Chemical composition of the Tatra Mountain lakes: Recovery from acidification

Biologia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Kopáček ◽  
Evžen Stuchlík ◽  
David Hardekopf
Keyword(s):  
Base Cations ◽  
Water Recovery ◽  
Total Organic Nitrogen ◽  
Alpine Zone ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Forest Lakes ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Regional Basis ◽  
The Tatra Mountains ◽  
Norway Spruce Forest

AbstractNinety-one lakes distributed along the Tatra Mountains (most of lakes > 1 ha and 65% of lakes > 0.01 ha) were sampled and analysed for ionic and nutrient composition in September 2004 (15 years after reduction in acid deposition). Eighty-one lakes were in alpine zone and ten lakes in Norway spruce forest. The results were compared to similar lake surveys from 1994 (the beginning of water recovery from acidification) and 1984 (maximum acidification). Atmospheric deposition of SO42− and inorganic N decreased 57% and 35%, respectively, in this region from the late 1980s to 2000. Lake water concentrations of SO42− and NO3− have decreased both by ∼50% on average (to 23 and 19 μmol L−1, respectively, in 2004) since 1984. While the decrease in SO42− concentrations was stable throughout 1984–2004, most of the NO3− decrease occurred from 1994 to 2004. The declines in SO42− and NO3− concentrations depended on catchment coverage with vegetation, being most rapid for SO42− in forest lakes and for NO3− in rocky lakes. Concentrations of the sum of base cations (dominated by Ca2+) significantly decreased between 1984 and 2004, with the highest change in rocky lakes. Most of this decline occurred between 1994 and 2004. Acid neutralising capacity (ANC) did not change in the 1984–1994 period, but increased on average by 29 μmol L−1 between 1994 and 2004, with the highest change in rocky lakes. Over the last decade, the proportion of lakes with ANC > 150 μmol L−1 increased from 15% to 21% and that of ANC < 20 μmol L−1 decreased from 37% to 20%. The highest decline in H+ and Al concentrations occurred in the most acid lakes. On a regional basis, no significant change was observed for total phosphorus, total organic nitrogen, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the 1994–2004 period. However, these parameters increased in forest lakes, which exhibited an increasing trend in DOC concentrations, inversely related (P < 0.001) to their decreasing ionic strength (30% on average in 1994–2004).

scholarly journals Norwegian lakes show widespread recovery from acidification; results from national surveys of lakewater chemistry 1986-1997

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Skjelkvåle ◽  
R. F. Wright ◽  
A. Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
Base Cations ◽  
Chemical Recovery ◽  
N Leaching ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Western Norway ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Lakewater Chemistry ◽  
Southern Norway ◽  
Eastern Norway

Abstract. Surveys of 485 lakes in Norway conducted in 1986 and again in 1995 reveal widespread chemical recovery from acidification. Sulphate concentrations in lakes have decreased by 40% in acidified areas in southern Norway. This decrease has been compensated about 25% by decreases in concentrations of base cations and of 75% by increased Acid Neutralising Capacity (ANC). The increased ANC in turn reflects lower concentrations of acidic cations Aluminum (ALn+) and Hydrogen (H+). A sub-set of 78 of the 485 lakes sampled yearly between 1986 and 1997 shows that, at first most of the decrease in non-marine sulphate (SO4*) was compensated by a decrease in base cations, such that ANC remained unchanged. Then as SO4* continued to decrease, the concentrations of non- marine calcium and magnesium ((Ca+Mg)*) levelled out. Consequently, ANC increased, and H+ and Aln+ started to decrease. In eastern Norway, this shift occurred in 1989–90, and came slightly later in southern and western Norway. Similar shifts in trends in about 1991–92 can also be seen in the non-acidified areas in central and northern Norway. This shift in trends is not as pronounced in western Norway, perhaps because of the confounding influence of sea-salt episodes on water chemistry. This is the first documented national-scale recovery from acidification due to reduced acid deposition. Future climate warming and potentially increased N-leaching can counteract the positive trends in recovery from acidification.

