Harvard Forest Research

Post-Disturbance Dynamics of Carbon, Water, and Energy Fluxes Between Land and Atmosphere

Principal Investigator: Christopher Williams
Clark University: Apr 01 2009 - Sep 01 2012:

Abstract:
It is widely understood that forest disturbances perturb ecosystem-atmosphere exchanges of water, carbon, and energy in profound ways. However, the degree, character, and persistence of such perturbations are largely unknown. How rapidly is post-disturbance slash decomposed and emitted to the atmosphere? How long does it take for plant productivity to recover so that a disturbed site crosses over from a net source to a net sink? How do disturbance-induced changes in albedo, surface temperature, and evapotranspiration combine to influence atmospheric warming/cooling? The proposed deployment of a low-stature eddy covariance tower in the harvested plot on top of Prospect Hill seeks to address these questions by semi-continuous measurements of land-atmosphere exchanges of heat, moisture, carbon dioxide, and momentum as well as associated environmental conditions.: