Vegetation response to sewage effluent disposal on a hardwood forest

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1013-1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark B. David ◽  
Roland A. Struchtemeyer
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Tree Seedlings ◽  
Sewage Effluent ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Treated Area ◽  
Irrigation Period ◽  
And Control ◽  
Forest Floor Vegetation

The effects of irrigating a northern hardwood forest with sewage effluent at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine, were studied after 5 years of treatment by comparing a treated area with an unirrigated control. Sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh.) foliage was sampled in the treatment and control areas throughout the 1979 growing season. Stem growth was measured from increment borings extracted at breast height from 50 dominant or codominant sugar maple trees. Forest-floor vegetation (< 0.5 m tall) was sampled in 60 circular 4.0-m2 plots randomly located in both the treatment and control areas.Foliage from treated-area trees showed significantly greater uptake of N, Ca, Mg, and P and a decrease in Mn than control-area trees. Radial growth increased significantly from 4.9 mm for the 5 years prior to treatment to 6.5 mm in the 5-year treatment period. Tree seedlings in treatment areas had significantly lower densities and species richness when compared with to controls; there were 102 410, and 27 080 seedlings/ha in controls and treatments at the end of the 5-year irrigation period, respectively. The herbs Trientalisborealis Raf., Trilliumerectum L., and Aralia sp. had significantly lower frequencies in treatments versus controls.

Effect of sewage effluent on soil fauna in a Pinus-radiata plantation

Soil Research ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 555 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Yeates
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Pinus Radiata ◽  
Soil Fauna ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Sewage Effluent ◽  
Soil Processes ◽  
Dune Sands ◽  
Treated Area ◽  
Spray Irrigation

Water and nutrients in effluent applied to land may influence soil processes. This study uses late summer and autumn samples to assess changes in litter and soil fauna under a 17-year-old Pinus radiata plantation on dune sands of the Waitarere-Hokio association after 7 years of spray irrigation of sewage effluent. Populations estimated included 12 groups of litter arthoropods, earthworms, enchytraeids, tardigrades, rotifers and nematodes. Three groups of litter arthropods (adult diptera, spiders and aphids) were significantly less abundant in the effluent-treated area than in the unirrigated control. Increased moisture content was apparently responsible for greatly increased populations of earthworms and nematodes in the effluent-treated area. Bacterial-feeding and predatory nematodes showed marked increases, while fungal-feeding nematodes declined significantly. The nematode maturity index (MI) was lower in all treated plots. After effluent had been withheld for 52 days, there were significant increases in isopods and Collembola. Rotifers were most abundant in the control area. It appears that effluent enhanced physical breakdown of the P. radiata litter. Movement of the decayed fragments into the upper layers of sand may have produced conditions unfavourable for enchytraeids and rotifers.

Calcium and magnesium in wood of northern hardwood forest species: relations to site characteristics

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Arthur ◽  
T G Siccama ◽  
R D Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
White Birch ◽  
Yellow Birch ◽  
Northern Hardwood

Improving estimates of the nutrient content of boles in forest ecosystems requires more information on how the chemistry of wood varies with characteristics of the tree and site. We examined Ca and Mg concentrations in wood at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Species examined were the dominant tree species of the northern hardwood forest and the spruce-fir forest. The concentrations of Ca and Mg, respectively, in lightwood of these species, mass weighted by elevation, were 661 and 145 µg/g for sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), 664 and 140 µg/g for American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), 515 and 93 µg/g for yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.), 525 and 70 µg/g for red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.), 555 and 118 µg/g for balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), and 393 and 101 µg/g for white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.). There were significant patterns in Ca and Mg concentrations with wood age. The size of the tree was not an important source of variation. Beech showed significantly greater concentrations of both Ca (30%) and Mg (33%) in trees growing in moist sites relative to drier sites; sugar maple and yellow birch were less sensitive to mesotopography. In addition to species differences in lightwood chemistry, Ca and Mg concentrations in wood decreased with increasing elevation, coinciding with a pattern of decreasing Ca and Mg in the forest floor. Differences in Ca and Mg concentration in lightwood accounted for by elevation ranged from 12 to 23% for Ca and 16 to 30% for Mg for the three northern hardwood species. At the ecosystem scale, the magnitude of the elevational effect on lightwood chemistry, weighted by species, amounts to 18% of lightwood Ca in the watershed and 24% of lightwood Mg but only 2% of aboveground biomass Ca and 7% of aboveground Mg.

