Vol. 54
No. 3
09.2004

Auszug aus:

Ewald Schnug, Wilfried H.O. Ernst, Sylvia Kratz, Friedhart Knolle and Silvia Haneklaus

Aspects of ecotoxicology of sulphur in the Harz region -
a guided excursion

Aspekte der Ökotoxikologie von Schwefel in der Harzregion - eine geführte Exkursion

im Original veröffentlicht in: Landbauforschung Völkenrode 3/2004 (54):129-143

Zusammenfassung
In den letzten Jahrzehnten ist Schwefel (S) zu einem der wichtigsten limitierenden Faktoren für die Pflanzenproduktion geworden. Eine unzureichende Schwefelversorgung lässt sich im Anfangsstadium nur über die Quantifizierung der S-Konzentration im Pflanzengewebe mit Hilfe chemischer Methoden feststellen. Starker S-Mangel ist jedoch anhand visueller Symptome erkennbar. Eine Exkursion in die Harzregion gibt Gelegenheit, nicht nur verschiedene visuelle S-Mangelsymptome im Feld zu studieren, sondern bietet auch einen Einblick in ökotoxikologische Aspekte des Schwefels. Rapsfelder in der Umgebung von Silstedt und Ilsenburg zeigen eine Vielfalt typischer S-Mangelsymptome wie an den Blatträndern ansetzende, sich interkostal ausbreitende Chlorosen, rötliche bis lila Blattfärbung durch Anthocyane, löffelförmige Blattdeformationen, Blattsukkulenz, reduzierte Größe der Blütenblätter und weiße Blüten. S-Mangel beeinflusst auch die Ertragsstruktur, was sich bei Raps vor allem in einer reduzierten Samenzahl in den Schoten niederschlägt.
Die in den vergangenen Jahren abnehmende S-Konzentration in der Luft hat auch Auswirkungen auf die Zusammensetzung von Pflanzengemeinschaften, wie epiphytische Flechtengesellschaften in der Nähe der Kästeklippen bei Romkerhall verdeutlichen. Andererseits kann sich auch ein Überschuss an Schwefel nachteilig auf Pflanzen auswirken. Ein Beispiel hierfür bieten Moose, die in Mooren des Hochharzes wachsen. Ein auf Calciumsulfat gewachsener Boden kann zur Herausbildung spezialisierter Pflanzengesellschaften mit Individuen führen, die bis zu dreimal so viel Schwefel in ihren Blättern speichern wie Vertreter der gleichen Art, welche auf Calciumcarbonatböden wachsen. Pflanzengesellschaften auf Gipsböden sind zum Beispiel “im Hainholz” bei Hörden zu finden. In Rhumspringe am südlichen Harzrand ist schließlich eine geogene Schwefelquelle zu sehen. Hier fördert die Rhume-Karstquelle nach starken Niederschlägen bis zu 5500 l mit S angereichertes Wasser pro Sekunde zu Tage, insgesamt 7092 t S kommen so im Jahr an die Oberfläche.


1 Sulphur deficiency in oilseed rape - visual symtooms
2 Response of epiphytic lichens to changing air quality in the Harz Mountains
3 Bogs in the High Harz Mountains around Torfhaus (51°48'N, 10°32'E)

4 Gypsum, dolomite and karst at the southern Harz rim

4.1 Vegetation on gypsum rocks (Hainholz near Hörden, 51°40’N, 10°17’E) 6

During the geological period of the Perm nearly 253 million years ago, under a hot and dry climate with constant evaporation, huge amounts of calcium sulphate (CaSO4 · 2 H2O = gypsum) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3)2) were precipitated as white, soft sediments in the Permian “Zechstein” sea (Figure 22). Due to continental drifting, the nowadays middle European area moved from what is now the Canary islands latitude northwards to 51° latitude. The gypsum sediments were 20 to 200 m thick in the Harz region. In later geologic periods, they dehydrated to anhydrite, forming hard grey-blue rocks. The calcium carbonate turned into dolomite (CaMg(CO3) by diagenetic processes. One of the sites where gypsum is exposed at the surface layer is the Hainholz near Osterode-Düna and Hörden at the southern Harz rim. This area was endangered by gypsum quarrying for many years (Knolle and Vladi, 1999) – a threat still present for many of the gypsum outcrops in the Southern Harz area (see www.naturschatz.org).

