| Project Title |  |
| Project
B1: Post-deposition mobility of trace metals in boreal forest ecosystems.
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| Research Team | |
| B. Hale, Univ. of
Guelph Email: bhale@lrs.uoguelph.ca Tel: 519-824-4120 X 3434 Co-Investigators: R. Martin, University of Western Ontario.
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| Project Summary | |
| The long term objective of this project is to determine the principal factors from which the movement of trace metals between soil and vegetation in terrestrial ecosystems can be predicted, and to integrate that information into a process-based understanding of the fate of metals that are deposited to terrestrial ecosystems. Permanent transects have been established along gradients of soil metal concentrations in Sudbury, ON and Rouyn-Noranda, QC. At the same sites along these two transects, soils and vegetation (key species) were intensively sampled in 1999. Permanent soil solution and throughfall samplers have been installed. Soils have been collected, and aboratory analyses are underway to determine the soil properties that could be responsible for generating the adsorption sites, and leaching experiments will begin shortly to quantify the binding strength between soil particles and the metals in solution. Key plant species studied (include black spruce (Picea mariana), red pine (Pinus resinosa), white birch (Betula papyrifera), blueberry (Vaccinium augustifolium), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) and bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis) have been sampled for metals. Plant community characterization is partially completed, for allometric estimates of phytomass. Leaf and fine root decomposition experiments have been initiated for determination of relative contribution to total soil metals. Core samples have been collected from selected trees in the Sudbury area. The core metal content is being measured using ICP-OES, and will indicate whether dendroanalysis can be used effectively for individual elements. | |