Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF409

Tree Ring Data from North Round Pond in Pisgah State Forest NH 1754-2015

Related Publications

Data

• hf409-01: trees (preview)
• hf409-02: core data (preview)
• hf409-03: tree ring measurements (preview)
• hf409-04: crossdating (preview)
• hf409-05: field notes
• hf409-06: PalEON sampling protocol
• hf409-07: Tuscon files
• hf409-08: R script to convert Tucson files

Overview

• Lead: Neil Pederson
• Investigators: Daniel Bishop, Javier Martin Fernandez, Tessa Mandra
• Contact: Information Manager
• Start date: 1754
• End date: 2015
• Status: complete
• Location: Pisgah State Forest (NH)
• Latitude: 42.84 degrees
• Longitude: -72.45 degrees
• Elevation: 312 meter
• Datum: WGS84
• Taxa: Acer rubrum (red maple), Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch), Betula lenta (black birch), Betula papyrifera (paper birch), Fagus grandifolia (american beech), Fraxinus americana (white ash), Pinus strobus (eastern white pine), Prunus serotina (black cherry), Prunus rubra (northern red oak), Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
• Release date: 2023
• Language: English
• EML file: knb-lter-hfr.409.5
• DOI: digital object identifier
• EDI: data package
• DataONE: data package
• Related links:
• PalEON Project
• Study type: long-term measurement, historical, paleological
• Research topic: forest-atmosphere exchange; historical and retrospective studies; large experiments and permanent plot studies
• LTER core area: primary production, population studies, disturbance patterns
• Keywords: climate change, community composition, defoliation, dendrochronology, disturbance, net primary production, permanent plots, tree rings
• Abstract:

  Is it possible to reconstruct aboveground carbon/biomass from tree rings? If so, how far back in time can researchers go when using tree-ring data in the reconstruction of past biomass? Answers to these questions will have a significant impact on our understanding of dynamics in the terrestrial carbon sink. Long tree-ring records of biomass can reveal intra-annual to annual to multidecadal variations that cannot be resolved by forest census data that is not conducted at annual time steps. Additionally, while these dynamics might be resolved using remote sensing, most remotely-sensed products are only two decades or less in length. By having long records of carbon biomass, we can then identify not only the dominant drivers of biomass, but how the importance of these drivers might change during different eras as environmental factors change (e.g., climate, air pollution, disturbance).

  To test these and other questions, we collected tree-ring records from four 30m radius plots set in the vicinity of North Round Pond in Pisgah State Forest, New Hampshire. Two plots are set in broadleaf-dominated forests while two are set in oak-mixed conifer dominated forests. We can convert these data to biomass using allometric equations and compare tree-ring inferred aboveground biomass to the census data going back in time. While a strong hurricane in September 1938 knocked down 80% of a stand ca 3.5 km SSE of these stands and the stands in the vicinity of the North Round Pond are set on N- and NW-facing slopes, and thus potentially shielded by the strong tropical winds, they, too, were disturbed by the hurricane of 1938. However, there are some very old trees and patches of trees in this landscape, while, at the same time, we suspect some logging impacted parts of some of these plots in the 1960s, like in North Round Pond Plot 1. The forest stands have since regrown and the plots we installed can be used to understand forest recovery and carbon dynamics in a heavily disturbance forest. Recruitment dates for some of the trees from these plots have been published in Pederson et al. (2017).

  Pederson, N., Young, A. B., Stan, A. B., Ariya, U., Martin-Benito, D. 2017. Low-Hanging DendroDynamic Fruits Regarding Disturbance in Temperate, Mesic Forests. In: Amoroso, M. M., Daniels, L. D., Baker, P. J., Camarero, J. J., Dendroecology: Tree-Ring Analyses Applied to Ecological Studies, Springer, Cham., Switzerland.

• Methods:

  Vegetation and tree-ring data

  Vegetation and tree-ring data associated with this dataset were collected by the “PalEON Protocol”. Three plots were established in the EMS Plot where all trees greater than 10 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) in a 13 m radius were mapped (using distance and azimuth from plot center), measured for DBH, placed into canopy strata (dominant, co-dominant, intermediate, and suppressed, life status (live or dead), structural position if dead (snag, log, or stump hole), and cored. Two to three cores were removed from all trees sampled, live or dead, when possible; some were too rotten to core. Decay classes were determined for all deadwood (1 = recent to 5 = nearly soil) following Bunnell and Houde (Bunnell, F.L. and Houde, I., 2010, Down wood and biodiversity--implications to forest practices, Environmental Reviews, 18, pp.397-421) and surveys were made of saplings (all stems 2.5-4.99 cm DBH from plot center out to 5 m) and poles (all stems 5-9.99 in DBH from plot center out to 9 m). This protocol was repeated for 13-20 m from plot center, but only for trees greater than 20 cm DBH, to increase representation and possibly sample a higher proportion of old trees. Tree-ring measurements were taken from all usable cores and portions of usable cores for each plot. Some cores had too much rot or other issues to be useful. The occurrence of a missing or locally absent ring, where a tree did not fully form a ring on the side of the tree that was cored, is designated with a zero.

  Tree-ring file formats

  Data are provided in both traditional Tucson and csv formats. Tucson files are organized by species where the species code is the first two letters of the genus plus the first two letters of the species. Tuscon files contain total raw ring width (.rwl), earlywood ring width (.ewr), or latewood ring width (.lwr). Tucson data can be read as a space-delimited file in most coding languages. In R, package dplR has built-in function read.rwl that converts .rwl files to a data frame (rows become years; columns become ring-width series). For more information on the Tucson data format, please see: Brewer, P.W., Murphy, D. and Jansma, E., 2011. TRiCYCLE: a universal conversion tool for digital tree-ring data. Tree-Ring Research, 67(2), pp.135-144.

  Crossdating Acer saccharum

  Final crossdating for the Acer saccharum was extremely dated, but these data are dated to the best of our abilities. We collected extra samples from outside the plots to hone in on the dating issues of the 1960s where we found an extraordinary high number of missing or locally absent rings. While these data might not look dated compared to most tree-ring collections for climatic reconstructions, they are dated. It could very well be that oldest rings in this collection might not be dated. We feel this could be so given that sample replication is low and Acer saccharum is a difficult to crossdate. The file ‘hf409-04-nrp-crossdating.csv’ explains our decision making for each core.

  General Crossdating Note: North Round Pond Plot 2 (NRP2) contained severely suppressed growth in any samples, most notably in diffuse porous species. This often leads to particularly low correlations in Cofecha output.

  Notes about the field notes

  Initial written deadwood entries from NRP Plots 1 and 2 in September 2013 (pages 2, 3, and 7) were not used and resampled in July 2014 following updated protocol (pages 8-9).

  Notes about the data

  NRP1 Tree 23, 32, and 47 (FAGR), NRP2 Trees 4 and 17 (ACSA), and NRP2 Tree 24 (BEAL) are missing from the ring-width files. The causes of the missing data are accounted for in the “comments” column of the field notes file (hf409-02-nrp-core.csv).

  Please note partial rings exist in many series. Details of the range of years measured for each series are included in the core notes.

• 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: Pederson N. 2023. Tree Ring Data from North Round Pond in Pisgah State Forest NH 1754-2015. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF409 (v.5). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/7052fc191d010bd025571c0cc6dc0603.

Detailed Metadata

hf409-01: trees

1. site: site and plot identifier
   • NRP1: North Round Pond Plot 1 (Plot center at 42.84514 N, -72.44730 W)
   • NRP2: North Round Pond Plot 2 (Plot center at 42.84771 N, -72.44750 W)
   • NRP3: North Round Pond Plot 3 (Plot center at 42.84417 N, -72.44976 W)
   • NRP4: North Round Pond Plot 4 (Plot center at 42.84085 N, -72.45222 W)
2. tree: tree number
3. species: species
   • ACRU: Acer rubrum
   • ACSA: Acer saccharum
   • BEAL: Betula alleghaniensis
   • BELE: Betula lenta
   • BEPA: Betula papyrifera
   • FAGR: Fagus grandifolia
   • FRAM: Fraxinus americana
   • PIST: Pinus strobus
   • PRSE: Prunus serotina
   • QURU: Quercus rubra
   • TSCA: Tsuga canadensis
4. date: date of sampling
5. canopy: canopy position
   • codominant: codominant
   • dominant: dominant
   • intermediate: intermediate
   • suppressed: suppressed
6. status: alive, dead or non-standing tree position
   • dead: status is unknown
   • Li: live
   • Lo: log
   • Sh: stump hole
   • Sn: snag
   • St: stump
7. dbh: diameter at breast height (unit: centimeter / missing value: NA)
8. distance: distance from plot center (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
9. azimuth: degrees from due north (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
10. Orientation: orientation in degrees of fall of log (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
11. Length: length of log (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
12. decay: decay class
    • 1: solid wood, recently fallen, bark and twigs present
    • 2: solid wood, significant weathering, branches present
    • 3: wood not solid, bark may be sloughing but nail still must be pounded into wood
    • 4: wood sloughing and/or friable, nail may be forcibly pushed into wood
    • 5: wood friable, barely holding shape, nail may be easily pushed into wood

