Biogeochemistry of beetle-killed forests: Explaining a weak nitrate response
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Abstract
A current pine beetle infestation has caused extensive mortality of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in forests of Colorado and Wyoming; it is part of an unprecedented multispecies beetle outbreak extending from Mexico to Canada. In United States and European watersheds, where atmospheric deposition of inorganic N is moderate to low (<10 kg⋅ha⋅y), disturbance of forests by timber harvest or violent storms causes an increase in stream nitrate concentration that typically is close to 400% of predisturbance concentrations. In contrast, no significant increase in streamwater nitrate concentrations has occurred following extensive tree mortality caused by the mountain pine beetle in Colorado. A model of nitrate release from Colorado watersheds calibrated with field data indicates that stimulation of nitrate uptake by vegetation components unaffected by beetles accounts for significant nitrate retention in beetle-infested watersheds. The combination of low atmospheric N deposition (<10 kg⋅ha⋅y), tree mortality spread over multiple years, and high compensatory capacity associated with undisturbed residual vegetation and soils explains the ability of these beetle-infested watersheds to retain nitrate despite catastrophic mortality of the dominant canopy tree species.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Biogeochemistry of beetle-killed forests: Explaining a weak nitrate response |
| Series title | PNAS |
| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.1221029110 |
| Volume | 110 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Year Published | 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | National Academy of Sciences |
| Contributing office(s) | Colorado Water Science Center |
| Description | 5 p. |
| First page | 1756 |
| Last page | 1760 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
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