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Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF133

Litterfall, Biomass and Productivity in CRUI Land Use Project at Harvard Forest 1996-1997

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Data

Overview

  • Lead: Charles McClaugherty, Richard Bowden, Timothy Sipe
  • Investigators: Heather Frankland
  • Contact: Information Manager
  • Start date: 1996
  • End date: 1997
  • Status: complete
  • Location: Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest)
  • Latitude: +42.53 to +42.55 degrees
  • Longitude: -72.20 to -72.17 degrees
  • Elevation: 335 to 357 meter
  • Datum: WGS84
  • Taxa: Acer rubrum (red maple), Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple), Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch), Betula lenta (black birch), Betula papyrifera (paper birch), Betula populifolia (gray birch), Castanea dentata (american chestnut), Fagus grandifolia (american beech), Fraxinus americana (white ash), Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel), Pinus strobus (white pine), Populus grandidentata (bigtooth aspen), Prunus serotina (black cherry), Quercus alba (white oak), Quercus rubra (red oak), Quercus velutina (black oak), Tsuga canadensis (hemlock)
  • Release date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • EML file: knb-lter-hfr.133.11
  • DOI: digital object identifier
  • EDI: data package
  • DataONE: data package
  • Related links:
  • Study type: short-term measurement
  • Research topic: historical and retrospective studies; large experiments and permanent plot studies; physiological ecology, population dynamics and species interactions
  • LTER core area: primary production, disturbance patterns, land use and land cover change
  • Keywords: aboveground production, biomass, land use, litterfall
  • Abstract:

    Prior agricultural land use often plays an important role in the present condition of forests. This research was conducted to find any productivity differences among previously plowed, pastured, and woodlot sites. There are six sites, two from each of the land use types. With this research we wanted to estimate the productivity for each of the six stands and test the hypothesis that rates of annual aboveground biomass and annual litter fall in recovering forests would decline in the order woodlot - pastured - plowed.

    Twenty-five trees, of various diameters and species, were cored at each site. The cores were analyzed and the radial growth was calculated for the most recent 5 and 10 year intervals. Biomass increments were also calculated for the same time span using published allometric equations. Aboveground woody productivity was calculated for diameter classes within species and semi-log relationships of productivity per diameter were used to calculate the productivity of all trees in the stand that were not cored. Site-specific and species-specific equations were used. Litter fall was estimated by collecting litter from ten traps each in the six stands. Litter was sorted by species and reported on a dry matter basis.

    Red oaks and red maples were the major contributors of biomass and litter fall in all six of the stands, accounting for about seventy percent of the total aboveground biomass. Although woodlots had higher total biomass there was not a significant difference in productivity across the six sites. The range of productivity including both litter fall and aboveground woody production was from 7524-9014 Kg/ha. This fell into the range for temperate forests according to results published by the International Biological Program. Production per unit biomass was greater in the plowed stand and least in the woodlots.

  • Methods:

    Litter was collected in basket litter traps for one year beginning in September 1996, Litter was sorted by species and values reports as dry matter in units of kg/ha. Ten litter traps were placed in each of six plots.

    Plot locations: Plow #1 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # III, southern end. Plow #2 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # III, southern end. Pasture #1 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # I, southeastern edge. Pasture #2 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VIII, central edge. Woodlot #1 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VIII, northeastern edge. Woodlot #2 Site: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VII, central.

  • 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: McClaugherty C, Bowden R, Sipe T. 2023. Litterfall, Biomass and Productivity in CRUI Land Use Project at Harvard Forest 1996-1997. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF133 (v.11). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/b002bd4d4bd3b60b687f862f5d638795.

Detailed Metadata

hf133-01: annual litterfall

  1. genus: genus
  2. plow.1: annual litterfall for Plow 1 (unit: kilogramsPerHectarePerYear / missing value: NA)
  3. plow.2: annual litterfall for Plow 2 (unit: kilogramsPerHectarePerYear / missing value: NA)
  4. past.1: annual litterfall for Pasture 1 (unit: kilogramsPerHectarePerYear / missing value: NA)
  5. past.2: annual litterfall for Pasture 2 (unit: kilogramsPerHectarePerYear / missing value: NA)
  6. wood.1: annual litterfall for Woodlot 1 (unit: kilogramsPerHectarePerYear / missing value: NA)
  7. wood.2: annual litterfall for Woodlot 2 (unit: kilogramsPerHectarePerYear / missing value: NA)

hf133-02: total aboveground biomass

  1. species: species
  2. plow.1: total aboveground biomass for Plow 1 (unit: kilogramsPerHectare / missing value: NA)
  3. plow.2: total aboveground biomass for Plow 2 (unit: kilogramsPerHectare / missing value: NA)
  4. past.1: total aboveground biomass for Pasture 1 (unit: kilogramsPerHectare / missing value: NA)
  5. past.2: total aboveground biomass for Pasture 2 (unit: kilogramsPerHectare / missing value: NA)
  6. wood.1: total aboveground biomass for Woodlot 1 (unit: kilogramsPerHectare / missing value: NA)
  7. wood.2: total aboveground biomass for Woodlot 2 (unit: kilogramsPerHectare / missing value: NA)

hf133-03: productivity and stem count

  1. site: site name
    • plowed 1: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # III, southern end
    • plowed 2: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # III, southern end
    • pastured 1: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # I, southeastern edge
    • pastured 2: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VIII, central edge
    • woodlot 1: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VIII, northeastern edge
    • woodlot 2: Prospect Hill Tract, Compartment # VII, central
  2. species: species
  3. biomass: biomass (unit: kilogram / missing value: NA)
  4. productivity: productivity (unit: kilogramsPerHectare / missing value: NA)
  5. stems: number of stems (unit: number / missing value: NA)