Harvard Forest

Data Archive

HF452

Functional Traits of Selected Tree Species in Harvard Forest, New Hampshire, and Southern Quebec 2015

Related Publications

Data

• hf452-01: tree traits (preview)
• hf452-02: tree species (preview)

Overview

• Lead: Dan Flynn, Elizabeth Wolkovich
• Investigators: Cara O’Connor, Jehane Samaha, Timothy Savas
• Contact: Information Manager
• Start date: 2015
• End date: 2015
• Status: complete
• Location: Harvard Forest, New Hampshire, Quebec
• Latitude: +42.46 to +46.00 degrees
• Longitude: -74.02 to -71.05 degrees
• Elevation: 266 to 505 meter
• Datum: WGS84
• Taxa: Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple), Acer rubrum (red maple), Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Acer spicatum (mountain maple), Alnus incana subsp. rugosa (speckled alder), Amelanchier canadensis (canadian serviceberry), Amelanchier laevis (smooth serviceberry), Aronia melanocarpa (black chokecherry), Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch), Betula lenta (cherry birch), Betula papyrifera (paper birch), Betula populifolia (gray birch), Cornus alternifolia (alternate-leaved dogwood), Corylus cornuta (beaked hazelnut), Diervilla lonicera (bush honeysuckle), Fagus grandifolia (beech), Fraxinus americana (white ash), Fraxinus nigra (black ash), Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel), Ilex mucronatus (mountain holly), Kalmia angustifolia (sheep laurel), Lonicera canadensis (american honeysuckle), Lyonia ligustrina (maleberry), Myrica gale (sweetgale), Nyssa sylvatica (black gum), Populus grandidentata (bigtooth aspen), Prunus pensylvanica (pin cherry), Quercus alba (white oak), Quercus rubra (red oak), Quercus velutina (black oak), Rhamnus frangula (buckthorn), Rhododendron prinophyllum (early azalea), Ribes glandulosum (skunk currant), Sambucus racemosa (red elderberry), Sorbus americana (american mountain ash), Spiraea alba (white meadowsweet), Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush), Tilia americana (american linden), Ulmus americana (american elm), Vaccinium myrtilloides (velvet-leaved blueberry), Viburnum cassinoides (witherod), Viburnum lantanoides (hobblebush)
• Release date: 2025
• Language: English
• EML file: knb-lter-hfr.452.1
• DOI: digital object identifier
• EDI: data package
• DataONE: data package
• Related links:
• Leaf and Flower Phenology of Woody Plant Species at Harvard Forest and Southern Quebec 2015
• Study type: short-term measurement
• Research topic: biodiversity studies; large experiments and permanent plot studies; physiological ecology, population dynamics and species interactions; regional studies
• LTER core area: primary production, population studies
• Keywords: carbon, diameter at breast height, leaf area, nitrogen, photosynthesis, wood
• Abstract:

  Increasing evidence suggests that species' phenological responses may predict their performance with warming, but this work has generally ignored whether phenology is correlated with other traits known to drive plant performance. This is perhaps surprising given that interest in functional traits has also increased in recent decades, yet within the functional traits literature there has been an equally limited consideration of phenology, perhaps because robustly estimating it is time-intensive, and simple field estimates will show extreme variation across sites of different latitudes and climate regimes. Here we collected a suite of trait data on the same species for which we collected phenological data (see related dataset HF314, Leaf and Flower Phenology of Woody Plant Species at Harvard Forest and Southern Quebec 2015) to help address this gap. We focused on populations of trees in temperate forests in the Northeast face, which face different environmental conditions across their ranges. This project measured functional traits of trees at two to four sites, to provide a foundation for studies on the relationship between range shift, phenology, and functional traits.

• Methods:

  Study sites were selected at each degree latitude between 42 and 46 degrees: Harvard Forest, White Mountains and Second College Grant in New Hampshire, and, Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec. Species were selected for this study based on their prevalence at least two of the four study sites; 44 species are included in this study. At each site, six or more representative individuals were selected for trait measurement. In the field, we measured diameter at breast height (DBH), number of stems, and height, as well as recording GPS coordinates of the individual. We collected leaf and stem samples to process the same day (leaf area, leaf fresh mass, and stem volume) or at a later date (stem mass, leaf dry mass, leaf percent nitrogen, leaf percent carbon, stomatal density) according to standard methodologies (Pérez-Harguindeguy et al. 2013, Aust J Bot). Leaf carbon and nitrogen were measured at the Torrey Laboratory at Harvard Forest, using a Elementar CHN Analyzer. In total, we sampled 854 individuals.

• 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: Flynn D, Wolkovich E. 2025. Functional Traits of Selected Tree Species in Harvard Forest, New Hampshire, and Southern Quebec 2015. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF452 (v.1). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/dc68c63764f0c5edf6f09e7a60a0468a.

Detailed Metadata

hf452-01: tree traits

1. Individual: individual identifier
2. Site: one of four sites
   • GR: Second College Grant
   • HF: Harvard Forest
   • SH: Saint-Hippolyte, Quebec
   • WM: White Mountains
3. Species: six letter code for species
4. Latitude: latitude (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
5. Longitude: longitude (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
6. Elevation: elevation (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
7. LeafArea: leaf area (unit: centimeterSquared / missing value: NA)
8. FreshMass: fresh leaf mass (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
9. DryMass: dry leaf mass (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
10. StemVolume: stem volume (unit: centimeterCubed / missing value: NA)
11. StemMass: stem mass (unit: gram / missing value: NA)
12. Height: height (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
13. Distance: distance from tree for measuring height (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
14. BottomAngle: bottom angle (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
15. TopAngle: top angle (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
16. BottomM: bottom (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
17. TopM: top (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
18. DBH: Diameter at breast height (1.3m)
19. DBH2: Diameter at breast height (1.3m) of second stem, if applicable
20. DBH3: Diameter at breast height (1.3m) of third stem, if applicable
21. DBH4: Diameter at breast height (1.3m) of fourth stem, if applicable
22. DBH5: Diameter at breast height (1.3m) of fifth stem, if applicable
23. Summer2015Notes: notes
24. N: percent foliar nitrogen (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
25. C: percent foliar carbon (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)
26. StomatalLength: mean of 5 stomates per image view. There were 1-3 views per individual plant (unit: micrometer / missing value: NA)
27. StomatalDensity: mean number of stomata per image view (unit: dimensionless / missing value: NA)

hf452-02: tree species

1. Species: full species name
2. Genus: genus name we are using
3. sp: species name we are using
4. Common: common name; usually referenced from gobotany.newenglandwild.org
5. Code: six letter plant code
6. ID: ID in The Plant List (TPL) using Taxonstand package in R
7. TPL_version: version of TPL used
8. TaxonomicStatus: taxonomic status as in TPL
9. Family: family name extracted from TPL
10. NewGenus: genus name extracted from TPL
11. NewSpecies: species name extracted from TPL
12. Authority: taxonomic authority extracted from TPL