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Cycling of organic and inorganic sulphur in a chestnut oak forest

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Summary

Sulfur (S) cycling in a chestnut oak forest on Walker Branch Watershed, Tennessee, was dominated by geochemical processes involving sulfate. Even though available SO 2-4 was present far in excess of forest nutritional requirements, the ecosystem as a whole accumulated ∼60% of incoming SO4−S. Most (90%) of this accumulation occurred by SO 2-4 adsorption in sesquioxide-rich subsurface soils, with a relatively minor amount accumulating and cycling as SO 2-4 within vegetative components. Organic sulfates are thought to constitute a large proportion of total S in surface soils, also, and to provide a pool of readily mineralized available S within the ecosystem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 37830, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA

    D. W. Johnson, G. S. Henderson, D. D. Huff, S. E. Lindberg, D. D. Richter, D. S. Shriner & D. E. Todd

  2. Forestry Commission of N.S.W., Beeroft, P.O. Box 100, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia

    J. Turner

Authors
  1. D. W. Johnson
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  2. G. S. Henderson
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  3. D. D. Huff
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  4. S. E. Lindberg
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  5. D. D. Richter
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  6. D. S. Shriner
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  7. D. E. Todd
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  8. J. Turner
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Additional information

Research sponsored by Division of Biomedical and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy, under contract W-7405-eng-26 with Union Carbide Corporation. Soil ester sulfate work sponsored by contract RP-1813-1 with the Electric Power Research Institute. Publication No. 1990, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

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Johnson, D.W., Henderson, G.S., Huff, D.D. et al. Cycling of organic and inorganic sulphur in a chestnut oak forest. Oecologia 54, 141–148 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378385

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378385

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