

High Elevation ◽

Input Output ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Great Smoky Mountains ◽

Smoky Mountains

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Land Snails of Selected Rare High Elevation Forests and Heath Balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Journal of North Carolina Academy of Science ◽

10.7572/2167-5880-128.2.27 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 128 (2) ◽

pp. 27-32

Author(s):

Daniel C. Dourson ◽

Keith Langdon

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Land Snail ◽

High Elevation ◽

Land Snails ◽

Restricted Range ◽

Great Smoky Mountains ◽

Smoky Mountains ◽

High Elevation Forests ◽

First Time ◽

One New Species

Abstract Selected high elevation forests and heath balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) between Newfound Gap and Thunderhead Mountain were comprehensively sampled for the first time. Thirty-three species including one new species Fumonelix langdoni (Dourson) were documented occurring at elevations between 1,372 m to 2,012 m. Two previous land snail inventories in the park by Thompson (1981) and Dourson (2005) added sixteen species, bringing the total land snail fauna to forty nine species living above 1,372 m within park boundaries. Overall species richness declines with elevation yet numbers of snails appear to change little with increasing altitude. Heath balds were comparably rich sites for gastropods, Vitrinizonites latissimus (Lewis) being the most frequently observed land snail. Mesodon altivagus, (Pilsbry) and Fumonelix jonesiana (Archer) both documented during the survey are of global importance, a result of an exceptionally restricted range within the park. One ambiguous species in the genus Fumonelix (Polygyridae) is discussed and likely represents new taxa. Appalachina chilhoweensis (J. Lewis) was found at 1,666 m, representing the highest elevation the species has been documented to date.

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The Vegetation of Grassy Balds and Other High Elevation Disturbed Areas in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club ◽

10.2307/2560352 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 106 (4) ◽

pp. 264 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Mary M. Lindsay ◽

Susan Power Bratton

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

High Elevation ◽

Great Smoky Mountains ◽

Disturbed Areas ◽

Smoky Mountains

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Variation in overstory nitrogen uptake in a small, high-elevation southern Appalachian spruce-fir watershed

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x02-098 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 32 (10) ◽

pp. 1741-1752 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

M Barker ◽

H Van Miegroet ◽

N S Nicholas ◽

I F Creed

Keyword(s):

Stand Structure ◽

N Uptake ◽

High Elevation ◽

N Deposition ◽

Root Turnover ◽

Betula Alleghaniensis ◽

Atmospheric N Deposition ◽

Great Smoky Mountains ◽

Smoky Mountains ◽

Balsam Woolly Adelgid

High-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) forests of the southern Appalachians exhibit considerable spatial heterogeneity in structure, and possibly in N uptake, because of a combination of natural disturbances and heavy fir mortality caused by infestations of the exotic balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz). The objectives of this study are to determine spatial variability in tree N uptake in a small high-elevation catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, compare outcomes among calculation methods, and assess the influence of stand and landscape properties on N uptake. Tree N uptake is estimated for fifty 20 × 20 m plots in the Noland Divide Watershed (NDW). Components considered in the calculations are stem growth, foliage increment, and mortality of spruce, fir, and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) from 1993 and 1998 stand inventories; throughfall N flux measured in summers 1998 and 1999; litterfall N return for 1 year in a subset of 12 plots; tissue N analyses; and atmospheric N deposition and root turnover estimates from the literature. Overstory N uptake varies spatially within NDW, with a CV of 941% depending on the calculation method. Variability among methods is even higher, with an almost 15-fold difference between the smallest and largest average overstory uptake estimate (5 vs. 74 kg·ha1·year1). Only 5 and 3 kg·ha1·year1 of N is sequestered in wood and foliar increment, respectively, while 36 kg·ha1 of N returns annually as aboveground litterfall. Uptake and its components are correlated with measures of stand structure but not with elevation or aspect.

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