scholarly journals Recovery from acidification of lochs in Galloway, south-west Scotland, UK: 1979-1998

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Ferrier ◽  
R. C. Helliwell ◽  
B. J. Cosby ◽  
A. Jenkins ◽  
R. F. Wright
Keyword(s):  
General Pattern ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Sea Salts ◽  
South West ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Sulphate Deposition ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Chloride Concentrations

Abstract. The Galloway region of south-west Scotland has historically been subject to long-term deposition of acidic precipitation which has resulted in acidification of soils and surface waters and subsequent damage to aquatic ecology. Since the end of the 1970s, however, acidic deposition has decreased substantially. The general pattern is for a rapid decline in non-marine sulphate in rainwater over the period 1978-1988 followed by stable concentrations to the mid-1990s. Concentrations of nitrate and ammonium in deposition have remained constant between 1980 and 1998. Seven water quality surveys of 48 lochs in the Galloway region have been conducted between 1979 and 1998. During the first 10 years, from 1979, there was a major decline in regional sulphate concentrations in the lochs, which was expected to have produced a decline in base cations and an increase in the acid neutralising capacity. But sea-salt levels (as indicated by chloride concentrations) were approximately 25% higher in 1988 than in 1979 and thus short-term acidification due to sea-salts offset much of the long-term recovery trend expected in the lochs. During the next 10 years, however, the chloride concentrations returned to 1979 levels and the lochs showed large increases in acid neutralising capacity despite little change in sulphate concentrations. From the observed decline in sulphate deposition and concentrations of sulphate in the lochs, it appears that approximately 75% of the possible improvement in acid neutralising capacity has already occurred over the 20-year period (1979-1998). The role of acid deposition as a driving factor for change in water chemistry in the Galloway lochs is confounded by concurrent changes in other driving variables, most notably, factors related to episodic and year-to-year variations in climate. In addition to inputs of sea-salts, climate probably also influences other chemical signals such as peaks in regional nitrate concentrations and the sharp increase in dissolved organic carbon during the 1990s. Keywords: acidification, recovery, Galloway, sulphur, nitrogen

Pools and composition of soils in the alpine zone of the Tatra Mountains

Biologia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Kopáček ◽  
Jiří Kaňa ◽  
Hana Šantrůčková
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Biochemical Properties ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Tatra Mountains ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Molar Ratios ◽  
Alpine Zone ◽  
The Tatra Mountains

AbstractThe basic physical, chemical, and biochemical properties of mountain soils were determined in alpine-zone meadow and moraine areas of the Tatra Mountains (Slovakia, Poland) in 2000–2001. The amount of soil (dry weight soil < 2 mm) varied from 38 to 255 kg m−2 (average of 121 kg m−2) in alpine meadows and averaged 13 kg m−2 in moraine areas. Concentration of organic C was the parameter that most strongly and positively correlated with N, P, S, effective cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable base cations, exchangeable acidity, and all biochemical parameters (C, N, and P in microbial biomass and C mineralisation rates). The relationship between C and P was less straightforward due to inorganic P forms associated with Fe and Al oxides. The average pools of C, N, P, and S, were respectively 696, 41, 2.9, and 1.9 mol m−2 (i.e., 84, 5.7, 0.91 and 0.61 t ha−1) in meadow soils, and 38, 2.1, 0.45 and 0.12 mol m−2 (i.e., 4.5, 0.30, 0.14 and 0.04 t ha−1) in moraine areas. Soil pH was generally low, with the lowest pHH 2 O values (3.8–4.9) in the A-horizons. Average pools of CEC were 12 and 0.7 eq m−2 in meadows and moraine areas, respectively. The base saturation (BS) was 4–45% (12% on average) of CEC, and was primarily based on Ca2+ and K+ (∼40% and ∼22% of BS, respectively). C:N molar ratios (14–20) were only slightly lower than those observed in the alpine Tatra Mountain zone ∼40 years ago. Concentrations of C, N, and P in soil microbial biomass were high (on average 1.6, 3.4, and 25% of total C, N, and P concentrations), suggesting high microbial activity in alpine soils.

scholarly journals Recovery from acidification in European surface waters

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Evans ◽  
J. M. Cullen ◽  
C. Alewell ◽  
J. Kopácek ◽  
A. Marchetto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Water Quality Data ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
The Uk

Abstract. Water quality data for 56 long-term monitoring sites in eight European countries are used to assess freshwater responses to reductions in acid deposition at a large spatial scale. In a consistent analysis of trends from 1980 onwards, the majority of surface waters (38 of 56) showed significant (p ≤0.05) decreasing trends in pollution-derived sulphate. Only two sites showed a significant increase. Nitrate, on the other hand, had a much weaker and more varied pattern, with no significant trend at 35 of 56 sites, decreases at some sites in Scandinavia and Central Europe, and increases at some sites in Italy and the UK. The general reduction in surface water acid anion concentrations has led to increases in acid neutralising capacity (significant at 27 of 56 sites) but has also been offset in part by decreases in base cations, particularly calcium (significant at 26 of 56 sites), indicating that much of the improvement in runoff quality to date has been the result of decreasing ionic strength. Increases in acid neutralising capacity have been accompanied by increases in pH and decreases in aluminium, although fewer trends were significant (pH 19 of 56, aluminium 13 of 53). Increases in pH appear to have been limited in some areas by rising concentrations of organic acids. Within a general trend towards recovery, some inter-regional variation is evident, with recovery strongest in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, moderate in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, and apparently weakest in Germany. Keywords: acidification, recovery, European trends, sulphate, nitrate, acid neutralising capacity

scholarly journals Recovery from acidification of lakes in Finland, Norway and Sweden 1990–1999

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Skjelkvåle ◽  
J. Mannio ◽  
A. Wilander ◽  
T. Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Base Cations ◽  
Strong Acid ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Sulphur Deposition ◽  
Ionic Strength Effect ◽  
National Monitoring ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Sulphate Deposition ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
A Minor

Abstract. Sulphate deposition has decreased by about 60% in the Nordic countries since the early 1980s. Nitrogen deposition has been roughly constant during the past 20 years, with only a minor decrease in the late 1990s. The resulting changes in the chemistry of small lakes have been followed by national monitoring programmes initiated in the 1980s in Finland (163 lakes), Norway (100 lakes) and Sweden (81 lakes). These lakes are partly a subset from the survey of 5690 lakes in the Northern European lake survey of 1995. Trend analyses on data for the period 1990-1999 show that the non-marine sulphate concentrations in lakes have decreased significantly in 69% of the monitored lakes. Changes were largest in lakes with the highest mean concentrations. Nitrate concentrations, on the other hand, were generally low and showed no systematic changes. Concentrations of non-marine base cations decreased in 26% of the lakes, most probably an ionic-strength effect due to the lower concentrations of mobile strong-acid anions. Acid neutralising capacity increased in 32% of the lakes. Trends in recovery were in part masked by large year-to-year variations in sea-salt inputs and by increases in total organic carbon concentrations. These changes were most probably the result of climatic variations. Nordic lakes, therefore, show clear signs of recovery from acidification. Recovery began in the 1980s and accelerated in the 1990s. Reductions in sulphur deposition are the major "driving force" in the process of recovery from acidification. Further recovery can be expected in the next 10 years if the Gothenburg protocol on emissions of acidifying pollutants is implemented. Keywords: Nordic countries, sulphur deposition, lakes, recovery

Water chemistry and dissolved organic carbon trends in lakes from Canada’s Atlantic Provinces: no recovery from acidification measured after 25 years of lake monitoring

