The SO₄^2- concentration and sulphur content in lysimetric water and throughfall in beech forest stands in the Štiavnické vrchy Mts. Ekológia

This paper examines results of the sulphate sulphur content and its concentration in soil water from the beech forests situated in the Štiavnicke vrchy Mts in Slovakia. The S^-SO₄^2- content in bulk precipitation, throughfall and soil water for 1989-2007 was studied in these beech stands and open plots. The highest SO₄^2- values were found in the forest stand plot at 0.25 m depth (42.03 mg.l^-1 in 1988), and the average sulphate sulphur content in soil water increased with soil depth; from 20.2 kg.ha^-1.yr^-1 at the surface to 28.5 kg.ha^-1.yr^-1 at 0.25m depth. The mean S^-SO4^2- concentration was 20.7 mg.l^-1 in the surface humus and 30.84 mg.l^-1 at 0.25m. There was an imput of 538.5 kg S^-SO₄^2-.ha^-1 to the soil during the study period. Regression analysis revealed a statistically significant influence of sulphur content in the atmospheric deposition on the sulphur content in the soil water. A significant correlation between the precipitation amount and the content of sulphur in precipitation and in soil water was observed. The Student‘s t-test for dependent variables confirmed statistically significant differences between the sulphur content in soil water at 0.10 m and 0.25 m depths in these study areas. Finally, no significant differences were detected at the same plot in different study years