The United States Geological Survey Water Resources Research Act Program: Grant Details for Project 2009PA120S

Details for Project ID 2009PA120S

Long-term Responses of Stream Chemistry to Changes in Atmospheric Deposition in Mid-Appalachian Forests of Pennsylvania

Institute: Pennsylvania
USGS Grant Number: G09AP00118
Year Established: 2009 Start Date: 2009-07-01 End Date: 2014-06-30
Total Federal Funds: $0 Total Non-Federal Funds: Not available

Principal Investigators: Elizabeth Boyer, David DeWalle

Project Summary: The proposed research seeks to quantify and understand the unique long-term response of stream chemistry to reductions in atmospheric deposition that have been observed over the past three decades in a network of forested catchments in the Mid-Appalachian mountain region of Pennsylvania. These catchments are part of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Long-Term Monitoring of Ecosystems (LTM) network, and the Temporally Integrated Monitoring of Ecosystems (TIME) network. These data will allow us to determine status and trends in stream water quality in the eastern USA region, in response to chronic acidification via atmospheric deposition and to other vectors of change such as climatic variability. The aim is to continue long-term watershed monitoring to further establish a record of change and evaluate hypotheses about how changes in air quality affecting water quality. Stream samples will be collected monthly at acid-sensitive streams Baldwin Creek, Benner Run, Linn Run, Roberts Run, and Stone Run. Long term monitoring data from acid-tolerant Young Woman’s Creek and Leading Ridge Run will be used with other LTM data to assist in evaluating impacts of acid deposition on water quality across the state of Pennsylvania. Stream water samples will be collected one-time (May or June) per year at PA TIME streams, including 28 long term sites specified by USEPA; 2 reference sites (Young Woman’s Creek and Leading Ridge); plus 10-20 QA/QC samples. All stream samples will be analyzed for a suite of water quality constitutents, including cations, anions, and indicators of acidity.