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Long-Term Monitoring of the Forest Ecosystem at Cary

Lead Scientist(s): Dr. Gary M. Lovett

Status: Past Project

Data

Click on the link to access each data set. If you wish to use these data sets, please email Gary Lovett, lovettg@caryinstitute.org with a brief explanation of how you intend to use them.

Data setStart dateMethod
Gypsy moth egg mass density
metadatadata .xls
1980direct counts on sample plots
   
Nutrient Cycling  
Wet deposition1984wet-only collectors
Dry deposition1988filter packs + deposition velocity model
Throughfall
metadata .pdf data .xls
1993 (through 1999)funnel/bottle collectors
B horizon soil solution
metadata .pdfdata .xls
1993constant tension lysimeters
Potential N mineralization
metadata .pdfdata .xls
1994laboratory incubation
Foliar N concentration
metadata .pdfdata .xls
1994C-N analyzer

 

Julie Hart collecting soil solution using a suction lysimeter.

Trends in Nitrogen and Sulfur Deposition

We have observed a decline in total (wet + dry) atmospheric deposition of both nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) since we began measurements in 1988 (Kelly et al 2002). There have been corresponding declines in fluxes of N and S in throughfall and of S in soil leachate (see graphs below). The fact that S leaching is substantially higher than S deposition suggests that mineral weathering contributes S to this ecosystem. There is minimal leaching of N, suggesting almost complete retention of N under current deposition conditions. With addition of nitrogen through experimental fertilization, nitrate leaching is accelerated, the soils become acidified, and tree mortality increases (Wallace et al. 2007).

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