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TheScientificWorldJOURNAL
Volume 1 (2001), Pages 245-254
http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2001.372
Research Article

Nitrogen Deposition to and Cycling in a Deciduous Forest

Sara C. Pryor, Rebecca J. Barthelmie, Margaret Carreiro, Melissa L. Davis, Anne Hartley, Bjame Jensen, Andrew Oliphant, Melissa J. C. Randolph, and Justin T. Schoof

Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA

Copyright © 2001 Sara C. Pryor et al.

Abstract

The project described here seeks to answer questions regarding the role increased nitrogen (N) deposition is playing in enhanced carbon (C) sequestration in temperate mid-latitude forests, using detailed measurements from an AmeriFlux tower in southern Indiana (Morgan-Monroe State Forest, or MMSF). The measurements indicate an average atmosphere-surface N flux of approximately 6 mg-N m-2 day-1 during the 2000 growing season, with approximately 40% coming from dry deposition of ammonia (NH3), nitric acid (HNO3), and particle-bound N. Wet deposition and throughfall measurements indicate significant canopy uptake of N (particularly NH4+) at the site, leading to a net canopy exchange (NCE) of –6 kg-N ha-1 for the growing season. These data are used in combination with data on the aboveground C:N ratio, litterfall flux, and soil net N mineralization rates to indicate the level of potential perturbation of C sequestration at this site.