The objective of this component of the Sea Hill study was to measure nutrient and toxin concentrations in the wood and bark of the major forest species on the Sea Hill drumlin. Twenty tree species were analyzed for Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, Al, Fe, Mn, and Zn. Total amounts and densities of each element in a given species can be calculated using allometry and biomass data.
Cores of wood and bark were obtained at breast height with an increment corer from selected large trees along the transects. Each core was sectioned into bark, sap (or light) wood, and heart (or dark) wood if present. The material was oven dried, weighed, ashed in a muffle furnace, and solubilized in 50 ml of dilute nitric acid. Element concentrations were determined with an Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). Values for Ca, K, and Mg were well above the detection limits of the ICP-AES and can be considered accurate. However, the other element concentrations were close to the detection limits and should be considered only rough estimates of the true concentrations.
Similar work has been done in other New England forests, and we have been able to make comparisons of wood and bark chemistry with similar species on two other sites-- Hubbard Brook in NH and the Quinnipiac River floodplain in CT. Soils of the Sea Hill drumlin and the Quinnipiac River floodplain are both derived from arkosic mineralogy; Sea Hill from lodgement till, and the Quinnipiac site from silt loam floodplain sediments. Hubbard Brook soils are derived from granitic and gneissic till.
Element concentration data is provided in tabular form (bark, sapwood, heartwood), alon g with the diameter, length, and dry weight for each sapwood core.