Goals

This work will provide information critical to understanding the sustainability, degradation and recovery potential of this complex ecosystem. More broadly, results from this study will aid researchers in the U.S., and other areas around the world impacted by acid deposition, to estimate the potential for chemical and biological recovery of forested ecosystems as pollutant loadings from fossil fuel emissions ameliorate over time.

 

Objective 1: Describe changes in soil chemistry that have occurred in the Adirondacks over the past 25 years; gather baseline soil chemistry data to monitor and assess decadal effects of acid deposition.

Objective 2: Describe effect of acid-induced calcium depletion on macroinvertebrates and mammalian insectivores at the forest floor.

Objective 3: Determine the impacts of episodic acidification events and calcium availability on stream biota by manipulating both duration and frequency of acidification events in acid-susceptible streams.