Figure 22:
The vegetation on the gypsum soil in the South Harz region is similar to that of chalk grassland. Where gypsum was removed for industrial purposes, the steep part of the quarry is colonised by thermophilic vegetation (Photo: Ernst, 2003)

The soils which developed on gypsum belong to the rendzina (syroseme) type with low concentrations of iron, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and with variable concentrations of sulphate, calcium and magnesium (Table 3). They have a low water-holding capacity. On sites where loess as a periglacial remnant is overlying the gypsum, the soil is richer in nutrients and has an improved water-holding capacity supporting thermophilic shrubs. The mosaic pattern of dolomite, gypsum and loess has resulted in a high diversity of plant communities, however, without a specific gypsum-indicating species.

Figure 23:
Gypsiferous vegetation at Hainholz near Hörden. (Photo: Ernst, 2003)

One plant genus named after the gypsum soils is Gypsophila. Due to continental climate with hot and dry summers at the south and south-east rim of the Harz Mountains the species Gypsophila fastigiata does occur there, but is missing at the south-western Harz rim with its cooler and wetter atlantic climate. Most plant species of the gypsum vegetation have a broad ecological amplitude and also grow on calcium carbonate soils. The populations on gypsum are obviously not highly differentiated from those on calcium carbonate if the results with some populations of Gypsophila can be generalised (Fiedler et al., 1987). Plants growing on gypsum soils have up to threefold higher sulphur levels in their leaves, as shown for Cynanchum vincetoxicum (0.8 to 1.04 % S), when compared to plants growing on calcium carbonate. Most of the leaf sulphur is present as sulphate (Heinze et al., 1982). The high sulphur concentration in Arabis hirsuta, however, is not necessarily caused by the increased sulphate level of these gypsum soils, because plant species belonging to the family Brassicaceae are generally high in sulphur.
The carbonate and sulphate chemistry of the karstic groundwater in the Hainholz area was described in great detail by Kempe (1982).
 

4.2 Rhume spring (Rhumspringe, 51°35’N, 10°17’E)

Once upon a time, the giant Romar met Ruma, daughter of the king of dwarfs. They fell in love and had a child. Unfortunately, their fathers were enemies, so the king of dwarfs didn’t want them to marry, killed the little child and locked his daughter Ruma in a subterranean dungeon. Being the daughter of a water-nymph, Ruma turned herself into a spring and thus was able to find her way out through the rocks and reunite with Romar again. People say that the killed child’s blood gives the water of the Rhume spring a red colour from time to time…( http://www.harzlife.de/harzrand/rhume.html ).

Apart from this legend, there is also a geological explanation for the existence of the Rhume spring: The karstified and water-permeable anhydrite and dolomite layers of the Southern Harz rim are slightly dipping in south-west direction. At their borderline, the karstic water flow is blocked by water-impermeable sandstone layers (Figure 25). This resulted in the emergence of one of the greatest well heads of Central Europe, the karst spring of the Rhume (Figures 26 and 27), which delivers 900 L water per second in dry periods and up to 5500 L after high precipitation. Most of the water is derived from oozing away of the rivers Oder and Sieber (Herrmann, 1969). Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) and gypsum (CaSO4 · 2 H2O) are watersoluble. Subsurface leaching produced a typical karstmorphology, often combined with the disappearance of brooks and rivers at the surface.
The Rhume spring has one main spring which is about 20 m in diameter, and up to 360 small springs. The water is rich in calcium and sulphates, the average sulphate concentration of the main spring is growing with declining water delivery (Ricken and Knolle, 1986). The smell of sulphides indicates that also other sulphur species are released. Specific sulphur bacteria have evolved in these karst aquifers. From the Rhume spring, a strain (DSM 3910) of the chemolithoautotrophic Ancylobacter (Herbst et al., 1987) has been isolated.

