Abstract
The efficacy of limestone sand and pelletized lime for remediation of soil acidity was compared in order to determine if limestone sand was a more cost-effective alternative to pelletized lime. Between fall of 2002 and spring 2003, two forested sites in Pennsylvania were clear cut and fenced. Pelletized lime and limestone sand were applied to separate 400-m2 plots within the sites at rates of 2170 kg·ha-1 and 4335 kg·ha-1, respectively. Two additional 400-m2 plots were used as controls. A paired before-after control-impact study design was used to assess changes in soil, soil solution, vegetation and biomass after lime application. Soil samples were collected from the Oi, Oe + Oa, and A horizons before and after lime application. Woody and herbaceous vegetation was harvested from 1-m2 sub-plots before and after liming and bi-weekly soil solution samples were collected for six months following lime application. Analysis of variance procedures were used to compare changes in the treatment plots over time. Changes in soil chemistry following lime application were comparable on the limestone sand and pelletized lime plots. There was a significant increase in exchangeable Mg and Mg saturation in the Oe + Oa horizon on all of the lime treatment plots relative to controls, but a greater percentage of applied Ca and Mg was exchangeable in the O-horizon in pelletized lime plots nine months after liming. Plant biomass did not increase on the lime treatment plots relative to the control one year post treatment. The majority of applied Ca and Mg from pelletized lime and limestone sand remained in the litter layer, with little movement into the A-horizon after one growing season. These results indicated that the application of limestone sand at two times the rate of pelletized lime produced comparable changes in soil and soil solution chemistry at a fraction of the cost.
Highlights
The retention of base cations in the forest floor is critical to forest health and regeneration (Tomlinson & Tomlinson, 1990)
Changes to soil chemistry by limestone sand and pelletized lime were similar at Mosquito Creek, and those were similar to changes resulting from pelletized lime at Rolling Rock (Table 1)
Changes in chemistry due to limestone sand at Rolling Rock were significantly different from responses observed in the other treatment plots
Summary
The retention of base cations in the forest floor is critical to forest health and regeneration (Tomlinson & Tomlinson, 1990). Liming has been shown to stimulate nitrification in the forest floor; high concentrations of NO3 in the soil solution have been identified as a negative effect of terrestrial liming (Geary & Driscoll, 1996; Simmons et al, 1996). Lime application has been shown to lead to an increase in SO4 concentrations in the soil solution (De Keersmaeker et al, 2000; Schreffler & Sharpe, 2003). Increases in soil pH in the organic horizon that typically follow lime application decrease the positive charge of the soil surface, leading to a reduction in exchange sites for SO4, and an increase in SO4 concentrations in the soil solution (Bolan et al, 1988). Liming has been shown to stimulate microbial mineralization of organic matter, resulting in SO4 mobilization (Marschner, 1993)
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