Life Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating Climate And Environmental Drivers Of Tree Species’ Growth Within The Northern Forest, Rebecca Stern

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Northeastern forests are in a period of immense change. While forests are inherently dynamic ecosystems, a range of environmental challenges may cause unique and uncertain transformations within forests moving forward. How trees in northern forests respond to these environmental and anthropogenic changes remains uncertain; reductions and increases in the growth of various species and shifts in current species’ ranges may take place.

I analyzed associations between tree growth (assessed using xylem increment cores) and a range of site, climate, and pollution deposition variables for seven major tree species in Vermont. First, I looked at red oak (Quercus rubra L.), a …

Mitigating Gaseous Nitrogen And Carbon Losses From Northeastern Agricultural Soils Via Alternative Soil Management Practices, Kyle Michael Dittmer

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Traditional agricultural practices often result in gaseous losses of nitrous oxide (N2O), ammonia (NH3), and carbon dioxide (CO2), representing a net loss of nutrients from agricultural soils, which negatively impacts crop yield and requires farmers to increase nutrient inputs. By adopting best management practices (BMPs; i.e., no-tillage, cover crops, sub-surface manure application, and proper manure application timing), there is great potential to reduce these losses. Because N2O and CO2 are also greenhouse gases (GHGs), climate change mitigation via BMP adoption and emissions reductions would be an important co-benefit. However, adopting a no-tillage and cover cropping system has had setbacks within …