Table 3:
Element concentrations in rock material and leaves of plant species from the gypsum site at Hörden in comparison with plant species from four different sites of gypsum soils in the Kyffhäuser. Data from the Kyffhäuser (Heinze et al., 1982) are indicated by an asterisk (*)

Element concentration in mg kg-1 dry matter

 
 Ca
mean
S.E.
Mg
mean
S.E.
K
mean
S.E.
P
mean
S.E.
S
mean
S.E.
Gypsum rock
Festuca ovina on
21363
 
340
 
7.82
 
31.0
   
- gypsum soil
8898
 
997
 
5943
 
799
 
513
 
- carbonate soil
Arabis hirsute on
3206
842
 1143
292
9619
1642
1205
201
353
64.1
- gypsum soil
Thymus praecox on
42685
 
1775
 
17087
 
870
 
22770
 
- gypsum soil
Cynanchum
vincetoxicum on
20802
3687
2990
462
14663
2190
1369
146
  
- gypsum soil*
13988
1002
3890
899
39256
12786
1874
746
8787
1122
- carbonate soil*
Festuca cinerea on
13266
4008
4424
2382
24086
4457
1799
279
5420
2694
- gypsum soil*
3206
561
802
194
9306
3832
700
353
577
192
           
 Fe
mean
S.E.
Mn
mean
S.E.
Cu
mean
S.E.
Zn
mean
S.E.
  
Gypsum rock
Festuca ovina on
61.4
 
3.30
 
1.65
 
1.31
   
- gypsum soil
648
 
53.3
 
12.2
 
83.0
   
- carbonate soil
Arabis hirsute on
274
39.1
79.1
20.3
8.71
1.59
170
43.8
  
- gypsum soil
Thymus praecox on
559
 
86.3
 
4.96
 
47.1
   
- gypsum soil
Cynanchum
vincetoxicum on
262
22.3
63.2
10.4
14.5
1.46
 85.7
16.3
  
- gypsum soil*
173
16.8
56.0
17.0
7.12
 4.58
70.0
7.85
  
- carbonate soil*
Festuca cinerea on
179
22.3
63.7
13.7
9.09
0.83
54.9
3.92
  
- gypsum soil*
162
67.0
13.7
7.69
5.40
1.72
45.8
23.5
  
 
Figure 24:
Plant community on gypsum soil with Potentilla verna, Festuca ovina, Hieracium pilosella, Sanguisorba minor and Rumex acetosa.
(Photo: Ernst, 2003)

Figure 25:
Geological and hydrological situation of the Rhume spring.
( From: http://www.karstwanderweg.de/rhumequelle/3.htm )
 
Figure 26:
A view onto the Rhume spring at Rhumspringe.
(Photo: Ernst, 2003)
Figure 27:
Alnus woodland bordering the Rhume spring.
(Photo: Ernst, 2003)

Table 4:
Chemistry of the water of the Rhume karst spring in comparison to wells from calcium carbonate areas in the Teutoburg forest

Element concentration in mg L-1

 
 Ca
mean
S.E.
Mg
mean
S.E.
S
mean
S.E.
Zn
mean
S.E.
Rhume karst spring
140
 
21
 
68
 
0.008
 
Calcium carbonate wells
117
58
8.2
2.6
8.5
1.4
0.025
0.007

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Elke Bloem, Rainer Schifft, Dr. Eckardt Walcher and Firouz Vladi for reading and constructively commenting the manuscript.
 

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6 Please note that the “Gipskarstlandschaft Hainholz” is a protected area (“Naturschutzgebiet”). This implies that visitors may walk along the marked paths only. It is not allowed to pick plants or collect insects or other animals in this area. Attractive hiking routes are suggested at http://ext-lk-osterode.advantic.de/NaturHainholz/index.htm.

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