Nitrification: Importance to Nutrient Losses from a Cutover Forested Ecosystem

Abstract

The nitrate concentration (weighted average) in stream water from an experimentally deforested watershed increased from 0.9 milligram per liter before removal of the vegetation to 53 milligrams per liter 2 years later. This nitrate mobilization, presumably due to increased microbial nitrification, was equivalent to all of the other net cationic increases and anionic decreases observed in tae drainage water.