ABSTRACT PROPOSAL # : DEB-9615199 INVESTIGATOR(S) : FERNANDEZ, RUSTAD, KAHL, NORTON INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF MAINE The aims of this research are to continue treatment and monitoring of a paired watershed experiment at Bear Brook in northern Maine, with an emphasis on changes in soil base cations, particularly calcium. Base cation depletion is well-recognised as a potential problem in soils that have been subjected to acidic N deposition but few data exist from well-controlled, long-term experiments. The Bear Brook watershed has been periodically treated with ammonium sulfate since the fall of 1989 and is believed to be approaching N saturation. Since 1993 the relationship between base cations and strong acid anions has changed, such that labile Ca and Mg may be depleted in the soils as Al losses increase. Continued monitoring will allow tests of a series of hypotheses about controls and mechanisms of cation retention and leaching in temperate forest soils.