hf409-02: core data

1. site: site and plot identfier
   • NRP1: North Round Pond Plot 1 (Plot center at 42.84514 N, -72.44730 W)
   • NRP2: North Round Pond Plot 2 (Plot center at 42.84771 N, -72.44750 W)
   • NRP3: North Round Pond Plot 3 (Plot center at 42.84417 N, -72.44976 W)
   • NRP4: North Round Pond Plot 4 (Plot center at 42.84085 N, -72.45222 W)
2. tree: tree number
3. core: core cardinal direction
   • E: east
   • N: north
   • S: south
   • W: west
4. species: species ID of individual series
   • ACRU: Acer rubrum
   • ACSA: Acer saccharum
   • BEAL: Betula alleghaniensis
   • BELE: Betula lenta
   • BEPA: Betula papyrifera
   • FAGR: Fagus grandifolia
   • FRAM: Fraxinus americana
   • PIST: Pinus strobus
   • PRSE: Prunus serotina
   • QURU: Quercus rubra
   • TSCA: Tsuga canadensis
5. inner_year: observed innermost year (not always measured)
6. outer_year: observed outermost year (not always measured)
7. meas_inner: year of innermost measured ring
8. meas_outer: year of innermost measured ring
9. rings: total number of rings measured (unit: number / missing value: NA)
10. pith: estimated number of rings from pith or at pith (unit: number / missing value: NA)
11. gap: location, in dates, when there is an observed gap(s) in mounted cores
12. missing: list of years with missing rings in series
13. false: list of years with false rings in series
14. incomplete: list of years with incomplete/partial rings in series
15. reaction: list of years with “reaction wood” in series
16. canopy: estimated condition of tree during early growth years
    • G: gap
    • N: non-gap
    • U: unknown
17. comments: core-specific comments

hf409-03: tree ring measurements

1. site: site
   • NRP: North Round Pond Plot
2. species: species
   • ACRU: Acer rubrum
   • ACSA: Acer saccharum
   • BEAL: Betula alleghaniensis
   • BELE: Betula lenta
   • BEPA: Betula papyrifera
   • FAGR: Fagus grandifolia
   • FRAM: Fraxinus americana
   • PIST: Pinus strobus
   • PRSE: Prunus serotina
   • QURU: Quercus rubra
   • TSCA: Tsuga canadensis
3. core: core number
4. type: ring measurement type
   • ewr: earlywood ring width
   • lwr: latewood ring width
   • rwl: raw ring width
5. year: year of ring width
6. rw: measured ring width (unit: millimeter / missing value: NA)

hf409-04: crossdating

1. site: site and plot identifier
   • NRP1: North Round Pond Plot 1 (Plot center at 42.84514 N, -72.44730 W)
   • NRP2: North Round Pond Plot 2 (Plot center at 42.84771 N, -72.44750 W)
   • NRP3: North Round Pond Plot 3 (Plot center at 42.84417 N, -72.44976 W)
   • NRP4: North Round Pond Plot 4 (Plot center at 42.84085 N, -72.45222 W)
2. tree: tree number
3. species: species
   • ACRU: Acer rubrum
   • ACSA: Acer saccharum
   • BEAL: Betula alleghaniensis
   • BELE: Betula lenta
   • BEPA: Betula papyrifera
   • FAGR: Fagus grandifolia
   • FRAM: Fraxinus americana
   • PIST: Pinus strobus
   • PRSE: Prunus serotina
   • QURU: Quercus rubra
   • TSCA: Tsuga canadensis
4. canopy: canopy position
   • Canopy: canopy
   • Dead: dead
   • Understory: understory
5. internal: mean intercorrelation for internal crossdating (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
6. max.missing: maximum number of missing rings (unit: number / missing value: NA)
7. 1650_1699: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1650-1699 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
8. 1675_1724: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1675-1724 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
9. 1700_1749: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1700-1749 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
10. 1725_1774: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1725-1774 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
11. 1750_1799: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1750-1799 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
12. 1775_1824: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1775-1824 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
13. 1800_1849: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1800-1849 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
14. 1825_1874: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1825-1874 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
15. 1850_1899: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1850-1899 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
16. 1875_1924: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1875-1924 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
17. 1900_1949: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1900-1949 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
18. 1925_1974: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1925-1974 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
19. 1950_1999: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1950-1999 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
20. 1975_2024: mean segmented intercorrelation for internal crossdating for years 1975-2024 (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
21. crossdates: series crossdating with Master Chronology
    • Mostly: mostly
    • N: no
    • Somewhat: somewhat
    • Y: yes
22. complacent: appearance of complacent rings in tree
    • Maybe: maybe
    • N: no
    • Outside 1930: outside 1930
    • Y: yes
23. supression: appearance of suppressed rings in tree
    • 1900-1920: 1900-1920
    • Inside 1850: inside 1850
    • Inside 1900: inside 1900
    • Inside 1920: inside 1920
    • Inside 1950: inside 1950
    • N: no
    • Y: yes
24. notes: additional notes on crossdating

hf409-05: field notes

• Compression: none
• Format: pdf
• Type: document

hf409-06: PalEON sampling protocol

• Compression: none
• Format: pdf
• Type: document

hf409-07: Tuscon files

• Compression: zip
• Format: Tuscon ring data
• Type: document

hf409-08: R script to convert Tucson files

• Compression: none
• Format: R script
• Type: script