Short-term Effects of Clear-cutting on the Water Chemistry of Two Boreal Streams in Northern Sweden: A Paired Catchment Study

Löfgren, Stefan; Ring, Eva; Brömssen, Claudia von; Sørensen, Rasmus; Högbom, Lars

doi:10.1579/0044-7447-38.7.347

Cited by 85 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The highest increase in nutrient concentrations occurred in Paroninkorpi, the southern, fertile, spruce dominated catchment where the largest proportion (76 %) of the catchment was clear-cut. In contrast, at more northern Kivipuro and Balsjö catchments the concentrations of N fractions and PO 4 -P did not change although the significant proportion of the catchments were clear-cut (Ahtiainen and Huttunen 1999;Löfgren et al 2009). At Kangasvaara catchment, which also situates rather north, only NO 3 -N concentrations increased after clear-cutting (Palviainen et al 2014).…”

Section: Specific Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The soils are ferric or haplic podzols and fibric histosols. The study catchments are described in detail by Finér et al (1997), Ahtiainen and Huttunen (1999), Porvari et al (2003), Haapanen et al (2006), Löfgren et al (2009) and Palviainen et al (2014).…”

Section: Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ymparisto.fi/scripts/oiva.asp, downloaded 20.5.2013), and Högbom et al, provided partly unpublished data from Swedish Balsjö catchment (Löfgren et al 2009). Runoff from the catchments was measured using V-notch weirs equipped with continuous water-level recorders.…”

Section: Sampling and Chemical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2) and, consequently, 95 % confidence intervals of the specific concentration estimates were rather wide (Table 3). The magnitude and duration of the changes in concentrations depend on several factors such as catchment topography, soil properties, site fertility, atmospheric deposition, vegetation recovery, the timing of management practices and weather conditions after clear-cutting (Ahtiainen and Huttunen 1999;Mattsson et al 2003;Gundersen et al 2006;Palviainen et al 2007;Kreutzweiser et al 2008;Löfgren et al 2009;Futter et al 2010;Palviainen et al 2014). In addition to above-mentioned factors, the location of clear-cut area in relation to the stream may cause variability in treatment effects among studies (Kreutzweiser et al 2008;Abdelnour et al 2011).…”

Section: Specific Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impact of forest management practices on nutrient export has been determined in many single-paired catchment studies (Ahtiainen and Huttunen 1999;Löfgren et al 2009;Palviainen et al 2014). In the paired catchment method, runoff and water quality of two similar catchments are monitored during several years after which one of the catchments is treated and the other remains untreated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

Palviainen

Finér

Laurén

et al. 2015

Ambio

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Large-scale forestry operations, like clearcutting, may impair surface water quality if not done with environmental considerations in mind. Catchment and country level estimates of nutrient loads from forestry are generally based on specific export values, i.e., changes in annual exports due to the implemented forestry operations expressed in kg ha -1 . We introduce here a specific concentration approach as a method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations and export in headwater streams. This new method is potentially a more dynamic and flexible tool to estimate nutrient loads caused by forestry, because variation in annual runoff can be taken into account in load assessments. We combined water quality data from eight boreal headwater catchment pairs located in Finland and Sweden, where the effect of clear-cutting on stream water quality has been studied experimentally. Statistically significant specific concentration values could be produced for total nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate. The significant increases in the concentrations of these nutrients occurred between 2 and 6 years after clearcutting. Significant specific concentration values could not be produced for total phosphorus and total organic carbon with the whole dataset, although in some single studies significant increases in their concentrations after clear-cutting were observed. The presented method enables taking into account variation in runoff, temporal dynamics of effects, and the proportional size of the treated area in load calculations. The number of existing studies considering large site-specific variation in responses to clear-cutting is small, and therefore further empirical studies are needed to improve predictive capabilities of the specific concentration values.

