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Peat and solution chemistry responses to CaCO3 application in wetlands next to Woods Lake, New York

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Experimental Watershed Liming Study

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Abstract

We studied the effect of a calcite (CaCO3) treatment on peat and pore water chemistry in poor fen and conifer swamp wetlands next to Woods Lake and its tributaries to evaluate the role of wetlands in an Experimental Watershed Liming Study (EWLS). Peat was characteristically organic rich and nutrient poor, with exchangeable Ca concentrations of < 13 cmolckg-1. We estimated that between 0.4 to 4 Mg CaCO3 ha-1 fell directly on three study sites; however, one year after the treatment the increase in Ca concentration (0–8 cm depth) was equivalent to a CaCO3 dosage of 3 Mg ha-1 with an additional 2–4 Mg ha-1 of undissolved CaCO3 still present, suggesting the peat retained Ca supplied from uplands. Most aspects of peat chemistry including microbial respiration and SO4 reduction did not respond to the treatment.

Peat pore water (5 and 20 cm depths) had a mean pH of 4.82 before treatment with high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC mean of 790 μmol C/l) and low Ca2+ concentration (mean of 32 μmol/l). The CaCO3 treatment increased concentrations of Ca2+ to a mean of 87 μmol/l and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from 205 to a mean of 411 μmol/l, whereas it decreased monomeric Al concentration from 19 to 10 μmol/l. Otherwise, pore water chemistry showed little response to the treatment, at least within natural spatial and temporal variation of solute concentrations. The results suggest that liming watersheds with the relatively low CaCO3 dosage applied in this study can benefit acidic waters downstream by exporting more Ca and DIC and less monomeric Al, with otherwise little effect on the peat itself.

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  1. Department of Natural Resources, Fernow Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Joseph B. Yavitt & Timothy J. Fahey

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  1. Joseph B. Yavitt
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  2. Timothy J. Fahey
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Charles T. Driscoll

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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Yavitt, J.B., Fahey, T.J. (1996). Peat and solution chemistry responses to CaCO3 application in wetlands next to Woods Lake, New York. In: Driscoll, C.T. (eds) Experimental Watershed Liming Study. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0275-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0275-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6608-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0275-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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