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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2023
- Title: Investigating survival and mortality rates of, first year, woody stem seedlings
- Author: Cheyanne Ilaine Macagno (Fresno City College)
- Abstract:
Forests are large contributors to the oxygen produced on earth, the water available and important habitats for various plant and animal species, thus supporting biodiversity. In order to gain a better insight into how our forests may change in upcoming decades, we must look closer at our current seedlings to understand species composition and development over the years. The Harvard ForestGEO plot, located in Worcester County, Massachusetts (on ancestral Nipmuc land), is an ideal system to study as it is a closed canopy forest with varied habitats. For this study, we analyzed the survival rates of the most common tree species in New England forests, red maple (Acer rubrum), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), birch (Betula spp.), white pine (Pinus strobus), and oak (Quercus spp.). Correspondingly, we are focusing on first-year seedlings of each species. Each year the census is completed at 134 plots where we identify and tag individual seedlings to keep track of them over time. The data that was collected regarding survival and mortality helped us determine future species composition and is an important factor in how forests respond to climate change. After pooling the data from the five main species mentioned, we determined that 33% of seedlings survive their first year of sprouting, the lowest being eastern hemlock with 8% ± 0.01 survival and the highest being red maple with 46% ± 0.01 survival. We found that survivability varies between species and between years.
- Research Category: Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions