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Section: Specific Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sampling and Chemical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Specific Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

Palviainen

Finér

Laurén

et al. 2015

Ambio

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Drivers of increased organic carbon concentrations in stream water following forest disturbance: Separating effects of changes in flow pathways and soil warming

et al. 2013

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[1] Forest disturbance such as clear-cutting has been identified as an important factor for increasing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in boreal streams. We used a long-term data set of soil temperature, soil moisture, shallow groundwater (GW) levels, and stream DOC concentrations from three boreal first-order streams to investigate mechanisms causing these increases. Clear-cutting was found to alter soil conditions with warmer and wetter soils during summer. The application of a riparian flow concentration integration model (RIM) explained a major part of variation in stream [DOC] arising from changing flow pathways in riparian soils during the pretreatment period (r 2 = 0.4-0.7), but less well after the harvest. Model residuals were sensitive to changes in soil temperature. The linear regression models for the temperature dependence of [DOC] in soils were not different in the disturbed and undisturbed catchments, whereas a nonlinear response to soil moisture was found. Overall these results suggest that the increased DOC mobilization after forest disturbance is caused by (i) increased GW levels leading to increased water fluxes in shallow flow path in riparian soils and (ii) increased soil temperature increasing the DOC availability in soils during summer. These relationships indicate that the mechanisms of DOC mobilization after forest disturbance are not different to those of undisturbed catchments, but that catchment soils respond to the higher hydro-climatic variation observed after clear-cutting. This highlights the sensitivity of boreal streams to changes in the energy and water balance, which may be altered as a result of both land management and climate change.Citation: Schelker, J., T. Grabs, K. Bishop, and H. Laudon (2013), Drivers of increased organic carbon concentrations in stream water following forest disturbance: Separating effects of changes in flow pathways and soil warming, J. Geophys.

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Forest harvest contribution to Boreal freshwater methyl mercury load

Kronberg

Drott

Jiskra

et al. 2016

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Effects of Boreal forest harvest on mercury (Hg) and methyl mercury (MeHg) soil pools and export by stream runoff were quantified by comparing 10 reference watersheds (REFs) covered by >80 year old Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst.) forests with 10 similar watersheds subjected to clear-cutting (CCs). While total Hg soil storage did not change, MeHg pools increased seven times (p = 0.006) in the organic topsoil 2 years after clear-cutting. In undulating terrain, situated above the postglacial marine limit (ML) of the ancient Baltic Sea, the mass ratio between flux-weighted MeHg and dissolved organic carbon (MeHg/DOC) in stream runoff increased 1.8 times (p < 0.004) as a consequence of forest harvest. When recalculated to 100% clear-cutting of the watershed, the annual MeHg stream export increased 3.8 times (p = 0.047). Below the ML, where the terrain was flatter, neither the MeHg/DOC ratio nor the annual export of MeHg differed between REFs and CCs, likely because of the larger contribution of MeHg exported from peaty soils and small wetlands. The most robust measure, MeHg/DOC, was used to calculate MeHg loadings to Boreal headwaters. If the forest harvest effect lasts 10 years, clear-cutting increases MeHg runoff by 12-20% in Sweden and 2% in the Boreal zone as a whole. In Sweden, having intensely managed forests, 37% and 56% of MeHg are exported from peatlands and forest soils, respectively, and forest clear-cutting is adding another 6.6%. In the Boreal zone as a whole peatlands and forests soils contribute with 53% and 46%, respectively, and clearcutting is estimated to add another 1.0%. An expected rapid increase in Boreal forest harvest and disturbance urge for inclusion of land use effects in mercury biogeochemical cycling models at different scales.

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Short-term Effects of Clear-cutting on the Water Chemistry of Two Boreal Streams in Northern Sweden: A Paired Catchment Study

Cited by 85 publications

References 46 publications

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

A method to estimate the impact of clear-cutting on nutrient concentrations in boreal headwater streams

Drivers of increased organic carbon concentrations in stream water following forest disturbance: Separating effects of changes in flow pathways and soil warming

Forest harvest contribution to Boreal freshwater methyl mercury load

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