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Clair ◽  
Ian F. Dennis ◽  
Robert Vet
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Organic Carbon ◽  
Acid Deposition ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
Lake Chemistry ◽  
Neutralization Capacity ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Recovery From Acidification

We analyzed chemistry trends for 66 Atlantic Canada lakes using data collected from 1983 to 2007, as well as from 1990 to 2007 and 2000 to 2007 for the original 66 and a further 25 lakes that were later added to the network. Though receiving the lowest acid deposition in eastern North America, the region’s waters are seriously affected by acid rain because of poorly buffering soils and bedrock. Earlier work had shown that despite large decreases in sulfate deposition, lake pH and calculated acid neutralization capacity (ANCc) had not increased as they had elsewhere in North America and Europe. Despite a 50% decrease in acid deposition, a further 10 years of lake chemistry data showed a regional increase in ANCc only at the beginning of the sampling period but no increase since the early 1990s. There were also no increases in pH and base cations in the region’s lakes. We show a regional increase in Gran titration ANC (ANCG) from 2000 to the present, which we ascribe to increases in dissolved organic carbon that is probably due to a regional increase in annual air temperatures.

scholarly journals Climate change as a confounding factor in reversibility of acidification: RAIN and CLIMEX projects

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Wright ◽  
A. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Acid Deposition ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Sea Salt ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Sulphate Deposition ◽  
Recovery From Acidification

Abstract. The RAIN and CLIMEX experiments at Risdalsheia, southernmost Norway, together cover 17 years (1984-2000) of whole-catchment manipulation of acid deposition and climate. A 1200 m2 roof placed over the forest canopy at KIM catchment excluded about 80% of ambient acid deposition; clean rain was sprinkled under the roof. A climate change treatment (3.7°C increase in air temperature and increase in air carbon dioxide concentrations to 560 ppmv) was superimposed on the clean rain treatment for four years (1995-1998). Sea-salt inputs and temperature are climate-related factors that influence water chemistry and can confound long-term trends caused by changes in deposition of sulphur and nitrogen. The RAIN and CLIMEX experiments at Risdalsheia provided direct experimental data that allow quantitative assessment of these factors. Run-off chemistry responded rapidly to the decreased acid deposition. Sulphate concentrations decreased by 50% within three years; nitrate and ammonium concentrations decreased to new steady-state levels within the first year. Acid neutralising capacity increased and hydrogen ion and inorganic aluminium decreased. Similar recovery from acidification was also observed at the reference catchment, ROLF, in response to the general 50% reduction in sulphate deposition over southern Norway in the late 1980s and 1990s. Variations in sea-salt deposition caused large variations in run-off chemistry at the reference catchment ROLF and the year-to-year noise in acid neutralising capacity was as large as the overall trend over the period. These variations were absent at KIM catchment because the sea-salt inputs were held constant over the entire 17 years of the clean rain treatment. The climate change experiment at KIM catchment resulted in increased leaching of inorganic nitrogen, probably due to increased mineralisation and nitrification rates in the soils. Keywords: acid deposition, global change, water, soil, catchment, experiment, Norway.

scholarly journals Base cations in the soil bank. Non-exchangeable pools may sustain centuries of net loss to forestry and leaching

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Rosenstock ◽  
Johan Stendahl ◽  
Gregory van der Heijden ◽  
Lars Lundin ◽  
Eric McGivney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rotation Period ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Mineral Weathering ◽  
Chemical Extraction ◽  
Nutrient Pools ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Ecosystem Flux ◽  
Soil Nutrient Pools ◽  
Norway Spruce Forest

Abstract. The soil exchangeable pool is classically viewed as the bank of base cations in the soil, withdrawn from by plant uptake and leaching and deposited into by decomposition, deposition and mineral weathering. While largely true, this view ignores the potential large size of other soil nutrient pools, including microbial biomass, clay interlayer absorbed elements, and calcium oxalate. These pools can be sizeable and neglecting them in studies examining the sustainability of biomass extractions or need for nutient return limits our ability to gauge the threat or risk of unusustainable biomass removals. In this short communication, we examine a set of chemical extraction data from a mature Norway Spruce forest in central Sweden, and compare this dataset to ecosystem flux data gathered from the site in other research. We bound the sizes of these pools and discuss them in the perspective of a forest rotation period. Lastly, we highlight the potential for sequential extraction techniques and isotope exchange measurments to illuminate the identify and flux rates of these important, and commonly overlooked, nutrient pools.

