Does wollastonite make the soil drier? Justin Turlip, MELNHE REU Summer 2014, NYU ‘15

1. Justin Turlip
MELNHE REU Summer 2014
NYU ‘15

2. Happy Trees have Ca!
 An integral nutrient in forested ecosystems
 Maintains structural integrity and helps
physiological function of trees
-stomatal regulation, cell division and
more
 Acid rain in Northern Hardwood Forests
over the last 60 years (Likens and Borman 124).
 Calcium leaches from the soil at a net loss for
the ecosystem
-Calcium becomes a limiting nutrient

3. Hubbard Brook 1999
 Whole watershed addition of
wollastonite (CaSiO3) in
Watershed 1
-to bring Ca concentration to pre-
industrial levels
(1,000kg Ca/hectare) (Green et al 2013)

4. HubbardBrook CaSiO3 Addition Results
 From 1999 until 2002,
transpiration and primary
productivity increased in
Watershed 1 (Green et al 2013)
 In 2002, transpiration began
to decrease in Watershed 1 to
pre-1999 levels (Green et al 2013)
 short-term rapid growth
-- -xylem and root growth
(enhanced water transport and
increased productivity) (Green et al
2013)
 Long-term increased stomatal
efficiency? (Green et al 2013)
Not well understood!

5. 2011 MELNHE CaSi Addition
 Wollastonite addition in 5 plots of
experimental stands in the White
Mountains, NH.
-Bartlett Experimental Forest (C1, C6,
C8)
-Jeffers Brook (JBO, JBM)
-Hubbard Brook (HBo)
 Attempt to better understand how CaSiO3
affects evapotranspiration and productivity

6. Methods
 Sample soil moisture in all CaSi plots and
corresponding control plots at 3 depths (10cm,
30cm, 50cm)
-compare soil moisture for leaf
on vs leaf off for each plot to show water use by plants
 Instruments
-EC-5 soil moisture probes
-Decagon EM-50 dataloggers

7. Hypothesis
 Soil moisture will be lower in wollastonite plots
than corresponding control plots

8. Results
 Only C6 (30cm), HBo (10cm) and
HBo (50cm) had usable data
-C1Ca batteries had died shortly
after last year’s Hubbard
BrookMeeting
-C8 control’s sensors had been
removed prior to data
collection
-Jeffers Brook data could not be
collected prior to presentation
-various sensor cords had been
disconnected due to freeze
and thaw

10. HBo at 10cm HBo at 50cm
C6 at 30cm Legend
Soil moisture in the control
SoilmoistureinCaSiO3
SoilmoistureinCaSiO3
Soil moisture in the control
Soil moisture in the control
SoilmoistureinCaSiO3

11. Discussion
 C6 (30cm) analysis suggests that it was drier in the
wollastonite plot during the leaf on period
 However, HBo suggests there could be many other
variables in effect, like differing hydrology between
experimental and control plots

12. In Summary…
 We added wollastonite plots to the MELNHE Project to see if wollastonite
causes increased evapotranspiration and lower soil moisture
 One dataset, C6 (30cm), showed this with statistical significance
-the rest of the data was either unusable or inconclusive
Future plans…
 Collect data from Jeffers Brook
 Troubleshoot sensors in current plots
 Add moisture sensors to our other
experimental plots (nitrogen,
phosphorous, N+P)

13. Special Thanks To:
References
Green, Mark B., et al. "Decreased water flowing from a forest
amended with calcium silicate." Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences 110.15 (2013): 5999-6003.
Hamburg, Steven P., et al. "Biotic control of calcium cycling in
northern hardwood forests: acid rain and aging forests." Ecosystems
6.4 (2003): 399-406.
Likens, Gene E., and Frederick Herbert Bormann. Biogeochemistry of a
Forested Ecosystem. New York: Springer, 1994. Print.
Images
https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5537046/il_570xN.79940185.jpg
http://www.esf.edu/melnhe/images/ROA_Report_img_0.jpg
http://www.hubbardbrook.org/6-
12_education/Images/PelletsOnGround.jpg
http://www.decagon.com.br/assets/Images/Product-Images/Data-
Loggers-and-collectors/Em50.jpg
http://www.ictinternational.com/content/uploads/2014/03/ec5-
02.jpg
 Mark Green
 Joe Kendrick
 Michele Pruyn
 Matt Vadeboncouer
 Rick Biche
 Ruth Yanai
 Adam Wild
 The Entire Shoestring
Crew