Acid deposition alters red spruce physiology: laboratory studies support field observations

Abstract

Two-year-old red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) seedlings were grown in a poorly buffered soil from a high-elevation site in the Great Smoky Mountains and exposed for 16 weeks to acid mist and rain chemically similar to that occurring at high-elevation sites in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Measurements of seedling growth, root distribution, saturated net photosynthesis, dark respiration, and nutrient content were made to test the hypothesis that acid deposition had caused reductions in the carbon economy noted at high-elevation sites in previous field studies. The role of base cation depletion in these changes was examined by evaluating soil amendments of Ca, Mg, or Ca plus Mg. Acidified rain and mist reduced (i) the apparent carbon economy of foliage, (ii) seedling growth, and (iii) rooting depth in these controlled greenhouse studies. Changes in gas exchange physiology paralleled responses observed for sapling trees in the field with increasing elevation and included both reduced net photosynthesis and increased dark respiration. Calcium deficiency induced by acid deposition is apparently an important mechanism underlying physiological responses of red spruce previously observed in the field. Calcium addition to soil partially reduced the effects of acid deposition, but observed responses suggest that both foliar- and soil-driven reactions are involved. Changes in carbon metabolism associated with reduced Ca availability, when high levels of acid deposition are superimposed on poorly buffered soils, support the inferential association of acid deposition with growth decline of mature red spruce in high-elevation forests of the Appalachian Mountains.