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

Mid-Atlantic from SeaWiFS SatelliteMid-Atlantic from SeaWiFS Satellite

Delaware Bay

Delaware Basin ISEM Watersheds

Sample Intensification (Tier 4) at the Neversink River Watershed in the Delaware River Basin

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

Tier 4 –USGS Stream Gages in the Neversink River Intensive Area

Neversink River at Claryville

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

Organic horizon shows similar pattern, but at higher concentrations

<4

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

AVIRIS Imagery of the Catskill Mountain Region

Neversink River BasinHallet, 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?