Multi-scale assessment of the extent and effects of soil calcium depletion and forest harvesting in the Delaware River Basin Peter S. Murdoch, USGS Rakesh Minocha, USFS Jennifer Jenkins, USFS Gregory Lawrence, USGS Richard Hallet, USFS
Dec 16, 2015
Multi-scale assessment of the extent and effects of soil calcium depletion and forest harvesting in
the Delaware River Basin
Peter S. Murdoch, USGSRakesh Minocha, USFSJennifer Jenkins, USFS
Gregory Lawrence, USGSRichard Hallet, USFS
Multi-tier Monitoring Design
• Tier One – Remote Sensing and Mapping Wall-to-wall coverage; stratification
• Tier Two – Extensive Inventories and Surveys Representative regional statistical sample
• Tier Three – Condition Sample (new) Representative of specified condition
classes
• Tier Four –Intensive Areas Relatively small number of specific sites
Increasing temporal resolution
Increasing spatial resolution
Delaware River Basin: Frost Valley, NY 2000
Mineral Soil Ca
0.00
0.050.10
0.150.20
0.25
0.300.35
0.40
Ridgetop Upper Mid Lower
ELEVATION
Ca
(cm
olc K
g-1)
Foliar Calcium
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Ridgetop Upper Mid LowerSlope
mol
g-1
FWY. Birch
S. Maple
Research plot results: soil and foliar calcium decreased from valley to ridge
Minocha, USFS
Delaware River Basin: Frost Valley, NY 2000
Foliar Putrescine
0
50
100
150
200
250
Ridgetop Upper Mid LowerSlope
nm
ol g
-1 F
W
Y. Birch
S. Maple
Minocha, USFS
Tree stress increased from valley to ridge
Stream Ca Response to Clearcutting
0
50
100
150
200
250
Jan-94 Jan-96 Jan-98 Jan-00 Jan-02
Ca
con
cen
trat
ion
(m
ol/
L)
Clearcut
Reference
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
Jan-94 Jan-96 Jan-98 Jan-00 Jan-02
NO
3- c
on
cen
trat
ion
(m
ol/
L)
Clearcut
Reference
EPA Std.
Large nitrogen and calcium release despite very low calcium pools in soil
Intensive Stream Monitoring: Decline in calcium + magnesium concentrations (in microequivalents per liter) in streamwater of the Neversink River,
1952-2002
Research Site Results• Low calcium in soils is correlated with indicators
of tree stress and dieback.• Calcium may be declining in tree tissue over
time in the Neversink River Watershed. • Forest harvesting can release large amounts of
Ca from even Ca-poor soils• Long-term trends indicate a decline in stream Ca
concentrations since the 1970s• Stream acidification is correlated with low Ca
concentrations in forest soils
Average Foliar Ca (ppm)Yellow Birch
5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000
Str
ea
m C
a (
um
ol/L
)
40
50
60
70
80
90
R2 = 0.42
Average Foliar Ca (ppm)Sugar Maple
5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000
Str
ea
m C
a (
um
ol/L
)
40
50
60
70
80
90
R2 = 0.33
N
NY WatershedsNH Watersheds
Tier 3: Is regional foliar or soil chemistry correlated with stream chemistry?
Regional gradient study of stream and foliar Calcium concentration
Stream Chemistry
Net Primary Productivity
FoliarChemistry
BiogeochemicalStatus
Site Regional subsample Continuous
Visible/IRReflectance
Scale
SoilChemistry
Hallet, USFS
Northeastern Watersheds
Soil Ca (cmolc/kg)0 4 8 12 16
Bas
ic c
atio
ns -
acid
ani
ons
in
str
eam
wat
er (
eq/L
)
-120
-90
-60
-30
0
30
60
90
R2 = 0.83
Oa Horizon
Tier 3: Stream and soil sampling at watersheds representing a gradient of stream and soil
condition.