Trace metal biogeochemical responses following wood ash addition in a northern hardwood forest

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Dawn Deighton ◽  
Shaun A. Watmough ◽  
Nathan Basiliko ◽  
Paul Hazlett ◽  
Carolyn Roberta Reid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Metal ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Bottom Ash ◽  
Wood Ash ◽  
Metal Mobility ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Metal Concentrations ◽  
Northern Hardwood

Wood ash may be useful as a forest soil amendment in Canada, but trace metals can have detrimental effects if they accumulate in, or are transported from, forest ecosystems. Metal concentrations in soil water and sugar maple (Acer saccharum, Marsh.) seedling tissue chemistry were measured in a north temperate hardwood forest over four years following a biomass boiler ash addition field trial. Twenty plots (3 m x 3 m) were established in Haliburton Forest with both fly and bottom ash treatments of 0, 4 and 8 Mg ha-1 with four replicates, and tension lysimeters were positioned in each plot at 30, 50, and 100 cm depths. Over the four years soil water metal concentrations in treated plots were not significantly different to control plots. No differences in metal concentrations in foliage of sugar maple seedlings could be detected but there were significantly higher concentrations of some metals (Al, Fe, Zn, Pb, Ni and Sr) in roots of treated plots. Simulated drought mobilized several metals in upper mineral soil, but this mobilization occurred similarly in controls and ash-treated soils. These results suggest that doses below 8 Mg ha-1 industrial wood ash with trace metal concentrations below Canadian regulatory limits does not cause an increase in trace metal mobility or availability in northern hardwood forests with acidic soils during the first five years after application.

Species enrichment in a transitional landscape, northern lower Michigan

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel M. Scheiner ◽  
Conrad A. Istock
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
The South ◽  
White Pine ◽  
Forest Diversity ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Group I

The hemlock – white pine – northern hardwood forest region of North America is a transition between the deciduous forests to the south and the boreal forests to the north. In a survey of vascular plant communities in northern lower Michigan we examined species diversity and landscape pattern. Surveying 47 sites we found 483 vascular plant species: 37 tree species, 67 shrub species, 4 vine species, and 375 herbaceous species; there was a mean of 74.3 ± 4.2 species per site. Mean Jaccard similarity among sites was 0.22 ± 0.01 and mosaic diversity, a measure of landscape complexity, was 3.01 ± 0.03. Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, two distinct groups of communities were differentiated: group I consisted of communities on mesic upland to wet lowland sites dominated by sugar maple, beech, hemlock, cedar, tamarack, and spruce; group II consisted of communities on xeric to dry-mesic upland moraines and level plains dominated by pines, red oak, birch, and aspen. Each group encompassed a separate south to north transition. Contrary to continental trends, species richness was greatest in sites with the greatest percentage of northern species. The region is more species-rich than adjacent regions to the south and north. We present four hypotheses to explain this species enrichment. Key words: boreal forest, deciduous forest, diversity, hemlock – white pine – northern hardwood forest, transition zone.

scholarly journals Validation and refinement of allometric equations for roots of northern hardwoods

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1777-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur ◽  
Steven P. Hamburg ◽  
Ruth D. Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Lateral Roots ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Betula Alleghaniensis ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Mean Error

The allometric equations developed by Whittaker et al. (1974. Ecol. Monogr. 44: 233–252) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest have been used to estimate biomass and productivity in northern hardwood forest systems for over three decades. Few other species-specific allometric estimates of belowground biomass are available because of the difficulty in collecting the data, and such equations are rarely validated. Using previously unpublished data from Whittaker’s sampling effort, we extended the equations to predict the root crown and lateral root components for the three dominant species of the northern hardwood forest: American beech ( Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis Britt), and sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.). We also refined the allometric models by eliminating the use of very small trees for which the original data were unreliable. We validated these new models of the relationship of tree diameter to the mass of root crowns and lateral roots using root mass data collected from 12 northern hardwood stands of varying age in central New Hampshire. These models provide accurate estimates of lateral roots (<10 cm diameter) in northern hardwood stands >20 years old (mean error 24%–32%). For the younger stands that we studied, allometric equations substantially underestimated observed root biomass (mean error >60%), presumably due to remnant mature root systems from harvested trees supporting young root-sprouted trees.

Ecological Aspects of Forest Management Planning: A Northern Hardwood Forest Case Study

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise M. Tritton ◽  
Paul E. Sendak
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Timber Production ◽  
Forest Management Planning ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Crown Dieback

Abstract In a stand managed for timber production, increased crown dieback and mortality of trees generally signal a need for reevaluating site conditions, management objectives, and harvesting practices. In this paper, we describe a case study of a northern hardwood forest stand intended for timber production but showing crown dieback and mortality. Plans for a diameter-limit cut were confounded by the presence of diseased and poor quality trees (especially sugar maples), a history of high-grading, and fair to poor site characteristics for sugar maple growth over much of the area. After evaluating the site, we suggested a revised management plan including a shelterwood cut favoring regeneration of both yellow birch and sugar maple. Forest management decisions based on ecological and economic considerations can promote both the long-term health and productivity of forest stands. However, management for long-term health and productivity are not likely to be accomplished under current market conditions in much of New England. North. J. Appl. For. 12(3):121-126.

scholarly journals Calcium and aluminum impacts on sugar maple physiology in a northern hardwood forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (11) ◽  
pp. 1242-1251 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Halman ◽  
P. G. Schaberg ◽  
G. J. Hawley ◽  
L. H. Pardo ◽  
T. J. Fahey
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood
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