Air Pollutant Deposition and Its Effects on Natural Resources in New York State

Ecosystem effects from air pollution in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and elsewhere in New York have been substantial. Efforts to characterize and quantify these impacts, and to examine more recent recovery, have focused largely on surface waters, soils, and forests. Lakes, streams, and soils have acidified. Estuaries have become more eutrophic. Nutrient cycles have been disrupted. Mercury has bioaccumulated to toxic levels. Plant species composition has changed. Some surface waters show signs of partial chemical recovery in response to emissions control programs, but available data suggest that soil chemistry may continue to deteriorate under expected future emissions and deposition. Resource managers, policymakers, and scientists now need to know the extent to which current and projected future emissions reductions will lead to ecosystem recovery. In this book, Timothy J. Sullivan provides a comprehensive synthesis of past, current, and potential future conditions regarding atmospheric sulfur, nitrogen oxides, ammonium, and mercury deposition; surface water chemistry; soil chemistry; forests; and aquatic biota in New York, providing much needed information to help set emissions reduction goals, evaluate incremental improvements, conduct cost/benefit analyses, and prioritize research needs. He draws upon a wealth of research conducted over the past thirty years that has categorized, quantified, and advanced understanding of ecosystem processes related to atmospheric deposition of strong acids, nutrients, and mercury and associated ecosystem effects. An important component of this volume is the new interest in the management and mitigation of ecosystem damage from air pollution stress, which builds on the "critical loads" approach pioneered in Europe and now gaining interest in the United States. This book will inform scientists, resource managers, and policy analysts regarding the state of scientific knowledge on these complex topics and their policy relevance and will help to guide public policy assessment work in New York, the Northeast, and nationally. | Ecosystem effects from air pollution in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and elsewhere in New York have been substantial. Efforts to characterize and quantify these impacts, and to examine more recent recovery, have focused largely on surface waters, soils, and forests. Lakes, streams, and soils have acidified. Estuaries have become more eutrophic. Nutrient cycles have been disrupted. Mercury has bioaccumulated to toxic levels. Plant species composition has changed. Some surface waters show signs of partial chemical recovery in response to emissions control programs, but available data suggest that soil chemistry may continue to deteriorate under expected future emissions and deposition. Resource managers, policymakers, and scientists now need to know the extent to which current and projected future emissions reductions will lead to ecosystem recovery.In this book, Timothy J. Sullivan provides a comprehensive synthesis of past, current, and potential future conditions regarding atmospheric sulfur, nitrogen oxides, ammonium, and mercury deposition; surface water chemistry; soil chemistry; forests; and aquatic biota in New York, providing much needed information to help set emissions reduction goals, evaluate incremental improvements, conduct cost/benefit analyses, and prioritize research needs. He draws upon a wealth of research conducted over the past thirty years that has categorized, quantified, and advanced understanding of ecosystem processes related to atmospheric deposition of strong acids, nutrients, and mercury and associated ecosystem effects. An important component of this volume is the new interest... Contents List of Figures List of Plates List of Tables Preface Acknowledgments List of Acronyms and Abbreviations Chapter 1. Background and Purpose 1.1. Atmospheric Deposition in New York 1.2. Air Quality Management 1.2.1. Clean Air Act 1.2.2. Regional Haze Rule 1.2.3. Federal Water Pollution Control Act 1.2.4. Other Legislation 1.3. Ecosystem Functions and Services 1.4. Goals and Objectives Chapter 2. Resource Sensitivity to Atmospheric Deposition 2.1. Geology 2.2. Soils 2.3. Forest Vegetation 2.4. Hydrology and Hydrodynamics 2.5. Wetlands 2.6. Surface Water 2.6.1. Streams and Lakes 2.6.1.1. Acid-Base Chemistry 2.6.1.2. Nutrients 2.6.2. Estuaries and Near-Coastal Marine Waters Chapter 3. Principal Stressors 3.1. Sulfur, Nitrogen, and Mercury Emissions and Deposition 3.1.1. Sulfur Emissions and Deposition 3.1.1.1. Sulfur Emissions into the Atmosphere 3.1.1.2. Sulfur Deposition 3.1.2. Nitrogen Oxide and Ammonia Emissions and Deposition 3.1.2.1. Nitrogen Emissions into the Atmosphere 3.1.2.2. Nitrogen Deposition and Other Watershed N Sources 3.1.3. Mercury Emissions and Deposition 3.1.3.1. Mercury Emissions into the Atmosphere 3.1.3.2. Mercury Deposition 3.2. Watershed Disturbance 3.2.1. Timber Harvest and Fire 3.2.2. Land Use Change 3.2.3. Invasive Species 3.2.4. Other Disturbances 3.2.5. Multiple Stress Response 3.3. Mercury Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification 3.4. Climate Change 3.4.1. Influence of Soil Freezing on N Cycling 3.4.2. Extreme Events Chapter 4. Chemical Effects of Atmospheric Deposition 4.1. Sulfur 4.1.1. Upland Sulfur Cycling