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Effects of Collection Interval on Quality of Throughfall Samples in Two Northern Hardwood Stands
Author(s) -
Liechty Hal O.,
Mroz Glenn D.
Publication year - 1991
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/jeq1991.00472425002000030014x
Subject(s) - throughfall , chemistry , hardwood , environmental chemistry , canopy , environmental science , cycling , deciduous , zoology , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , forestry , biology , geography , geology , geotechnical engineering
The chemical stability of weekly and biweekly throughfall collection intervals were compared at two northern hardwood stands in the Great Lakes region. Throughfall concentrations of Cl − , NO − 3 , SO 2− 4 , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were not significantly ( p ≤ 0.05) affected by the increased collection time, where as throughfall concentrations of NH + 4 and H + collected biweekly were significantly different ( p ≤ 0.05) than concentrations of these ions in weekly samples. The 1‐wk increase in collection interval at one stand decreased concentrations of NH + 4 and increased concentrations of H + 88 and 131%, respectively. The chemical instability of these ions appeared to be related to biological assimilation and/or nitrification of NH + 4 . Stability of these ions decreased with increasing concentrations of inorganic N in the throughfall. These changes in concentrations of NH + 4 and H + may introduce sampling bias when estimating throughfall fluxes or concentrations of these ions from biweekly collections. The decreased stability of these ions with increased concentrations of inorganic N should be an important consideration when selecting sampling intervals for stands that receive differing deposition levels of atmospheric N or have different canopy retention rates of N.