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Research article2017Peer reviewedOpen access

Consequences of intensive forest harvesting on the recovery of Swedish lakes from acidification and on critical load exceedances

Moldan, Filip; Stadmark, Johanna; Folster, Jens; Jutterstrom, Sara; Futter, Martyn N.; Cosby, Bernard J.; Wright, Richard F.

Abstract

Across much of the northern hemisphere, lakes are at risk of re-acidification due to incomplete recovery from historical acidification and pressures associated with more intensive forest biomass harvesting. Critical load ( CL) calculations aimed at estimating the amount of pollutants an ecosystem can receive without suffering adverse consequences are dependent on these factors. Here, we present a modelling study of the potential effects of intensified forest harvesting on re-acidification of a set of 3239 Swedish lakes based on scenarios with varying intensities of forest biomass harvest and acid deposition. There is some evidence that forestry would have caused a certain level of acidification even if deposition remained at 1860 levels. We show that all plausible harvest scenarios delay recovery due to increased rates of base cation removal. Scenario results were used to estimate critical loads for the entire population of lakes in Sweden. The forestry intensity included in critical load calculations is a political decision. After scaling calculations to the national level, it was apparent that a high but plausible forest harvest intensity would lead to an increase in the area of CL exceedances and that even after significant reductions in forest harvest intensity, there would still be areas with CL exceedances. Our results show that forest harvest intensity and regional environmental change must be carefully considered in future CL calculations. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Surface waters; Silviculture; MAGIC model; Leaching

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2017, Volume: 603, pages: 562-569
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

      SLU Authors

      • Sustainable Development Goals

      SDG6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
      SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Climate Research

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.013

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83799