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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2013

  • Title: Determining the accuracy of coarse woody debris measurements and its contribution to the carbon budget of a mixed-deciduous forest
  • Author: Channing T Press (Villanova University)
  • Abstract:



    Forests are important ecosystems for sequestering large amounts of Carbon which can help offset the effects of climate change. Coarse Woody Debris (CWD) could play a large role in this dynamic but little is known about the total stored arbon and carbon turnover of CWD in temperate, mixed deciduous forests. This is why since 2000, every three or four years CWD measurements are taken throughout Prospect Hill at the Harvard Forest. Every piece of wood greater than 7.5 cm in diameter in the 33 10 m radius plots are tagged and measured and additional characteristic and observations are noted such as decay class and biological factors. This data shows that total carbon has been steadily increasing since 2000. Unfortunately, the protocol for measuring dead wood in the forest is sparse. It is unknown where our greatest source of error lies and how large that source of error is. Using data from Liu’s previous study on CWD density, it was analyzed that on average each individual piece of wood’s density has a mean squared error of 40% in comparison to the average decay class density currently used. Furthermore, an additional 11 extra measurements at specific intervals were taken on 64 randomly selected pieces of wood in order to make a closer estimate of true volume and to see if measurements would be more accurate if taken from a standard location. The current protocol for measurements revealed to be the most accurate way to estimate volume and has a relative error of 2%. From these tests we found that the biggest source of error arises from the density values and I propose that future studies use individual species densities when determining total carbon.

  • Research Category: Forest-Atmosphere Exchange; Group Projects; Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

  • Figures:
  • me in the field).JPG