Harvard Forest Research

Linking carbon reserves and tree demography across east temperate forest

Principal Investigator: Michael Dietze
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Jun 01 2009 - Aug 31 2012:

Abstract:
The objective of this study is to establish a network of forest sapling plots spanning the eastern U.S. focused on understanding how regional scale climate patterns affect patterns of sapling demography (growth, mortality, dieback, resprouting). Within each research site we also aim to understand the landscape-scale variability in demographic rates and how these rates are affected by edaphic variables by aligning plots along primary environmental gradients (elevation, soils, hydrology, fire return interval). Furthermore, we will measure regional and landscape-scale patterns in carbon reserves in adults and sapling by sampling root and stem concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC) and relate these to demographic patterns, life-history traits, and plant C:N ratios. Also, we aim to assess both intraspecific and interspecific variation in demographic rates and tissue chemistry within and across sites. Besides addressing important ecological questions directly, this study is designed to improve the representations of understory dynamics and carbohydrate reserves in regional and landscape-scale forest ecosystem models -- two of the least data-constrained processes in such models – by parameterizing and validating the modules for these processes in the Ecosystem Demography model (ED v2.1).

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