Lysina

The Lysina catchment is situated in the western part of the Czech Republic in the mountain area of the Slavkov Forest (Slavkovsky les). The Slavkov Forest is a Protected Landscape Area. The altitude of the Lysina catchment is between 829 and 949 m a.s.l., mean slope 11.5%, with an area of 27.3 ha. It is completely covered by managed Norway spruce (Picea abies) monocultures from the mid-19 century. Most of the catchment is covered by mature even-aged stands, remaining small areas are covered by young spruce and grasses (e.g. Calamagrostis villosa). The bedrock is coarse-grained leucogranite with only trace amounts of biotite. The catchment has never been glaciated. The dominant type of soil is podzolic brown forest earth. The catchment is drained by a stream, which springs about 900 m from the catchment outlet. Average annual precipitation and runoff are 950 and 419 mm, respectively. Mean annual temperature is 5°C. Since 1989, weekly runoff samples have been collected and more frequent records of flood events have been taken. Bulk precipitation and throughfall collectors were installed in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Since 1994 site belongs to GEOMON network of 14 monitored catchments, coordinated by Daniela Fottova from the Czech Geological Survey. Since 2002, Lysina belongs to the International Cooperative Program - Integrated Monitoring network (ICP IM; Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki), since 2008 to the ICP-Waters (Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo). Since December 2009, the Lysina catchment is one of the four European critical zone observatories financed through the EC SoilTrEC project (2009-2014). Since April 2010 Lysina also belongs to the International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network. Large anthropogenic acidification in the 20th century caused a dramatic pH drop in drainage waters, soil nutrient leaching, elevated metal toxicity and suppressed dissolved organic carbon export. These unfavorable conditions implicate low aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity at the catchment. Due to granite bedrock and spruce monocultures, Lysina represents an extremely acid-sensitive catchment and experiences very slow recovery from acidification. Many papers have been published about the Lysina catchment itself or as a comparative study along with other catchments. The GEOMON network was evaluated in the following publications: mass element fluxes and their changes (Fottova 1995, 2003), critical loads (Fottova and Skorepova 1998), hydrological characteristics (Kram and Fottova 2007), sulfur isotopes (Novak et al. 2005), streamwater biodiversity (Kram et al. 2008), and nitrogen patterns (Oulehle et al. 2008). Biogeochemical and hydrochemical modeling at Lysina represents papers of Kram et al. (1999, PnET-BGC model), Hruska et al. (2002, MAGIC model), Laudon et al. (2005, pBDM model) Navratil et al. (2007, SAFE model). Metals were studied by Kram et al. (1995, Al; 1998, Be), isotopes of oxygen by Buzek et al. (1995). Nutrient leaching and removal was tested experimentally by Hofmeister et al. (2008), and long-term chemical patterns in drainage waters by Lischeid et al. (2010). Lysina was compared with a paired, geochemically contrasting Pluhuv Bor catchment in numerous papers. Base cations were evaluated by Kram et al. (1997), biogeochemical modeling was performed by Hruska and Kram (2003), increasing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export by Hruska et al. (2009), changes in Al speciation by Kram et al. (2009), climatic change modeling was performed by Bencokova et al. (2010). Hydrochemical changes in the whole area of the Slavkov Forest were described by Majer et al. (2005). The ICP IM network results were published by Jenkins et al. (2003), Kram et al. (2008), Bringmark et al. (2009), Holmberg et al. (2009, 2010), and Vuorenmaa et al. (2009). References: Bencokova A., Kram P., Hruska J. (2010): The impact of climate change on hydrological patterns in Czech headwater catchments. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 7: 1245-1278. Bringmark L. , Lundin L. , Dieffenbach-Fries H. , Beudert B. , Grabner M. , Ruoho-Airola T. , Lyulko I. , Vana M. , Kram P. , Augustaitis A. , Schulte-Bisping H. (2009): Heavy metal budgets and critical loads at ICP Integrated Monitoring sites. Finnish Environment 2009/23: 64-70. Buzek F., Hruska J., Kram P. (1995): Three-component model of runoff generation, Lysina catchment, Czech Republic. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 79: 391-408. Fottova D. (1995): Regional evaluation of mass element fluxes – GEOMON network of small catchments. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 34: 215-221. Fottova D. (2003): Trends in sulphur and nitrogen deposition fluxes in the GEOMON network, Czech Republic, between 1994 and 2000. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 150: 73-87. Fottova D., Skorepova I. (1998): Changes in mass element fluxes and their importance for critical loads: GEOMON network, Czech Republic. 