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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Relative Role Of Understory And Overstory In Carbon And Nitrogen Cycling In A Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest, P. T. Moore, H. Van Miegroet, N. S. Nicholas
Relative Role Of Understory And Overstory In Carbon And Nitrogen Cycling In A Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest, P. T. Moore, H. Van Miegroet, N. S. Nicholas
Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications
This study investigated aboveground pools and fluxes of biomass, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) in the overstory and understory of a southern Appalachian red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) – Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) forest, following adelgid-induced fir mortality and spruce windthrow. Using fifty 20 m × 20 m plots, stratified by elevation (1700–1900 m), we estimated standing biomass and fluxes of all growth forms from periodic stand inventories (1998–2003), vegetation surveys, and existing or derived allometric equations. Total C and N pools and fluxes were calculated from plant- and tissue-specific C and N concentrations. Total aboveground biomass attained …
Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics Along A Climatic Gradient In A Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest, C. E. Tewksbury, H. Van Miegroet
Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics Along A Climatic Gradient In A Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest, C. E. Tewksbury, H. Van Miegroet
Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications
A field study was conducted in a high-elevation spruce–fir (Picea rubens Sarg. – Abies fraseri (Pursh.) Poir) forest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to assess the effect of temperature on soil C storage and dynamics. In eight plots along an elevation gradient (1500–1900 m), we measured soil temperature, forest floor and mineral soil C, litter decomposition, soil respiration, and forest floor mean residence time. Mean annual soil temperature and annual degree-days above 5 °C were inversely correlated with elevation. Total soil C (166–241 Mg·ha–1) showed no trend with elevation, while forest floor C accumulation (16.3–35.9 Mg·ha–1) decreased significantly …
Variation In Overstory Nitrogen Uptake In A Small, High-Elevation Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Watershed, M. Barker, H. Van Miegroet, N. S. Nicholas, I. F. Creed
Variation In Overstory Nitrogen Uptake In A Small, High-Elevation Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Watershed, M. Barker, H. Van Miegroet, N. S. Nicholas, I. F. Creed
Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications
High-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) – Fraser fir (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir.) forests of the southern Appalachians exhibit considerable spatial heterogeneity in structure, and possibly in N uptake, because of a combination of natural disturbances and heavy fir mortality caused by infestations of the exotic balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratz). The objectives of this study are to determine spatial variability in tree N uptake in a small high-elevation catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, compare outcomes among calculation methods, and assess the influence of stand and landscape properties on N uptake. Tree N uptake is estimated …