『Abstract
We used 87Sr/86Sr as a proxy for Ca to
apportion the contribution of atmospheric deposition and soil
mineral weathering sources to the Ca pools in trees in a small
forested watershed of southern Quebec. The effects of topography
and forest stand composition were assessed by dividing the watershed
into three study zones representing two elevations and differences
in tree species. Apportionment calculations show that all tree
species studied contained Ca that is dominantly sourced from soil
mineral weathering ( averaging 85%), due to the presence in the
soils of easily weathered Ca^bearing minerals such as calcite
and apatite as well as the relatively deep rooting habits (reaching
the mineral soil) of the tree species. Calcium pools in trees
are shifted towards the atmospheric component on hilltops due
to the filtering of dry aerosols of the tree canopies which are
more exposed to atmospheric circulation than trees at the bottom
of the slopes, although some variability in soil bulk chemistry
and mineralogy in the watershed obscures the full extent of this
phenomenon. The buildup and recycling of Ca in the soil-vegetation
system, with the forest floor acting as the major accessible Ca
pool for the tree roots, must be considered when interpreting
apportionment calculations. This work supports other Ca cycling
models in forests suggesting that topography can influence the
balance of Ca captured from atmospheric sources by trees, even
in cases where mineral weathering is the dominant source of Ca
nutrition in trees.
Keywords: Calcium cycling; Atmospheric deposition; Soil mineral
weathering; 87Sr/86Sr; Ca/Sr; Ba/Sr』
1. Introduction
2. materials and methods
2.1. Study site
2.2. Field study
2.3. Sequential chemical leaching
2.4. Major and minor element analyses
2.5. 87Sr/86Sr analyses
3. Results
3.1. Atmospheric deposition 87Sr/86Sr
and molar Ca/Sr
3.2. Wood and foliage 87Sr/86Sr and molar
Ca/Sr
3.3. Soil and bedrock 87Sr/86Sr, molar
Ca/Sr and molar Ba/Sr
3.4. Stream water and soil solution 87Sr/86Sr,
molar Ca/Sr and molar Ba/Sr
3.5. Calcium apportionment calculations
4. Discussion
4.1. Soil mineral weathering
4.2. Significance of anorthosite weathering contributions to
the stream
4.3. Implications for Ca apportionment studies using 87Sr/86Sr
as a tracer
Acknowledgement
References