105: 365-376. Hofmeister J., Oulehle F., Kram P., Hruska J. (2008): Loss of nutrients caused by litter raking as compared with an effect of acid deposition. Biogeochemistry 88: 139-151. Holmberg M., Posch M., Kleemola S., Vuorenmaa J., Forsius M. (2009): Calculation of critical loads for acidification and eutrophication for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Finnish Environment 2009/23, 23-35. Holmberg M., Posch M., Kleemola S., Vuorenmaa J., Forsius M. (2010): Calculation of site-specific critical loads for acidification and eutrophication for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Finnish Environment, in press. Hruska J., Kram P. (2003): Modelling long-term changes in stream water and soil chemistry in catchments with contrasting vulnerability to acidification (Lysina and Pluhuv Bor, Czech Republic). Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 7: 525-539. Hruska J, Moldan F., Kram P (2002): Recovery from acidification in Central Europe- observed and predicted changes of soil and streamwater chemistry in the Lysina catchment, Czech Republic. Environmental Pollution 120: 261-274. Hruska J., Kram P., McDowell W.H., Oulehle F. (2009): Increased dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Central European streams is driven by reductions in ionic strength rather than climate change or decreasing acidity. Environmental Science and Technology 43: 4320-4326. Jenkins A., Larssen T., Moldan F., Hruska J. Kram P., Kleemola S. (2003): Dynamic modelling at integrated monitoring sites: model testing against observations and uncertainty. Finnish Environment 636: 1-37. Kram P., Fottova D. (2007): Daily surface runoff characteristics from fourteen forest catchments of the Cyech GEOMON network in 1994-2005 water years (In Czech, English abstract). In: Jakubíková A., Broža V., Szolgay J. (eds.) Adolf Patera 2007 Workshop Proceedings Extreme Hydrological Events in Catchments, Czech Technical University, Prague, 61-68. Kram P., Hruska J., Driscoll C.T., Johnson C.E. (1995): Biogeochemistry of aluminum in a forest catchment in the Czech Republic impacted by atmospheric inputs of strong acids. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 85: 1831-1836. Kram P., Hruska J., Wenner B.S., Driscoll C.T., Johnson C.E. (1997): The biogeochemistry of basic cations in two forest catchments with contrasting lithology in the Czech Republic. Biogeochemistry 37: 173-202. Kram P., Hruska J., Driscoll C.T. (1998): Beryllium chemistry in the Lysina catchment, Czech Republic. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 105: 391-397. Kram P., Santore R.C., Driscoll C.T., Aber J.D., Hruska J. (1999): Application of the forest-soil-water model (PnET-BGC/CHESS) to the Lysina catchment, Czech Republic. Ecological Modelling 120: 9-33. Kram P., Beudert B., Cervenkova J., Cech J., Vana M., Fottova D., Dieffenbach-Fries H. (2008): Daily streamwater runoff characteristics of the ICP-IM catchments (CZ01, CZ02, DE01) in the Bohemian Massif. Finnish Environment 28/2008: 39-47. Kram P., Traister E., Kolarikova K., Oulehle F., Skorepa J., Fottova D. (2008) Stream benthic macroinvertebrates of nine selected catchments of the GEOMON network (In Czech , English abstract) Geoscience Research Reports for 2007, Czech Geological Survey, Prague, 160-166. Kram P., Hruska J., Driscoll C.T. Johnson C.E., Oulehle F. (2009): Long-term changes in aluminum fractions of drainage waters in two forest catchments with contrasting lithology. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 103: 1465-1472. Laudon H., Hruska J., Kohler S., Kram P. (2005): Retrospective analyses and future predictions of snowmelt-induced acidification: Example from a heavily impacted stream in the Czech Republic. Environmental Science and Technology 39: 3197-3202. Lischeid G., Kram P., Weyer C. (2010): Tracing biogeochemical processes in small catchments using non-linear methods. In: Muller F., Baessler C., Schubert H., Klotz S. (eds.) Long-term ecological research – between theory and application. Springer, Berlin, 221-242. Majer V., Kram P., Shanley J.B. (2005): Rapid regional recovery from sulfate and nitrate pollution in streams of the western Czech Republic – comparison to other recovering areas. Environmental Pollution 135: 17-28. Navratil T., Kurz D., Kram P., Hofmeister J., Hruska J. (2007): Acidification and recovery of soil at a heavily impacted forest catchment (Lysina, Czech Republic) – SAFE modeling and field results. Ecological Modelling 205: 464-474. Novak M., Kirchner J.W., Fottova D., Prechova E., Jackova I., Kram P. Hruska J. (2005): Isotopic evidence for processes of sulfur retention/release in 13 forested catchments spanning a strong pollution gradient (Czech Republic, Central Europe). Global Biogeochemical Cycles 19: Art. No. GB4012. 14 pgs. Oulehle F., McDowell W.H., Aitkenhead-Peterson J.A., Kram P., Hruska J., Navratil T., Buzek F., Fottova D. (2008): Long-term trends in stream nitrate concentrations and losses across watersheds undergoing recovery from acidification in the Czech Republic. Ecosystems 11: 410-425. Vuorenmaa J., Kleemola S., Forsius M. (2009): Trend assessment of bulk deposition, throughfall and runoff water / soil water chemistry at ICP IM sites. Finnish Environment 2009/23: 36-63.