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Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF356

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

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Data

Overview

  • Lead: Adrien Finzi
  • Investigators: Marc-Andre Giasson
  • Contact: Information Manager
  • Start date: 2020
  • End date: 2020
  • Status: complete
  • Location: Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest)
  • Latitude: +42.534 to +42.54 degrees
  • Longitude: -72.195 to -72.171 degrees
  • Elevation: 355 meter
  • Datum: WGS84
  • Taxa: Fraxinus americana (white ash), Quercus rubra (red oak), Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
  • Release date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • EML file: knb-lter-hfr.356.3
  • DOI: digital object identifier
  • EDI: data package
  • DataONE: data package
  • Related links:
  • Study type: short-term measurement
  • Research topic: soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics
  • LTER core area: organic matter movement
  • Keywords: biomass, carbon, hemlock, oak, roots, soil
  • Abstract:

    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.

  • Methods:

    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.

  • Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

  • Project: 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. (ROR).

  • Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

  • Use: 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.

  • License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

  • Citation: Finzi A. 2023. Coarse Roots and Rock Content in Oak, Hemlock, and Ash Stands at Harvard Forest 2020. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF356 (v.3). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/7658d99e6225dc7ef5c1b1a4f73cbd84.

Detailed Metadata

hf356-01: rock content

  1. species: main tree species where the pit is located
  2. pit: pit number
  3. depth: depth in the mineral soil (cm)
  4. rocks: rock mass for the specific depth increment (unit: kilogram / missing value: NA)

hf356-02: coarse roots

  1. species: main tree species where the pit is located
  2. pit: pit number
  3. depth: depth in the mineral soil (cm)
  4. live_2_10: dry biomass of live roots of diameter between 2 and 10mm (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
  5. live_10: dry biomass of live roots of diameter greater than 10mm (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
  6. dead_2_10: dry biomass of dead roots of diameter between 2 and 10mm (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
  7. dead_10: dry biomass of dead roots of diameter greater than 10mm (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
  8. total_2_10: dry biomass of all roots of diameter between 2 and 10mm (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
  9. total_10: dry biomass of all roots of diameter greater than 10mm (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
  10. notes: notes