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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2009

  • Title: Changes in coarse woody debris and fine woody debris due to an ice storm in Harvard Forest
  • Author: Tamsin L Connell (Regis University)
  • Abstract:

    Long term atmosphere-biosphere CO2 exchange and ground-based biometry measurements at the Harvard Forest have shown systematically increasing C sequestration over the past 20 years. The mechanism behind this increase in C sequestration has not been fully explained but could be due partially to a recovery from a past disturbance. In late November of 2008 an ice storm passed through the New England area causing damage to forests including the Prospect Hill tract of the Harvard forest in Petersham, Massachusetts. We quantified the amount of CWD (coarse woody debris) and FWD (fine woody debris) down at the HFEMS (Harvard Forest Environmental Monitoring Site) as a consequence of this ice storm and determined which tree species were most affected. In order to do this, we conducted CWD and FWD surveys in 33 plots that fall in the footprint of the eddy-flux tower. We found that CWD downed in the ice storm (0.57 MgC/ha) was approximately equal to the CWD added to the pool (0.64 MgC/ha) since the 2006 survey. Additionally, FWD (0.41 MgC/ha) and CWD (0.57 MgC/ha) constitute similar portions of the downed biomass from the ice storm. We concluded from this result that when quantifying ice storm damage, FWD as well as CWD surveys are necessary to obtain representative results. On a species-specific level, it was determined that Red Maple (Acer rubrum) made up the majority of the surveyed ice storm FWD (0.25 MgC/ha) and in terms of downed FWD sustained significantly (p < 0.05) higher damage than any other species. Species-specific CWD was found to be extremely variable among the plots, and thus we were unable to determine with confidence which species sustained the most damage in terms of ice storm CWD. Future research using the eddy-flux technique and biometry methods could determine if C sequestration at the Harvard Forest is affected in upcoming years due to the ice storm damage sustained by the forest in November of 2008.

  • Research Category: Forest-Atmosphere Exchange; Large Experiments and Permanent Plot Studies

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