Seasonal relationships between precipitation, forest floor, and streamwater nitrogen, Isle Royale, Michigan
Stottlemyer R and Toczydlowski D. 1999. Seasonal relationships between precipitation, forest floor, and streamwater nitrogen, Isle Royale, Michigan. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 63(2):389-398
This paper summarizes a 5-year study of seasonal N content and flux in precipitation, snowpack, forest floor, and streamwater in order to assess the source of inorganic N outputs in streamflow from a small boreal watershed. Average precipitation N input was 3 kg ha-1 yr-1. The forest floor inorganic N pool was ~ 2 kg ha-1, eight times larger than monthly precipitation input. The inorganic N pool size peaked in spring and early summer. Net N mineralization rates peaked in early summer. During the winter, the mean and monthly net N mineralization rate was twice the peak snowpack N content. Streamwater NO3 concentrations peaked in winter, and inorganic N output peaked in late fall. The relatively small snowpack N content and seasonal precipitation N input compared to inorganic N pools and net N mineralization rates, the strong ecosystem retention of precipitation N inputs, and the seasonal streamwater NO3 concentration and ouput pattern all indicated that little streamwater NO3 came directly from precipitation or snowmelt.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Stottlemyer, Robert; Toczydlowski, David
- Units
- ISRO
- Keywords
- Ecosystem, Forest Floor, Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, Nitrogen, Precipitation, streamwater, Water Quality, Watershed