HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aschmann, S. G. Articles by Weil, R. R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Aschmann, S. G. Articles by Weil, R. R. Agricola Articles by Aschmann, S. G. Articles by Weil, R. R.

Nitrogen Status of Forest Floor, Soils, and Vegetation following Municipal Wastewater Sludge Application

Code 2431, Pacific Div., Naval Facilities Eng. Command, Pearl Harbor, HI 96860;

M. S. McIntosh, J. S. Angle, R. L. Hill and R. R. Weil

Dep. of Agronomy, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Agricultural land near urban areas is commonly used as disposal sites for municipal wastewater sludge. As available agricultural land decreases in the Northeast, the feasibility of applying sludge to established hardwood forests is increasingly being considered. A major concern with this practice is the potential for the large quantities of nitrogen in sludge to be detrimental to the forest ecosystem. The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in nitrogen storage in several components of a hardwood forest amended with municipal sludge. In June 1986, aerobically digested liquid sludge was surface applied to a Maryland hardwood forest at rates of 0, 3, 6, and 12 dry Mg ha^–1, corresponding to nitrogen Ioadings of 0, 200, 400, and 800 kg N ha^–1, respectively. Soils from the 0 to 10 and 10 to 20 cm soil depth were analyzed for extractable NO₃-N and NH₄-N in the spring and fall of 1986 and 1987. Standing litter, litterfall, and leaves of five overstory and seven understory species were analyzed for total nitrogen annually. The first year following sludge application, total extractable nitrogen in the surface 10 cm of soil ranged from 28 mg kg^–1 soil in the control to 125 mg kg^–1 under the 800 kg N ha^–1 treatment. Within two years, total extractable N in the soil surface was not significantly different among treatments. Nitrogen concentration in litterfall increased with increasing sludge rates but only during the second year after sludge was applied. Nitrogen in the standing litter of the 800 kg N ha^–1 increased in response to sludge the first year after application, indicating that decomposition was accelerated in sludge-treated plots. The second year after sludge application, foliar nitrogen concentration was increased with increasing sludge rate in two of five tree species and four of seven understory species. The total nitrogen uptake was small compared with the total available nitrogen. Low rainfall in 1986 and 1987 may have limited nitrogen uptake by the vegetation.

Contribution of the Maryland Agric. Exp. Stn. Journal no. .

Received for publication May 16, 1989.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. F. Meyer, E. F. Redente, K. A. Barbarick, R. B. Brobst, M. W. Paschke, and A. L. Miller Plant and Soil Responses to Biosolids Application following Forest Fire J. Environ. Qual., May 1, 2004; 33(3): 873 - 881. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]