Coarse Roots and Rock Content in Oak, Hemlock, and Ash Stands at Harvard Forest 2020

<para>When collecting soil samples in the very rocky soils of the Harvard Forest, researchers are forced to core the soil away from rocks. Thus, the resulting samples tend to underestimate the rock content of the soil and overestimate the sand, silt, and other fine particles content. When scaling the results to a spatial area larger than the sample’s (e.g., m2, hectare) it is important to know the actual rock content of the soil to apply the right correction factor. Therefore, we dug pits in three different stands at the Harvard Forest to determine the rock content. At the same time we also collected coarse roots (>2mm diameter) to measure their biomass, which can’t be easily done using the usual soil coring techniques.</para> </section> </abstract> <keywordSet> <keyword>biomass</keyword> <keyword>carbon</keyword> <keyword>hemlock</keyword> <keyword>oak</keyword> <keyword>roots</keyword> <keyword>soil</keyword> <keywordThesaurus>LTER controlled vocabulary</keywordThesaurus> </keywordSet> <keywordSet> <keyword>organic matter</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=hf356</url> </online> </distribution> <coverage> <geographicCoverage> <geographicDescription>Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest). Coordinates based on WGS84 datum.</geographicDescription> <boundingCoordinates> <westBoundingCoordinate>-72.195</westBoundingCoordinate> <eastBoundingCoordinate>-72.171</eastBoundingCoordinate> <northBoundingCoordinate>+42.54</northBoundingCoordinate> <southBoundingCoordinate>+42.534</southBoundingCoordinate> <boundingAltitudes> <altitudeMinimum>355</altitudeMinimum> <altitudeMaximum>355</altitudeMaximum> <altitudeUnits>meter</altitudeUnits> </boundingAltitudes> </boundingCoordinates> </geographicCoverage> <temporalCoverage> <rangeOfDates> <beginDate> <calendarDate>2020</calendarDate> </beginDate> <endDate> <calendarDate>2020</calendarDate> </endDate> </rangeOfDates> </temporalCoverage> <taxonomicCoverage> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Fraxinus</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>americana</taxonRankValue> <commonName>white ash</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Quercus</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>rubra</taxonRankValue> <commonName>red oak</commonName> </taxonomicClassification> </taxonomicClassification> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>genus</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>Tsuga</taxonRankValue> <taxonomicClassification> <taxonRankName>species</taxonRankName> <taxonRankValue>canadensis</taxonRankValue> <commonName>eastern hemlock</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/> <para>We dug 1m x 1m pits down to 0.5m depth in the mineral soil to measure coarse roots (>2mm diameter) and rock content (>6mm diameter). The red oak pit was located close to the EMS hut. The hemlock pit was located in the Hemlock Tower footprint, close to Locust Opening Road. The ash pits were located in the ash stand along route 32. All soil was sieved and rocks we weighed in the field. Coarse roots were brought back to the lab and separated into two categories: between 2 and 10mm diameter, and diameter greater than 10mm. Roots were washed and dried at 60°C until constant mass.</para> </section> </description> </methodStep> </methods> <project> <title>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. hf356-01-rock.csv rock content hf356-01-rock.csv 252 2ef173c8fff781c67f8a108650ae85dd 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p35/hf356/hf356-01-rock.csv species main tree species where the pit is located main tree species where the pit is located NA missing value pit pit number pit number NA missing value depth depth in the mineral soil (cm) depth in the mineral soil (cm) NA missing value rocks rock mass for the specific depth increment kilogram 0.01 real NA missing value 12 hf356-02-root.csv coarse roots hf356-02-root.csv 727 d3fdb5ca8720b8efe910871f40819252 1 \r\n column , https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p35/hf356/hf356-02-root.csv species main tree species where the pit is located main tree species where the pit is located NA missing value pit pit number pit number NA missing value depth depth in the mineral soil (cm) depth in the mineral soil (cm) NA missing value live_2_10 dry biomass of live roots of diameter between 2 and 10mm gram 0.01 real NA missing value live_10 dry biomass of live roots of diameter greater than 10mm gram 0.01 real NA missing value dead_2_10 dry biomass of dead roots of diameter between 2 and 10mm gram 0.01 real NA missing value dead_10 dry biomass of dead roots of diameter greater than 10mm gram 0.01 real NA missing value total_2_10 dry biomass of all roots of diameter between 2 and 10mm gram 0.01 real NA missing value total_10 dry biomass of all roots of diameter greater than 10mm gram 0.01 real NA missing value notes notes notes 16 soil short-term measurement