Chemical composition of the Tatra Mountain lakes: Response to acidification

Biologia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evžen Stuchlík ◽  
Jiří Kopáček ◽  
Jan Fott ◽  
Zuzana Hořická
Keyword(s):  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Tatra Mountains ◽  
Lake District ◽  
Lake Water Chemistry ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
The Tatra Mountains

AbstractData from two surveys of the Tatra Mountain lakes (Slovakia and Poland) performed in the autumns of 1984 (53 lakes) and 1993 or 1994 (92 lakes) were used to estimate spatial variability in water chemistry in this lake district during the period of maximum European acid deposition. The ionic content of the lakes was generally low, with conductivity (at 20°C) ranging from 1.1 to 4.7 mS m−1 and 23% of the lakes had a depleted carbonate buffering system. Major factors governing differences in lake-water chemistry were bedrock composition and amount of soil and vegetation in their catchment areas. Compared to lakes in the predominantly granitic central part of the Tatra Mountains, lakes in the West Tatra Mountains had higher concentrations of base cations and alkalinity due to the presence of metamorphic rocks in the bedrock. Concentrations of phosphorus, organic carbon, organic nitrogen, and chlorophyll-a were highest in forest lakes and decreased with decreasing density of vegetation and soil cover in the catchment areas. Concentrations of nitrate showed an opposite trend. Several exceptions to these general patterns in chemical and biological composition were due to exceptional geology or hydrology of the lake catchments.

scholarly journals Long-term trends of water chemistry in mountain streams in Sweden – slow recovery from acidification

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Borg ◽  
M. Sundbom
Keyword(s):  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Acid Neutralizing Capacity ◽  
Precipitation Trend ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Neutralizing Capacity ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Long Term Trends

Abstract. The water chemistry of streams and precipitation in the province of Jämtland, northern Sweden has been monitored since the 1980s to study long-term trends, occurrence of acid episodes, and effects of liming. The acidity in precipitation increased in the 1970s, followed by a loss of acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) and low pH in the streams. Sulfur deposition began to decrease in the 1980s, until approximately 2000, after which the decrease levelled out. Stream water sulfate concentration followed the precipitation trend but decreased more slowly and since the late 1990s a subtle increase was observed. Sulfate concentrations in the snow typically have been higher than or equal to the stream sulfate levels. However, during the period of rapid deposition decrease and also since 2005 stream sulfate has sometimes exceeded snow sulfate, indicating desorption of stored soil sulfate, possibly because of climate-related changes in run-off routes through the soil profiles, following shorter periods of frost. From 1982 to 2000, total organic carbon (TOC) increased by approximately 0.1 mg L−1 yr−1. The mean trends in sulfate and TOC from approximately 1990 until today were generally opposite. Acidic episodes with pH 4.0 at flow peaks occurred frequently in the unlimed streams, despite relatively well-buffered waters at baseflow. To evaluate the main causes for the loss of ANC during episodes, the changes in major ion concentrations during high flow episodes were evaluated. The most important factors contributing to ANC loss were dilution of base cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+), enrichment of organic anions and enrichment of sulfate. Wetland liming started in 1985 after which the earlier observed extreme peak values of iron, manganese and aluminium, did not reoccur. The studied area is remote from emission sources in Europe, but the critical load of acidity is still exceeded. The long-term recovery observed in the unlimed streams is thus slow, and severe acidic episodes still occur.

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