West Virginia University researchers have received National Science Foundation funding to study the effects of acid rain, with the help of area eighth graders, in the Fernow Experimental Forest in Tucker County. Credit: WVU Photo/Edward Brzostek
Key points:
- Biologists are teaming up with local eighth-graders to study the beneficial effects of acid rain.
- The team will examine four different components of the ecosystem: stream water, soil microbes, trees and soil carbon.
- The collaboration will bring the students, 20% of whom live below the poverty line, to the forest to collect data and back to the lab to analyze it.
Acid rain usually gets a bad rap, with most pointing to pictures of what it has done to the Statue of Liberty over the years. Years of this environmental phenomena in the eastern U.S. has led to nitrogen pollution in streams and waterways. However, it’s also helped trees grow and microbes capture carbon from the atmosphere.
Now, thanks to a 5-year grant from the National Science Foundation, West Virginia University (WVU) biologists are collaborating with local eighth graders to study what happens when acid rain stops falling.
Many of the students live adjacent to the forest but have limited knowledge of the research conducted there. Additionally, 20% live below the poverty line and may lack a direct pathway to STEM.
The 4,700-acre Fernow Experimental Forest is a vital study site because, over time, the forest’s various experimental watersheds have undergone different management practices, which created a variety of different ecosystems. Five of these will be tracked as they recover. One watershed that was experimentally acidified for 30 years under the leadership of William Peterjohn, professor of biogeochemistry, will be of particular interest.
“We looked at what happens when you acidify a whole watershed,” said Edward Brzostek, associate professor in biology at WVU, who has been studying the Fernow Experimental Forest for years. “Now, we’re looking at the recovery. We’re not dumping nitrogen anymore. Is this good? Are we going to keep these good things and lose the bad things? Or is the carbon that we’ve sequestered going to go away?”
Researchers will examine four different components of the ecosystem: stream water, soil microbes, trees and soil carbon. They hypothesize the soil microbes will respond quickest because microbes have short lifespans.
Brzostek expects as nitrogen becomes more limiting, the trees will start relying on fungi and soil microbes more. They’ll also send more carbon below ground to get nitrogen, which will fuel decomposition and potentially lead to soil carbon losses over time as the greenhouse gas is released back into the atmosphere.
“In 20 years, the climate is going to be warmer and so is the forest,” Brzostek said. “There’s not going to be as much nitrogen dumped on it and what we might have is a lot of soil carbon that’s sitting around, really vulnerable to loss.”