You are here

Home

Harvard Forest >

Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2011

  • Title: Pattern and ecological consequences of the catastrophic mortality of a foundation species due to interacting climatic and biotic stresses
  • Primary Author: David Orwig (Harvard Forest)
  • Additional Authors: David Foster (Harvard University); Brian Hall (Harvard Forest); Wyatt Oswald (Emerson College); Jonathan Thompson (Harvard Forest)
  • Abstract:

    Several HF scientists recently began a comprehensive research project examining forest tree species declines in response to successive years of defoliation by a suite of native and invasive insect pests combined with drought and interacting with natural and human disturbance. This research focuses on the catastrophic 2008-09 and ongoing mortality of oak across coastal New England and complements the broad theoretical, experimental, and modeling framework developed at Harvard Forest to examine historic and modern dynamics of foundation tree taxa in the eastern U.S. In 2008, we began examining the successional dynamics and community response following catastrophic oak mortality within twenty permanent plots on Martha’s Vineyard (Fig. 1). Oak mortality ranged from near zero to > 90% across the study area. We have assessed the immediate post mortality vegetation response, and have begun to examine ecosystem function changes and tree radial growth patterns in these plots. Resin bags have been incubated in each plot during the fall and spring over the last 2 years to examine how nitrogen availability has changed in these forests. In addition, 200 trees were cored for age structure analysis and to investigate if prior stressors led to the recent mortality patterns. We are interested in examining whether tree mortality will continue to increase, whether oak species are capable of establishing and/or recruiting back into these forests or whether they have been eliminated from some sites.

  • Research Category: Biodiversity Studies
    Conservation and Management
    Invasive Plants, Pests & Pathogens
    Regional Studies

  • Figures:
    • MV fig1.jpg