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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2014

  • Title: Impacts of Climate Change on the Rhythm of the Spring in Northeast Deciduous Forests
  • Author: Ivonne l Trujillo (The University of Texas - Brownsville)
  • Abstract:

    Climate change has impacted the rhythm of the spring in northeast deciduous forests, including Harvard Forest. However, vital knowledge gaps exist in our understanding of the responses between climate change and seasonal cycles. My project this summer aimed to address some of those gaps by focusing on leaf development for the red maple (Acer rubrum), red oak (Quercus ruba), and the paper birch (Betula papyrifera), three common species in the Northeastern United States. To characterize leaf development through the season, I sampled leaves from the canopy and measured leaf color, chlorophyll fluorescence, water content, and stomatal conductance. I was particularly focused on leaf color and used data from scanned leaves and digital repeat photographs of the canopy to compare vegetation greenness at the leaf level and canopy scale. This data was modified to include a calculation of the green chromatic coordinate (GCC) over the growing season. My prediction is that the trend with the GCC values calculated from the flatbed scanner and PhenoCam images will be very similar. This is a reasonable prediction because no major changes in green color nor canopy structure have occurred, therefore trends will be similar. Tracking vegetation greenness through time at a canopy scale and the physiology at a leaf level will allow us to accurately model phenology on both scales. The results of this study will help create a model to better predict how ecosystems like Harvard Forest respond to changes in climate.



    Keywords: Climate Change, Phenology, PhenoCam, Vegetation Greenness

  • Research Category: Group Projects