Bowden W.B.
Short-Term Disappearance of Foliar Litter in Three Species Before and After a Hurricane'
Fri, 07/22/2011 - 14:00 — ckassShort-Term Disappearance of Foliar Litter in Three Species before and after a Hurricane
Neal H. Sullivan, William B. Bowden and William H. McDowell
Biotropica
Vol. 31, No. 3 (Sep., 1999), pp. 382-393
Abstract:
Litter disappearance was examined before (1989) and after (1990) Hurricane Hugo in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico using mesh litterbags containing abscised Cyrilla racemiflora or Dacryodes excelsa leaves or fresh Prestoea montana leaves. Biomass and nitrogen dynamics were compared among: (i) species; (ii) mid- and high elevation forest types; (iii) riparian and upland sites; and (iv) pre- and post-hurricane disturbed environments. Biomass disappearance was compared using multiple regression and negative exponential models in which the slopes were estimates of the decomposition rates subsequent to apparent leaching losses and the y-intercepts were indices of initial mass losses (leaching). Cyrilla racemiflora leaves with low nitrogen (0.39%) and high lignin (22.1%) content decayed at a low rate and immobilized available nitrogen. Dacryodes excelsa leaves had moderate nitrogen (0.67%) and lignin (16.6%) content, decayed at moderate rates, and maintained the initial nitrogen mass. Prestoea montana foliage had high nitrogen (1.76%) and moderate lignin (16.7%) content and rapidly lost both mass and nitrogen. There were no significant differences in litter disappearance and nitrogen dynamics among forest types and slope positions. Initial mass loss of C. racemiflora leaves was lower in 1990 but the subsequent decomposition rate did not change. Initial mass losses and the overall decomposition rates were lower in 1990 than in 1989 for Dacryodes excelsa. Dacryodes excelsa and C. racemiflora litter immobilized nitrogen in 1990 but released 10-15 percent of their initial nitrogen in 1989, whereas P. montana released nitrogen in both years (25-40%). Observed differences in litter disappearance rates between years may have been due to differences in the timing of precipitation. Foliar litter inputs during post-hurricane recovery of vegetation in Puerto Rico may serve to immobilize and conserve site nitrogen.
Can uptake length in strams be determined by nutrient addition experiments? Results from an interbiome comparison study
Fri, 07/22/2011 - 09:51 — ckassMulholland, P. J; Tanks, J. L.; Webster, J. R.; Bowden, W. B.; Dodds, W. K; Gregory, S. V.; Grimm, N. B; Meriam, J. L.; Meyer, J. L.; Peterson, B. J.; Valett, H. M.; Wollheim, W. M. 2002. Can uptake length in strams be determined by nutrient addition experiments? Results from an interbiome comparison study. J. N. Am. Bethol. Soc. 2002, 21(4): 544-560.
Abstract:
Nutrient uptake length is an important parnmeter tor quantifying nutrient cycling in streams. Although nutrient tracer additions are the preierred method for measuring uptake length under ambient nutrient concentrations, short-term nutrient addition experiments have more irequently been used to estimate uptake length in streams. Theoretical analysis of the relationship between uptake length determined by nutrient addition experiments (Sw') and uptake length determined by tracer additions (Sw)predicted that Sw' should be consistently longer than 5,", and that the overestimate of uptake length by Sw( should be related to the level of nutrient addition above ambient concentrations and the degree of nutrient limitation. To test these predictions, we used data irom an interbiorne study of NH,- uptake length in which 15NH,- tracer and short-term NH,-a ddition experiments were performed in 10 streams using a uniform experimental approach. The experimental results largely contirmed the theoretical predictions: sw' was consistently longer than Sw and Sw':Sw ratios were directly related to the level of NH,- addition and to indicatvrs of N limitation. The experimentally derived Sw':Sw, ratios were used with the theoretical results to infer the N limitation status of each stream. Together, the theoretical and experimental results showed the tracer experiments should be used whenever possible to determine nutrient uptake length in streams. Nutrient addition experiments may be useful for comparing uptake lengths between different streams or cliiferent times in the same stream. however, provided that nutrient additions are kept as low as possible and of similar miagnitude.