Northeastern Watersheds
Soil Ca (cmolc/kg)
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Bas
ic c
atio
ns -
aci
d an
ions
in s
trea
m w
ater
(eq
/L)
-120
-90
-60
-30
0
30
60
90
Bs Horizon
Tier 2: Nitrogen Deposition to the Delaware River Basin
Fixed stations used to draw regional maps of N deposition.
Highest deposition in the eastern Catskills and western Poconos.
(Lynch, 2002, written com.)
NYC water supply
Tier 2 – USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)
Plots measured with a 5-year panel system to characterize forests of the Delaware River Basin.
Added 3 soil samples at 3 depths to each forested plot, + stream survey.
Focus on Appalachian Plateau (Northern Basin)
<0.1
Tier 2: Soil Ca Map•Soil calcium is lowest in areas with highest nitrogen deposition•Patterns emerging: reflect bedrock, glacial history, and deposition patterns
Tier 2: Stream water acid neutralizing capacity during two high-flow surveys in the upper Delaware River Basin
Calcium concentrations in stream water from 1st-order streams
during two high-flow surveys, Delaware River Basin
Tier 4: AVIRISAirborne Visible/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer
The NASA Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS )
• Flown on a NASA ER-2 aircraft at an altitude of 20km
• Measures 224 contiguous spectral bands from 400-2400nm
• Spectral Resolution = 10nm
• Spatial Resolution = 20m
The resulting 224 band layer image is known as an “image cube”. When the data from each band is plotted on a graph, it yields a spectrum. Hallet, USFS
Legend
Calcium Level
Low High
Calibration Plots
10 km
Predicted Foliar Ca for the WMNF
Measured Canopy Ca (ppm)
3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000
AV
IRIS
Pre
dict
ed C
anop
y C
a (p
pm)
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
Actual vs Predicted 1:1 LineRegression Line
R2 = 0.76
Hallet, USFS
Comparison of land cover classification from 4 sources:
• MODIS/AVHRR
• Forest type/AVHRR
• NLCD’92/2000TM
•Hi-Res Photography
Management Implications
• Forest harvesting practices need to consider the effect of removing Ca and Mg in logs on the long-term soil fertility and stream chemistry.
• Regional strategies for forest management are possible through use of integrated “biogeochemical monitoring” at a range of scales.
Monitoring Implications• A fairly simple and inexpensive collaboration
between the USFS and the USGS can result in greatly enhanced interpretive power of monitoring data (FIA, soil survey, stream surveys, USGS-LTM).
• This example is only one of several issues addressed by the collaborative program tested in the Delaware River Basin.
• Funding of existing monitoring programs can be leveraged through collaborations to enhance data yield.
• We should “hang together lest we hang separately” (Benjamin Franklin)
• Scaling up from watershed to region requires forest information which the FIA plot layout is uniquely qualified to provide.• A link between the current forest research and FIA increases the value of both research and FIA data (ie. we can now say more about the regional landscape) • A little additional data collected on FIA plots can make that link possible -- e.g. soils chemistry and forest condition indicators.
Conclusions:
The DRB-CEMRI project tested:
• How this integration between process-level studies and FIA-level monitoring might work, and • What types of data are required for 'scaling-up' of process-level information, and how that data might be collected.
•LINKED FIA TO REGIONAL STREAM, SOIL, AND DEPOSITION DATA, AND FACILITATEDTHE FIRST MULTI-SCALE ASSESSMENT OF FOREST CONDITION THROUGH USE OF FIA AND ANCILLARY DATA
•SOILS DATA : FIA collected soils and provided field methods testing. USGS provided laboratory analysis of soils, methods design, and field support.
•ASSOCIATED ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH: FIA USGS supplied LT stream research and monitoring, regional stream survey linked to FIA. FIA provided plot data. FHM provided research at intensive watersheds, intensive plot data, estimates of carbon flux.
•A comparatively simple and inexpensive collaboration between the USFS and the USGS can result in greatly enhanced interpretive power of monitoring data (FIA, soil survey, stream surveys, USGS-LTM).
What did we do together?