Processes affecting the response of sulfate concentrations to clearcutting in a northern hardwood forest, Catskill Mountains, New York, U.S.A.

Abstract

The effects of disturbance on the biogeochemical processes that affect the sulfur (S) cycle in forested ecosystems are important, but have been studied in only a few locations. In this investigation, the mechanisms that caused large decreases in stream SO42− concentrations after clearcutting a small forested catchment in the Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York in 1997 were identified through an examination of pH and SO42− concentrations in soil solutions, bulk deposition of SO42− in throughfall collectors, adsorbed SO42− concentrations in buried soil bags, and spatial variations in SO42− concentrations in shallow groundwater. The load of SO42−–S in stream water during the first 2 years after clearcutting was about 2 kg ha−1 year−1 less than the background value of 8–10 kg ha−1 year−1. The 10 and 19% decrease in net throughfall flux of SO42−–S during the 2nd and 3rd year after the clearcut, respectively, reflects reduced dry deposition of S after removal of the canopy, but this decrease accounts for 0 and 43%, respectively, of the decrease in SO42− load in streamflow for these 2 years. The pH of B-horizon soil water decreased from 4.5 to 4.0 within 8 months after the clearcut, and SO42− concentrations decreased from 45 µmol L−1 to less than 20 µmol L−1 during this time. A strong correlation between SO42− concentrations and pH values (r2 = 0.71, p < 0.01) in B-horizon soil water during the post-harvest period (1997–1999) reflects increased SO42− adsorption in response to soil acidification. Sulfate concentrations in groundwater from 21 spatially distributed wells were inversely related to a topographic index that served as a surrogate for soil wetness; thus, providing additional evidence that SO42− adsorption was the dominant cause of the decreased SO42− concentrations in the stream after clearcutting. These results are consistent with those from a 1985 whole-tree harvest at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire in which increased SO42− adsorption resulting from decreased soil pH was the primary cause of decreased SO42− concentrations in stream water.