Riparian Nitrogen Dynamics in Two Geomorphologically Distinct Tropical Rain Forest Watersheds: Subsurface Solute Patterns
Fri, 07/22/2011 - 09:42 — ckassRiparian Nitrogen Dynamics in Two Geomorphologically Distinct Tropical Rain Forest Watersheds: Subsurface Solute Patterns
William H. McDowell, William B. Bowden and Clyde E. Asbury
Biogeochemistry
Vol. 18, No. 2 (1992), pp. 53-75
Abstract:
Nitrate, ammonium, dissolved organic N, and dissolved oxygen were measured in stream water and shallow groundwater in the riparian ones of two tropical watersheds with different soils and geomorphology. At both sites, concentrations of dissolved inorganic N (DIN: NH-4+ and NO-3-N) were low in stream water lt 110 mu-g/L). Markedly different patterns in DIN were observed in groundwater collected at the two sites. At the first site (Icacos watershed), DIN in upslope groundwater was dominated by NO-3-N (550 mu-g/L) and oxygen concentrations were high (5.2 mg/l). As groundwater moved through the floodplain and to the stream, DIN shifted to dominance by NH-4+-N (200-700 mu-g/L) and groundwater was often anoxic. At the second site (Bisley watershed), average concentrations of total dissolved nitrogen were considerably lower (300 mu-g/L) than at Icacos (600 mu-g/L), and the dominant form of nitrogen was DON rather than inorganic N. Concentrations of NH-4+ and NO-3- were similar throughout the riparian zone at Bisley, but concentrations of DON declined from upslope wells to stream water. Differences in speciation and concentration of nitrogen in groundwater collected at the two sites appears to be controlled by differences in redox conditions and accessibility of dissolved N to plant roots, which are themselves the result of geomorphological differences between the two watersheds. At the Icacos site, a deep layer of coarse sand conducts subsurface water to the stream below the rooting zone of riparian vegetation and through zones of strong horizontal redox zonation. At the Bisley site, infiltration is impeded by dense clays and saturated flow passes though the variably oxidized rooting zone. At both sites, hydrologic export of nitrogen is controlled by intense biotic activity in the riparian zones. However, geomorphology appears to strongly modify the importance of specific biotic components.
Effects of Hurricane Disturbance on Groundwater Chemistry and Riparian Function in a Tropical Rain Forest
Fri, 07/22/2011 - 09:39 — ckassEffects of Hurricane Disturbance on Groundwater Chemistry and Riparian Function in a Tropical Rain Forest
William H. McDowell, Claire P. McSwiney and William B. Bowden
Biotropica
Vol. 28, No. 4, Part A. Special Issue: Long Term Responses of Caribbean Ecosystems to Disturbances (Dec., 1996), pp. 577-584
Abstract:
The long-term response of shallow groundwater chemistry to the canopy disturbance and defoliation associated with Hurricane Hugo was studied at two sites in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. The sites differed in bedrock type, dominant vegetation, and availability of pre-hurricane data. At the primary study site, the Bisley catchment, hurricane disturbance resulted in increased concentrations of NO3 -, NH4 +, dissolved organic N, base cations, Cl-, and SiO2 in groundwater within 5 mo of the hurricane. The largest relative change in concentration occurred for K+, which increased from 0.7 to as high as 13 mg/L, concentrations were still 1.3 mg/L 5.5 yr after the hurricane. Most other solutes had returned to background levels within 1-2 yr of the hurricane. At the secondary study site, the Icacos catchment, NO3 - concentrations peaked at 1.1 mg/L one yr after the hurricane and decreased to nearly zero 5.5 yr after the hurricane. At both sites, NO3 - concentrations were higher in upslope wells than in those closer to the stream. Overall, riparian processes appear to reduce but not eliminate hydrologic losses of N following catastrophic disturbance. The nature of the long-term biogeochemical response to disturbance in this tropical rain forest ecosystem is similar to that observed in some montane temperate forests, and the time course of recovery appears to be associated with the speed with which vegetation regrows following disturbance.
Riparian Nitrogen Dynamics in Two Geomorphologically Distinct Tropical Rain Forest Watersheds: Nitrous Oxide Fluxes
Thu, 07/21/2011 - 15:49 — ckassRiparian Nitrogen Dynamics in Two Geomorphologically Distinct Tropical Rain Forest Watersheds: Nitrous Oxide Fluxes
William B. Bowden, William H. McDowell, Clyde E. Asbury and Amy M. Finley
Biogeochemistry
Vol. 18, No. 2 (1992), pp. 77-99
Abstract:
Fluxes of N<sub>2</sub>O at the soil surface, dissolved N<sub>2</sub>O in near-surface groundwater, and potential N<sub>2</sub>O production rates were measured across riparian catenas in two rain forest watersheds in Puerto Rico. In the Icacos watershed, mean N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes were highest at topographic breaks in the landscape (∼40-300 μg N<sub>2</sub>O-N m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>). At other locations in the riparian zone and hillslope, fluxes were lower (≤ 2 μg N<sub>2</sub>O-N m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>). This pattern of surface N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes was persistent. In the Bisley watershed, mean suface N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes were lower (<40 μg N<sub>2</sub>O-N m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup>) and no identifiable spatial or temporal pattern. Although the spatial patterns and intensities of N<sub>2</sub>O emissions differed between the two watersheds, surface soils from both sites had a high potential to reduce NO<sub>3</sub> to N<sub>2</sub>O (and perhaps N<sub>2</sub>). This potential declined sharply with depth as did soil %C, %N, and potential N-mineralization. Simple controls on denitrification (i.e. aeration, nitrate, and carbon) explained characteristics of potential N<sub>2</sub>O production in surface and deep soils from riparian and upslope locations. In the field, spatial patterns in these controlling variables were defined by geomorphological differences between the two watersheds, which then explained the spatial patterns of observed N<sub>2</sub>O flux.
