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Physiological and Spectral Responses of Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum Marsh.) To Msw Leachate Spray Irrigation

Department of Land Resource Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, NIG 2WI

R.A. McBride

Department of Land Resource Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, NIG 2WI

T.J. Gillespie

Department of Land Resource Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, NIG 2WI

Foliar gas exchange, water relations and spectral properties of understorey sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) sapling leaves were studied in a natural forested ecosystem subjected to spray irrigation of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill leachate and compared to similar measures taken from leaves of unirrigated saplings. Photosynthetic rates in irrigated saplings were reduced 34% to 53% in comparison to unirrigated sapling rates. Similarly, water use efficiency of sapling leaves subjected to direct leachate exposure dropped an average of 70%, while transpiration rates were similar to, and leaf temperatures were 20% higher than, those found in unirrigated leaves. Spectral patterns of understorey leaves, distorted because of the accumulation of leachate precipitate residues on the adaxial surface, demonstrated increased absorbance in the near infrared waveband and reduced reflection in visible wavebands compared to abaxial surfaces. The adaxial spectral properties of mid-canopy leaves (above maximum spray height) of mature sugar maple trees were not distorted by these residues and revealed spectra that suggested increased nitrogen uptake and benefit derived from leachate irrigation. These findings on leaf tissue integrity and energy budgets are discussed in terms of the implications for design of leachate treatment and disposal systems on land and for forest ecology in general.

Key Words: Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill • photosynthesis • stomatal conductance • plant water relations • leaf spectral properties

Waste Management & Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, 3-19 (1990)
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X9000800102


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