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Acidic Deposition Impacts on Natural Resources in Shenandoah National Park

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Acidic Deposition Impacts on Natural Resources in Shenandoah National Park National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Northeast Region Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Acidic Deposition Impacts on Natural Resources in Shenandoah National Park Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2006/066 ON THE COVER Staunton River watershed, in the central section of Shenandoah National Park. Staunton River is one of the watersheds included in the long-term watershed research and monitoring program maintained by the Shenandoah Watershed Study. Photograph by: Rick Webb, Projects Coordinator, Shenandoah Watershed Study. Acidic Deposition Impacts on Natural Resources in Shenandoah National Park Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2006/066 Bernard J. Cosby, James R. Webb, James N. Galloway, and Frank A. Deviney Department of Environmental Sciences University of Virginia Clark Hall P.O. Box 400123 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4123 November 2006 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Northeast Region Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Northeast Region of the National Park Service (NPS) comprises national parks and related areas in 13 New England and Mid-Atlantic states. The diversity of parks and their resources are reflected in their designations as national parks, seashores, historic sites, recreation areas, military parks, memorials, and rivers and trails. Biological, physical, and social science research results, natural resource inventory and monitoring data, scientific literature reviews, bibliographies, and proceedings of technical workshops and conferences related to these park units are disseminated through the NPS/NER Technical Report (NRTR) and Natural Resources Report (NRR) series. The reports are a continuation of series with previous acronyms of NPS/PHSO, NPS/MAR, NPS/BSO-RNR, and NPS/NERBOST. Individual parks may also disseminate information through their own report series. Natural Resources Reports are the designated medium for information on technologies and resource management methods; "how to" resource management papers; proceedings of resource management workshops or conferences; and natural resource program descriptions and resource action plans. Technical Reports are the designated medium for initially disseminating data and results of biological, physical, and social science research that addresses natural resource management issues; natural resource inventories and monitoring activities; scientific literature reviews; bibliographies; and peer-reviewed proceedings of technical workshops, conferences, or symposia. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. This report was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement 4000-7-9002 with assistance from the NPS. The statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are solely those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Print copies of reports in these series, produced in limited quantity and only available as long as the supply lasts, or preferably, file copies on CD, may be obtained by sending a request to the address on the back cover. Print copies also may be requested from the NPS Technical Information Center (TIC), Denver Service Center, PO Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287. A copy charge may be involved. To order from TIC, refer to document D-302. This report may also be available as a downloadable portable document format file from the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/nero/science/. Please cite this publication as: Cosby, B. J., J. R. Webb, J. N. Galloway, and F. A. Deviney. November 2006. Acidic Deposition Impacts on Natural Resources in Shenandoah National Park. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2006/066. National Park Service. Philadelphia, PA. NPS D-302 November 2006 ii Acknowledgments We wish to thank the National Park Service (NPS) staff who assisted in many aspects of this effort. John Karish assisted with cooperative agreement management and was the major impetus in developing and implementing the project. Dan Hurlbert coordinated GIS data for Shenandoah National Park and assisted in the mapping activities. Shane Spitzer prepared the tabular summary of the park’s past and present deposition monitoring, and assisted with Shenandoah- relevant publications distribution and tracking. Alan Williams assisted with natural resource data base queries and data summaries. Jim Atkinson provided I&M data for the fisheries response analyses. Constructive comments and criticisms were provided on an earlier draft of this report by Gordon Olson, of Shenandoah National Park Bryan Bloomer (of the USEPA) assisted with development of emissions control scenarios for model projections of future change. Kai Snyder, Erin Gilbert, Deian Moore, and Jayne Charles (of E&S Environmental Chemistry) assisted with data analyses, graphics, and map construction. At the University of Virginia (UVa), Art Bulger and Joe Krawzcel provided extensive help and insight into the fisheries responses. Danny Welsch collected and assisted in the analysis of the soils data and tree core data. Susie Maben contributed substantially to the analysis of stream water chemistry. Special thanks are due to Grace Lipscomb, Grants Administrator for the UVa Department of Environmental Sciences, for her endless patience and invaluable expertise in managing the administrative and fiscal aspects of the project. iii Relationship of this project to other research in Shenandoah National Park Much of the material presented in this report has also been presented in: Assessment of Air Quality and Related Values in Shenandoah National Park (Technical Report NPS/NERCHAL/NRTR-03/090) by T. J. Sullivan, B. J. Cosby, A. J. Bulger, J. R. Webb, J. A. Laurence, E. H. Lee, W. E. Hogsett, R. L. Dennis, K. Savig, H. Wayne, M. Scruggs, J. Ray, D. Miller, C. Gordon and J. S. Kern. The above report (the “AQRV Report”), was a project completion report for a National Park Service (NPS) funded project (the “AQRV Project”) examining all aspects of air quality and related values within Shenandoah National Park (SHEN). The project described here (“Acid Impacts Project”; “Acid Impacts Report”) was also an NPS funded project, but had a specific focus on the impacts of acid deposition (only) on SHEN resources. The AQRV Project was funded and completed first. However, the period of the Acid Impacts Project overlapped by more than a year with the period of the AQRV Project. As a result, many of the results of the Acid Impacts Project were available for inclusion in the AQRV Report. This was clearly a desirable circumstance for the AQRV Project because the included material made the AQRV Report more comprehensive and robust with respect to the sections devoted to acid deposition effects. Similarly, the material developed in the AQRV Project concerning the emissions, source areas, and deposition of acid pollutants complemented this Acid Impacts Project by providing a comprehensive and robust background for the evaluation of acid impacts on SHEN resources. Therefore, there is an extensive overlap of the material presented in this Acid Impacts Report and in the AQRV Report. Rather than re-organize or re-write material, the same text was used in both reports where appropriate, or was modified as each report required. The material in this Acid Impacts Report that derives in large part from the AQRV Project consists of Chapter 3 (Environmental Setting of SHEN) and Chapter 4 (Acidic Deposition in SHEN). These chapters are borrowed more or less literally from the AQRV Report and provide useful and necessary information that is relevant to the Acid Impacts Project. The remainder of the material presented in this Acid Impacts Report was primarily a direct output of the Acid Impacts Project. Similarities (literal or otherwise) between this material and material in the AQRV Report result from the fact that the AQRV Report was published first. Given that the AQRV Report came out before this Acid Impacts Project was completed, an acknowledgement of this sort about shared textual material does not appear in the AQRV Report. v Index to Chapters Page Chapter 1: An Overview of the Effects of Acidic Deposition in Shenandoah National Park and an Introduction to the Study .................................................... 1-1 1.1 Overview of the Effects of Acidic Deposition in Shenandoah National Park ..................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Study Objectives and Structure of the Report ............................................................. 1-2 1.3 Acid Deposition and Shenandoah National Park......................................................... 1-3 1.4 Stream Water Acidification in Shenandoah National Park.......................................... 1-4 1.4.1 Shenandoah National Park: Current Stream Water Composition ............................................................................................................. 1-5 1.4.2 Shenandoah National Park: Changes in Stream Water Composition ............................................................................................................. 1-9 1.4.3 Shenandoah National Park: Acidification Effects on Fish ............................ 1-11 Chapter 2: An Assessment of Areas of Concern in Shenandoah National Park with Respect to Adverse Effects of Acidic Deposition ................................................... 2-15 2.1 Assessment Mapping Approach ..............................................................................
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