Justin TurlipMELNHE REU Summer 2014NYU ‘15

Happy Trees have Ca!

An integral nutrient in forested ecosystems

Maintains structural integrity and helps physiological function of trees

-stomatal regulation, cell division and more

Acid rain in Northern Hardwood Forests over the last 60 years (Likens and Borman 124).

Calcium leaches from the soil at a net loss for the ecosystem

-Calcium becomes a limiting nutrient

Hubbard Brook 1999

Whole watershed addition of wollastonite (CaSiO3) in Watershed 1

-to bring Ca concentration to pre-industrial levels

(1,000kg Ca/hectare) (Green et al 2013)

HubbardBrook CaSiO3 Addition Results

From 1999 until 2002, transpiration and primary productivity increased in Watershed 1 (Green et al 2013)

In 2002, transpiration began to decrease in Watershed 1 to pre-1999 levels (Green et al 2013)

short-term rapid growth

-- -xylem and root growth (enhanced water transport and increased productivity) (Green et al

2013)

Long-term increased stomatalefficiency? (Green et al 2013)

Not well understood!

2011 MELNHE CaSi Addition

Wollastonite addition in 5 plots of experimental stands in the White Mountains, NH.

-Bartlett Experimental Forest (C1, C6, C8)

-Jeffers Brook (JBO, JBM)

-Hubbard Brook (HBo)

Attempt to better understand how CaSiO3 affects evapotranspiration and productivity

Methods

Sample soil moisture in all CaSi plots and corresponding control plots at 3 depths (10cm, 30cm, 50cm)

-compare soil moisture for leaf

on vs leaf off for each plot to show water use by plants

Instruments

-EC-5 soil moisture probes

-Decagon EM-50 dataloggers

Hypothesis

Soil moisture will be lower in wollastonite plots than corresponding control plots

Results Only C6 (30cm), HBo (10cm) and

HBo (50cm) had usable data

-C1Ca batteries had died shortly after last year’s Hubbard BrookMeeting

-C8 control’s sensors had been removed prior to data collection

-Jeffers Brook data could not be collected prior to presentation

-various sensor cords had been disconnected due to freeze and thaw

HBo at 10cm HBo at 50cm

C6 at 30cm Legend

Soil moisture in the control

So

il m

ois

ture

in

Ca

SiO

3

So

il m

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in

Ca

SiO

3

Soil moisture in the control

Soil moisture in the control

So

il m

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ture

in

CaS

iO3

Discussion

C6 (30cm) analysis suggests that it was drier in the wollastonite plot during the leaf on period

However, HBo suggests there could be many other variables in effect, like differing hydrology between experimental and control plots

In Summary…

We added wollastonite plots to the MELNHE Project to see if wollastonitecauses increased evapotranspiration and lower soil moisture

One dataset, C6 (30cm), showed this with statistical significance

-the rest of the data was either unusable or inconclusive

Future plans…

Collect data from Jeffers Brook

Troubleshoot sensors in current plots

Add moisture sensors to our other experimental plots (nitrogen, phosphorous, N+P)

Special Thanks To:

ReferencesGreen, Mark B., et al. "Decreased water flowing from a forest amended with calcium silicate." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.15 (2013): 5999-6003.

Hamburg, Steven P., et al. "Biotic control of calcium cycling in northern hardwood forests: acid rain and aging forests." Ecosystems6.4 (2003): 399-406.

Likens, Gene E., and Frederick Herbert Bormann. Biogeochemistry of a Forested Ecosystem. New York: Springer, 1994. Print.

Imageshttps://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5537046/il_570xN.79940185.jpghttp://www.esf.edu/melnhe/images/ROA_Report_img_0.jpghttp://www.hubbardbrook.org/6-12_education/Images/PelletsOnGround.jpghttp://www.decagon.com.br/assets/Images/Product-Images/Data-Loggers-and-collectors/Em50.jpghttp://www.ictinternational.com/content/uploads/2014/03/ec5-02.jpg

Mark Green

Joe Kendrick

Michele Pruyn

Matt Vadeboncouer

Rick Biche

Ruth Yanai

Adam Wild

The Entire Shoestring Crew