uid=HFR,o=lter,dc=ecoinformatics,dc=org all public read doi:10.6073/pasta/8257e8dfe5ee792b595054f8fd64f0c4 Understory Removal Experiment at Harvard Forest 1956-2018 Ernest Gould Audrey Barker Plotkin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4473-9785 Fulton Rockwell https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2527-6033 Researcher Craig Lorimer Researcher William Murison Researcher Shelley Potter Researcher Emilio Arias Researcher Saloni Shah Researcher 2023 English
<para>In 1956, Ernie Gould and colleagues established an experiment to test whether removing understory trees will accelerate the growth of the residual overstory. The motivation for the experiment was the suggestion that the understory uses growth materials that would otherwise be available for the main canopy crop trees, and that if the understory were removed the development of the crop trees would be accelerated.</para> <para>In Tom Swamp Compartment I, a 300’ by 400’ rectangular plot was established in a closed-canopy hardwood forest, and every tree >2 inches dbh was mapped, measured and assigned to the overstory or understory. In half of the plot, all understory trees and woody shrubs were cut. Wood and brush were removed from the study area. Sprouts that emerged were killed by spraying with 2-4-5-T and kerosene in 1956 and 1958.</para> <para>Diameter growth measurements of the remaining trees (overstory in the treated area; overstory and understory in the control) were repeated in 1960, 1966, 1969, and 1975 as part of the original experiment. The control portion of the plot was measured in 2003 and 2018.</para> <para>This data set contains tree measurements from the control portion of the site for 1956, 1969, 1975, 2003, and 2018. Additional measurements are available on paper data sheets in the Harvard Forest Document Archives (Research File HF 1956-03). Results of the understory removal experiment are reported in Kelty and Gould (1987).</para> </section> </abstract> <keywordSet> <keyword>canopies</keyword> <keyword>competition</keyword> <keyword>diameter at breast height</keyword> <keyword>forest dynamics</keyword> <keyword>tree growth</keyword> <keyword>maple</keyword> <keyword>oak</keyword> <keywordThesaurus>LTER controlled vocabulary</keywordThesaurus> </keywordSet> <keywordSet> <keyword>primary production</keyword> <keyword>populations</keyword> <keywordThesaurus>LTER core area</keywordThesaurus> </keywordSet> <keywordSet> <keyword>Harvard Forest</keyword> <keyword>HFR</keyword> <keyword>LTER</keyword> <keyword>USA</keyword> <keywordThesaurus>HFR default</keywordThesaurus> </keywordSet> <intellectualRights> <section> <para>This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.</para> </section> </intellectualRights> <licensed> <licenseName>Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal</licenseName> <url>https://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0.html</url> <identifier>CC0-1.0</identifier> </licensed> <distribution> <online> <url function="information">https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/exist/apps/datasets/showData.html?id=hf313</url> </online> </distribution> <coverage> <geographicCoverage> <geographicDescription>Tom Swamp Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum.</geographicDescription> <boundingCoordinates> <westBoundingCoordinate>-72.195</westBoundingCoordinate> <eastBoundingCoordinate>-72.195</eastBoundingCoordinate> <northBoundingCoordinate>+42.495</northBoundingCoordinate> <southBoundingCoordinate>+42.495</southBoundingCoordinate> <boundingAltitudes> <altitudeMinimum>315</altitudeMinimum> <altitudeMaximum>315</altitudeMaximum> <altitudeUnits>meter</altitudeUnits> </boundingAltitudes> </boundingCoordinates> </geographicCoverage> <temporalCoverage> <rangeOfDates> <beginDate> <calendarDate>1956</calendarDate> </beginDate> <endDate> <calendarDate>2018</calendarDate> </endDate> </rangeOfDates> </temporalCoverage> <taxonomicCoverage> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Acer</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>rubrum</taxonRankValue> <commonName>red maple</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Quercus</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>rubra</taxonRankValue> <commonName>red oak</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicCoverage> </coverage> <maintenance> <description> <para>complete</para> </description> </maintenance> <contact scope="document"> <positionName>Information Manager</positionName> <organizationName>Harvard Forest</organizationName> <address scope="document"> <deliveryPoint>324 North Main Street</deliveryPoint> <city>Petersham</city> <administrativeArea>MA</administrativeArea> <postalCode>01366</postalCode> <country>USA</country> </address> <phone phonetype="voice">(978) 724-3302</phone> <electronicMailAddress>hf-im@lists.fas.harvard.edu</electronicMailAddress> </contact> <publisher scope="document"> <organizationName>Harvard Forest</organizationName> <address scope="document"> <deliveryPoint>324 North Main Street</deliveryPoint> <city>Petersham</city> <administrativeArea>MA</administrativeArea> <postalCode>01366</postalCode> <country>USA</country> </address> <phone phonetype="voice">(978) 724-3302</phone> <phone phonetype="fax">(978) 724-3595</phone> <onlineUrl>https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu</onlineUrl> </publisher> <methods> <methodStep> <description> <section> <title>plot layout The long axis of the plot is oriented ~SW-NE, and is 400 feet by 300 feet. It is broken into 48 record-units, each 50x50 feet. There are metal stakes every 50 feet along the perimeter of the plot. The N/S E/W locations are based on a grid established by W. Lyford. See hf313-03-ts-exp56-2-plot-layout.pdf for a diagram of the plot layout. For each record-unit, a sketch map included locations and numbers for each tree, which matched measurements of diameter and canopy class. For the purposes of the experiment, understory trees were defined as all those completely overtopped by adjoining trees, plus those with tops of crowns below the mid-point of the live crowns of adjoining overstory trees. In 1977, Craig Lorimer coded the data on computer cards, and analyzed the control data as part of an analysis of the red maple understory. In 2003, Fulton Rockwell remeasured the control sections of the plot, and in 2018, Audrey Barker Plotkin led re-measurement of the control sections of the plot.
Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Harvard Forest
324 North Main Street Petersham MA 01366 USA
(978) 724-3302 (978) 724-3595 https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu https://ror.org/059cpzx98 pointOfContact The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210. hf313-01-tree-data.csv tree data hf313-01-tree-data.csv 107288 31fb847efb494f2410ea665899d1060e 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p31/hf313/hf313-01-tree-data.csv latin.code scientific abbreviation for species scientific abbreviation for species NA missing value species species abbreviation used on field data sheets species abbreviation used on field data sheets NA missing value unit record sub-unit of plot record sub-unit of plot NA missing value tree.id tree number, matches original field maps tree number, matches original field maps NA missing value dbh1956 diameter at breast height in 1956 centimeter 0.001 real NA missing value dbh1969 diameter at breast height in 1969 centimeter 0.001 real NA missing value dbh1975 diameter at breast height in 1975 centimeter 0.001 real NA missing value dbh2003 diameter at breast height in 2003 centimeter 0.001 real NA missing value dbh2018 diameter at breast height in 2018 centimeter 0.1 real NA missing value cc1956 crown class in 1956 o overstory u understory NA missing value cc1969 crown class in 1969 o overstory u understory NA missing value cc1975 crown class in 1975 o overstory u understory NA missing value cc2003 crown class in 2003 o overstory u understory NA missing value cc2018 crown class in 2018 o overstory u understory NA missing value cond1956 condition in 1956 L live NA missing value cond1969 condition in 1969 L live M died since last inventory R recruited, that is, grew into tree-size class since last inventory cond1975 condition in 1975 L live M died since last inventory R recruited, that is, grew into tree-size class since last inventory NA missing value cond2003 condition in 2003 L live M died since last inventory R recruited, that is, grew into tree-size class since last inventory miss live in prior and subsequent census, but no measurement information. Therefore, this tree was missed in this year’s inventory. NA missing value cond2018 condition in 2018 L live M died since last inventory R recruited, that is, grew into tree-size class since last inventory NA missing value comments comments comments NA missing value 1665 hf313-02-species-codes.csv species codes hf313-02-species-codes.csv 897 bccbcc2f67fdc42215238cdf74ff7c43 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p31/hf313/hf313-02-species-codes.csv common.name common name of species common name of species NA missing value field.code abbreviation used on field data sheets abbreviation used on field data sheets NA missing value scientific.name genus and species genus and species NA missing value latin.code scientific abbreviation for (first two letters of genus and first two letters of species) scientific abbreviation for (first two letters of genus and first two letters of species) NA missing value 23 hf313-03-ts-exp56-2-plot-layout.pdf plot layout diagram hf313-03-ts-exp56-2-plot-layout.pdf 125050 36790081349765cc54f03693f51fb528 pdf https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p31/hf313/hf313-03-ts-exp56-2-plot-layout.pdf document plot community long-term measurement