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Satellite Evidence For Significant Biophysical Consequences Of The “Grain For Green” Program On The Loess Plateau In China, Jingfeng Xiao

Earth Systems Research Center

Afforestation has been implemented worldwide as regional and national policies to address environmental problems and to improve ecosystem services. China's central government launched the “Grain for Green” Program (GGP) in 1999 to increase forest cover and to control soil erosion by converting agricultural lands on steep slopes to forests and grasslands. Here a variety of satellite data products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer were used to assess the biophysical consequences of the GGP for the Loess Plateau, the pilot region of the program. The average tree cover of the plateau substantially increased because of the GGP, with a relative …

Quantifying The Effects Of Harvesting On Carbon Fluxes And Stocks In Northern Temperate Forests, W. Wang, Jingfeng Xiao, Scott V. Ollinger, A. R. Desai, J. Chen, A. Noormets

Earth Systems Research Center

Harvest disturbance has substantial impacts on forest carbon (C) fluxes and stocks. The quantification of these effects is essential for the better understanding of forest C dynamics and informing forest management in the context of global change. We used a process-based forest ecosystem model, PnET-CN, to evaluate how, and by what mechanisms, clear-cuts alter ecosystem C fluxes, aboveground C stocks (AGC), and leaf area index (LAI) in northern temperate forests. We compared C fluxes and stocks predicted by the model and observed at two chronosequences of eddy covariance flux sites for deciduous broadleaf forests (DBF) and evergreen needleleaf forests (ENF) …

Core Handling And Processing For The Wais Divide Ice-Core Project, Joseph Souney Jr, Mark S. Twickler, Geoffrey M. Hargreaves, Brian M. Bencivengo, Matthew J. Kippenhan, Jay A. Johnson, Eric D. Cravens, Peter D. Neff, Richard M. Nunn, Anais J. Orsi, Trevor J. Popp, John F. Rhoades, Bruce H. Vaughn, Donald E. Voigt, Gifford J. Wong, Kendrick C. Taylor

Earth Systems Research Center

On 1 December 2011 the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice-core project reached its final depth of 3405 m. The WAIS Divide ice core is not only the longest US ice core to date, but is also the highest-quality deep ice core, including ice from the brittle ice zone, that the US has ever recovered. The methods used at WAIS Divide to handle and log the drilled ice, the procedures used to safely retrograde the ice back to the US National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) and the methods used to process and sample the ice at the NICL are …

A Land Use Puzzle: Piecing Together How Forests, Croplands, And Residential Neighborhoods Interact With Climate, Alexandra R. Contosta

Earth Systems Research Center

No abstract provided.

Rates Of Sustainable Forest Harvest Depend On Rotation Length And Weathering Of Soil Minerals, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Steven P. Hamburg, Ruth D. Yanai, Joel D. Blum

Earth Systems Research Center

Abstract

Removals of forest biomass in the northeastern US may intensify over the coming decades due to increased demand for renewable energy. For forests to regenerate successfully following intensified harvests, the nutrients removed from the ecosystem in the harvested biomass (including N, P, Ca, Mg, and K) must be replenished through a combination of plant-available nutrients in the soil rooting zone, atmospheric inputs, weathering of primary minerals, biological N fixation, and fertilizer additions. Few previous studies (especially in North America) have measured soil nutrient pools beyond exchangeable cations, but over the long rotations common in this region, other pools which …

Macrosystems Ecology: Understanding Ecological Patterns And Processes At Continental Scales, James B. Heffernan, Patricia A. Soranno, Michael J. Angilletta Jr., Lauren B. Buckley, Daniel S. Gruner, Tim H. Keitt, James R. Kellner, John S. Kominoski, Adrian V. Rocha, Jingfeng Xiao, Tamara K. Harms, Simon J. Goring, Lauren E. Koenig, William H. Mcdowell, Heather Powell, Andrew D. Richardson, Craig A. Stow, Rodrigo Vargas, Kathleen C. Weathers

Earth Systems Research Center

Macrosystems ecology is the study of diverse ecological phenomena at the scale of regions to continents and their interactions with phenomena at other scales. This emerging subdiscipline addresses ecological questions and environmental problems at these broad scales. Here, we describe this new field, show how it relates to modern ecological study, and highlight opportunities that stem from taking a macrosystems perspective. We present a hierarchical framework for investigating macrosystems at any level of ecological organization and in relation to broader and finer scales. Building on well-established theory and concepts from other subdisciplines of ecology, we identify feedbacks, linkages among distant …