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Flooding and Landfill Gas Effects on Red and Sugar Maples
Author(s) -
Arthur J. J.,
Leone I. A.,
Flower F. B.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1981.00472425001000040001x
Subject(s) - aceraceae , maple , sugar , soil water , environmental science , chemistry , botany , horticulture , environmental chemistry , agronomy , biology , soil science , biochemistry
Seedlings of two maple species, Acer rubrum L. (red maple) and Acer saccharum Marsh (sugar maple), tolerant and intolerant to flooded soils, respectively, were subjected to flooded and simulated landfill‐gas‐saturated soils in modified 88‐liter steel trash cans in order to determine if flood‐tolerant characteristics of woody species are also effective in protecting plants from the effects of anaerobically produced gases (chiefly CH 4 and CO 2 ) in former landfills. The composition of the simulated landfill gas mixture consisting of approximately 3% O 2 , 40% CO 2 , 50% CH 4 , and 7% N 2 (typical of many landfills observed), and the control, consisting of approximately 20% O 2 , <1% CO 2 , 80% N, and 0% CH 4 , were monitored routinely during the course of the experiment. Results of the experiment, based on stomatal resistances to the diffusion of water vapor from the leaf surfaces of the two species and visual appearances, indicated that the flood‐tolerant species, red maple, was also more tolerant of landfill‐gas‐contaminated soil than was sugar maple, the more sensitive of the two to flooded soils.