Short-term Effects of Clear-cutting on the Water Chemistry of Two Boreal Streams in Northern Sweden: A Paired Catchment Study

• Published in: AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
• Main Authors: Stefan Löfgren, Eva Ring, Claudia von Brömssen, Rasmus Sørensen, Lars Högbom
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2009
• Subjects: Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447-38.7.347

The effects of clear-cutting on stream-water chemistry in northern Sweden remain largely unexplored. Here we report data collected during a reference period and the first two years after logging in two typical partially harvested northern catchments; the objective was to compare water chemistry along the stream with and without a forest buffer. Two typical uncut reference catchments are included for comparison. Runoff was measured at the outlet of each catchment, and water samples were generally taken every second week and analyzed for 20 constituents. Logging resulted in increased runoff and increased concentrations of sodium, potassium, chloride, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and suspended material from both catchments. Nitrate (NO3−) leaching increased only from the catchment without a forest buffer. It has not yet been possible to evaluate fully the effects of the forest buffer on the NO3− leaching because the uphill clear-cut area leached minimal amounts of NO3−.