Limnological effects on a first order stream after wood ash application to a boreal forest catchment in Bispgården, Sweden

Initial effects of wood ash application to soil and soil solution chemistry in a small, boreal catchment

“…Earlier investigations of the interaction between soil solution and stream water in the same catchment thoroughly examined the seasonal variations of nutrients and metals in a recharge-and discharge area (Vestin et al, 2008b) and associations of cations and metals to organic matter in soil solution (Vestin et al, 2008a) and in stream water (Norström et al, 2010). Aronsson and Ekelund (2008) reported elevated concentrations of K in aquatic moss (Fontinalis antipyretica) and leaves from alder (Alnus incana) when investigating the limnological effects after WAA in the same catchment, and Norström et al (2011) observed increased concentration of foremost DOC, K, and Ca when investigating the effect of WAA on stream water chemistry.…”

The Impact of Forest Fertilization on the Ecological Quality of Two Hemiboreal Streams

“…The species richness of diatoms observed in the Age and the Rusinupe would be considered relatively high and comparable with the taxa numbers of small streams in Sweden [5]. Of the species characteristic of forest streams, Gomphonema parvulum was common in the Age, Navicula cryptocephala in the Rusinupe, and Meridion circulare in both.…”

“…However, this practice declined significantly in the 1990s due to an increased ecological focus in Swedish forestry [3]. Due to soil acidification, it is vital to focus research on forest soil treatment with wood ash [4] and determine its subsequent effects on the chemistry of soil and water [5][6][7][8]. In the 1960s, fertilization experiments of Norway spruce were conducted in Denmark, but since 1980, experiments mainly focused on counteracting decline of forest.…”

“…Studies that evaluated the environmental aspects of forest soil fertilization mainly focused on the chemistry of soil and water. However, much less is known about the response of biological communities-more specifically, their effects on the ecology of hemiboreal streams-as few similar experiments have been reported from subtropical [26] and boreal zones [5,19]. Diatoms (benthic algae) are claimed to be sensitive to changes in environmental factors (e.g., light, temperature, stream velocity, pH, oxygen, dissolved organic matter, and inorganic nutrients) and, therefore, may be used as bio-indicators of a state of, or a change in, freshwater ecology [27,28].…”

Effects of Pollution on Freshwater Organisms

“…In similar publications, Lin and Yo (2008) describe their efforts to develop a species-level oligochaete biotic index to reflect pollution levels in the Taichung Water Basin in Taiwan, and Vijver et al (2008) to derive a set of water-type-specific dissolved copper criteria for Dutch surface waters. Comber et al (2008) presented a tiered approach that considered the background concentrations and the bioavailability of metals to assess compliance with environmental quality standards under the Other broad field studies and/or surveys included assessments of the following: the effects of textile industry effluent on benthic communities of the Don Carlos stream in Argentina (Gomez et al, 2008); metals pollution and its effects on bryophytes along the Kola River in northwestern Russia (Pekka et al, 2008); the effect of toxic cyanobacteria on gastropod communities in Combourge Lake in France (Gerard et al, 2008); contamination of Russian Baltic fish by persistent organic pollutants (Shelepchikov et al, 2008); aquatic community effects in Bispgarden, Sweden, after application of wood ash to the soil of the watershed ( Aronsson and Ekelund, 2008); poor water quality and its effects on the life history of the (Pajevic et al, 2008); pollutant levels and the biochemical response of an endangered fish (Tor putitora) along the River Kabul in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Yousafzai et al, 2008a; lead concentrations in water, sediments, and zooplankton of El Niagara Reservoir in Aquascalientes,…”