Processes 4.1.2. Wetland Sulfur Cycling Processes 4.1.3. Surface Water Sulfur Cycling Processes 4.2. Nitrogen 4.2.1. Upland Nitrogen Cycling Processes 4.2.2. Wetland Nitrogen Cycling Processes 4.2.3. Fresh Surface Water Nitrogen Cycling Processes 4.2.4. Coastal Nitrogen Cycling Processes 4.2.5. Nitrogen Saturation 4.3. Dissolved Organic Carbon 4.3.1. Upland Processes 4.3.2. Wetland Processes 4.3.3. Surface Water Processes 4.4. Base Cations and Aluminum 4.4.1. Upland Processes 4.4.2. Wetland and Surface Water Processes 4.5. Acid-Base Interactions 4.5.1. Soil-Water Interactions 4.5.2. Upland Processes 4.5.3. Base Cation Depletion 4.5.4. Wetland and Surface Water Processes 4.5.4.1. Chronic Acidification Processes 4.5.4.2. Episodic Acidification Processes 4.6. Nutrient Interactions 4.6.1. Terrestrial Effects 4.6.2. Wetland Effects 4.6.3. Surface Water Effects 4.6.3.1. High Elevation Lakes 4.6.3.2. Great Lakes 4.6.3.3. Coastal Waters 4.7. Mercury Interactions 4.7.1. Upland Processes 4.7.2. Wetland Processes 4.7.3. Surface Water Processes Chapter 5. Biotic Effects of Atmospheric Deposition 5.1. Terrestrial Resource Response to Acidification, Eutrophication and Mercury Input 5.1.1. Red Spruce Response to Acidification 5.1.2. Sugar Maple Response to Acidification 5.1.3. Vegetation Response to Nitrogen Supply 5.1.4. Avian Response to Acidification 5.1.5. Mercury Methylation 5.1.6. Effects of Mercury on Humans 5.2. Effects on the Biology of Freshwater Ecosystems 5.2.1. Phytoplankton 5.2.2. Zooplankton 5.2.3. Benthic Macroinvertebrates 5.2.4. Fish 5.2.4.1. Effects of Acidification on Fish 5.2.4.2. Effects of Mercury on Fish 5.2.4.3. Effects of Environmental Factors on Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish 5.2.5. Fish-Eating Birds and Mammals 5.2.5.1. Fish-Eating Birds 5.2.5.2. Fish-Eating Mammals 5.2.6. Other Life Forms 5.2.7. Community Metrics 5.2.7.1. Taxonomic Richness 5.2.7.2. Indices of Biotic Integrity 5.3. Effects on Coastal Aquatic Biota 5.3.1. Phytoplankton in Coastal Waters 5.3.2. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation 5.3.3. Shellfish and Fish Chapter 6. Historical Patterns of Effects 6.1. Paleoecological Studies 6.2. Watershed Model Hindcast Studies 6.3. Recent Trends in Monitoring Data 6.3.1. Wet and Dry Deposition 6.3.2. Soils 6.3.3. Surface Waters 6.3.3.1. Chemistry 6.3.3.2. Biology Chapter 7. Extrapolation of Site-Specific Data to the Broader Region 7.1. Methods of Regionalization 7.2. Regionalization of Survey Data 7.3. Regionalization of Long-Term Monitoring Data Chapter 8. Projected Future Responses of Sensitive Resources to Reductions in Acidic Atmospheric Deposition 8.1. Modeling Approaches 8.1.1. MAGIC 8.1.2. PnET-BGC 8.1.3. SPARROW 8.1.4. WATERSN 8.1.5. ASSETS 8.2. Projections Based on Existing and Future Emissions Controls Chapter 9. Critical Load 9.1. Approaches 9.2. Critical- and Target-Load Calculations 9.3. Utility to Policy Makers 9.4. Linkages to Biological Response Chapter 10. Climate Linkages 10.1. Temperature 10.2. Water Quantity and Quality Chapter 11. Linkages with Ecosystem Services 11.1. Forest and Freshwater Aquatic Resources 11.2. Coastal Resources Chapter 12. Active Intervention Chapter 13. Summary and Important Data Gaps and Recommendations Glossary References Cited About the Author Plates are at the end of the book.

Ecosystem effects from air pollution in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and elsewhere in New York have been substantial. Efforts to characterize and quantify these impacts, and to examine more recent recovery, have focused largely on surface waters, soils, and forests. Lakes, streams, and soils have acidified. Estuaries have become more eutrophic. Nutrient cycles have been disrupted. Mercury has bioaccumulated to toxic levels. Plant species composition has changed. Some surface waters show signs of partial chemical recovery in response to emissions control programs, but available data suggest that soil chemistry may continue to deteriorate under expected future emissions and deposition. Resource managers, policymakers, and scientists now need to know the extent to which current and projected future emissions reductions will lead to ecosystem recovery.In this book, Timothy J. Sullivan provides a comprehensive synthesis of past, current, and potential future conditions regarding atmospheric sulfur, nitrogen oxides, ammonium, and mercury deposition; surface water chemistry; soil chemistry; forests; and aquatic biota in New York, providing much needed information to help set emissions reduction goals, evaluate incremental improvements, conduct cost/benefit analyses, and prioritize research needs. He draws upon a wealth of research conducted over the past thirty years that has categorized, quantified, and advanced understanding of ecosystem processes related to atmospheric deposition of strong acids, nutrients, and mercury and associated ecosystem effects. An important component of this volume is the new interest in the management and mitigation of ecosystem damage from air pollution stress, which builds on the "critical loads" approach pioneered in Europe and now gaining interest in the United States.This book will inform scientists, resource managers, and policy analysts regarding the state of scientific knowledge on these complex topics and their policy relevance and will help to guide public policy assessment work in New York, the Northeast, and nationally.