Soilwater chemistry in a holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest: inferences on biogeochemical processes for a montane-Mediterranean area

Àvila, Anna; Bonilla, David; Roda, Ferran Camas; Piñol, Josep; Neal, Colin

doi:10.1016/0022-1694(94)02608-e

Cited by 31 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The highest NO 3 -concentrations in the H horizon correspond with the site in the soil profile of highest nitrification rates (Serrasolses et concentrations between the water collected below the forest floor and that collected from tension lysimeters at 20 and 40 cm depth. This indicates that free flowing water at the contact with the bedrock is a mixture of macropore water flowing from the forest floor and pre-event displaced soil solution from the mineral soil (Avila et al, 1995). The behaviour of other ions and, in particular, that of ionic ratios to Cl -taken as a tracer scarcely affected by exchange processes or biological uptake, gives support to this interpretation (Melià et al, 1999).…”

Section: Nitrogen Leachingmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Nitrogen circulation in a Mediterranean holm oak forest, La Castanya, Montseny, northeastern Spain

Àvila

Rodrigo

Roda

2002

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Bulk deposition, wet-only deposition, throughfall and dry deposition inferred from washing foliage and surrogate surfaces were used to describe inorganic N inputs to a forested catchment in the Montseny Mountains (La Castanya, Catalonia, Spain). Bulk inputs of inorganic N were moderate, with a mean of 5.7 kg N ha -1 yr -1 , ranging between 4 and 10 kg N ha -1 yr -1 for the period 1983 to 2000. Dry deposition fluxes estimated from washing branches added about 9 kg N ha -1 yr -1 to wet inputs and the total atmospheric deposition was estimated in 15 kg N ha -1 yr -1 . Despite this substantial input flux, nearly all the inorganic nitrogen was retained within the forest ecosystem: NH 4 + and NO 3 -concentrations decreased dramatically as water crossed the canopy and the soil profile. In the stream, at baseflow conditions, NH 4 + and NO 3 -concentrations were always below the analytical detection limit (< 2 µeq L -1 ). Only briefly during peak flows did NO 3 -concentrations increase up to 100 µeq L -1 . Averaged over 10 years (1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994), the export of N at the catchment outlet was 0.05 kg N ha -1 yr -1 . This indicates a very tight N cycling allowing for an increase of N availability in these undisturbed forest ecosystems.

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Section: Nitrogen Leachingmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…In addition, the soil solution was sampled with ceramic-cup tension lysimeters evacuated at -65 kPa. Eight lysimeters were used, four at each depth (20 cm and 40 cm depth; Avila et al, 1995).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen circulation in a Mediterranean holm oak forest, La Castanya, Montseny, northeastern Spain

Àvila

Rodrigo

Roda

2002

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…In the Mediterranean climate of Spain, chemical variations in the waterways of the La Castanya Biological Station are controlled by soil solution chemistry during high flows, and groundwater chemistry during low flows (Avila et al, 1995). This indicates that the majority of storm flow is derived from interflow through the soil zone, while the majority of baseflow is derived from groundwater flowpaths.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal dynamics of stream water chemistry in the last free-flowing river draining the western Sierra Nevada, California

Ahearn

Sheibley

Dahlgren

et al. 2004

Journal of Hydrology

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Temporal patterns of stream water chemistry were analyzed across the Cosumnes River Watershed (1989 km 2 ) for water years 1999-2002 to quantify hydrobiogeochemical dynamics in the last free-flowing watershed draining the western Sierra Nevada, California. The Mediterranean climate of California produces a distinct annual hydrologic pattern with three seasons: baseflow, stormflow, and meltflow. The baseflow season (July -October) is dominated by groundwater chemistry that primarily originates from high elevations, and thus does not vary much across the basin. During the baseflow season discharge is negatively correlated to ionic concentration, and sediment and nutrients are generally below detection levels. The stormflow season (November -March) is separated into a flushing period (where discharge is positively correlated to river water conductivity) and a dilution period (where discharge is negatively correlated to conductivity). During average flow years, virtually the entire annual load of nutrients and sediment moves through the watershed during the stormflow season. Because stormflow hydrologically links the land with local waterways, the stormflow season shows the greatest variance among sites across the diverse landscape of the Cosumnes Watershed. Chemistry of the meltflow season (April -June) is dominated by dilute upland snowmelt, and there is little chemical variation across the watershed. Storm-scale analysis in water year 2002 revealed that progressive flushing occurs with each storm event and that source area dynamics play an important role in chemograph response. With 19 of the 20 major rivers in the western Sierra Nevada having dams, these data provide scientists and regulators with a valuable reference to address how impoundment affects water quality. q

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“…Numerous mathematical models have been developed to describe the nitrogen dynamics in cool temperate river-systems, but further work is needed to understand and model the main processes controlling the nitrogen cycle in Mediterranean and semi-arid ecosystems since these systems are not well understood (Gelfand et al, 2008;Bernal et al, 2005;Avila et al, 1995;Wade et al, 2005). Mediterranean catchments are characterized by a complex hydrological behaviour that causes high inter and intra-annual variability in flow (Gallart et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the inorganic nitrogen behaviour in a small Mediterranean forested catchment, Fuirosos (Catalonia)

Medici

Bernal

Butturini

et al. 2010

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The aim of this work was to couple a nitrogen (N) sub-model to already existent hydrological lumped (LU4-N) and semi-distributed (LU4-R-N and SD4-R-N) conceptual models, to improve our understanding of the factors and processes controlling nitrogen cycling and losses in Mediterranean catchments. The N model adopted provides a simplified conceptualization of the soil nitrogen cycle considering mineralization, nitrification, immobilization, denitrification, plant uptake, and ammonium adsorption/desorption. It also includes nitrification and denitrification in the shallow perched aquifer. We included a soil moisture threshold for all the considered soil biological processes. The results suggested that all the nitrogen processes were highly influenced by the rain episodes and that soil microbial processes occurred in pulses stimulated by soil moisture increasing after rain. Our simulation highlighted the riparian zone as a possible source of nitrate, especially after the summer drought period, but it can also act as an important sink of nitrate due to denitrification, in particular during the wettest period of the year. The riparian zone was a key element to simulate the catchment nitrate behaviour. The lumped LU4-N model (which does not include the riparian zone) could not be validated, while both the semi-distributed LU4-R-N and SD4-R-N model (which include the riparian zone) gave satisfactory results for the calibration process and acceptable results for the temporal validation process.

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Soilwater chemistry in a holm oak (Quercus ilex) forest: inferences on biogeochemical processes for a montane-Mediterranean area

Cited by 31 publications

References 23 publications

Nitrogen circulation in a Mediterranean holm oak forest, La Castanya, Montseny, northeastern Spain

Nitrogen circulation in a Mediterranean holm oak forest, La Castanya, Montseny, northeastern Spain

Temporal dynamics of stream water chemistry in the last free-flowing river draining the western Sierra Nevada, California

Modelling the inorganic nitrogen behaviour in a small Mediterranean forested catchment, Fuirosos (Catalonia)

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