Study Number: 

4039

Project Title:

Forest disturbance history and stand dynamics of the Coweeta Basin, North Carolina.

Investigator(s):

Katherine Elliott | E-Mail | Tel. 706.542.3346 | Biographical Sketch
Sarah Butler | E-Mail | Tel. 207.581.2839
Alan White | E-Mail | Tel. 207.581.2851
Robert Seymour | E-Mail | Tel. 207.581.2860
Affiliated Institution(s): University of Maine
United States Forest Service Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory
Address: University of Maine
5575 Nutting Hall
Orono, Maine 04469
Study Category: Regional
Project Type: Type 1
Study Period: 08/2003 to 12/2005
Notes:

 
Funding Source(s):

University of Maine; United States Forest Service.
Abstract: Past disturbances are important to understanding today’s forest composition, structure, and function, as well as reactions to current stress and disturbance. Unfortunately, history is often not known at the stand level. The purpose of this study is to characterize the stand dynamics and disturbance history of the oak slopes in the Coweeta Basin, a long-term ecological research station located in the southern Appalachian mountains. The basin has a history logging in the early 1900’s, but remnant old-growth trees remain in the forest. Joyce Kilmer Wilderness area, a wilderness reserve in the same physiographic province as Coweeta, is an old-growth forest with no known logging. It is unknown if remnant old-growth trees provide the same record of disturbance as old-growth trees located in more undisturbed stands. Elliott et al. (1999) described vegetation differences with changes in topography and moisture at Coweeta, but it is unclear whether these changes correspond to different disturbance histories along those gradients. My specific objectives are to determine the disturbance history of seven stands in the Coweeta basin, determine if stands along topographic or compositional gradients in Coweeta have different disturbance histories (e.g. frequency, intensity and origin), establish the disturbance history in two old-growth stands in Joyce Kilmer Wilderness and compare the similarities and differences of the stands in Coweeta and Joyce Kilmer. Stand selection was based on preliminary dating of several large trees per stand, species composition and history. Prism sampling (2.0 BAF, metric) was done at five to ten points in each stand to characterize stand composition and structure. Sixty to 80 increment cores per stand were taken to the pith at 1 meter from the ground parallel to topographic contours to reduce effects of tension wood. Cores were stored in straws until transported to the lab. In the lab, cores were air dried, mounted, and sanded using progressively finer sandpaper in preparation for analysis. Once prepared, cores will be examined and ring widths measured to the nearest 0.01 mm with a dissecting microscope, Velmex sliding stage and J2X software. Cores will be visually cross-dated within species and stands using marker years and then checked with the computer cross-dating program COFECHA. Stand characteristics, such as age structure and species distribution, will be evaluated and compared. Disturbance chronologies will be created and compared for each stand and species using multivariate analysis and Mantel tests. Ring widths and disturbance chronologies are expected to reveal past disturbances in the stands. A disturbance is detected by large, abrupt and sustained releases in the ring widths, as well as well-defined cohorts. By comparing the chronologies, inferences can be made regarding the effect of topographic and compositional gradients on disturbance history.
Location(s), Described: Coweeta Basin Joyce Kilmer Wilderness
Location(s), Download GPS: ArcView Shape Files (shp.):  UTM, NAD83, Zone 17  |  Lat/Lon
Location(s), Online Map(s): Online Map
Methods/Experimental Design: Seven stands at Coweeta were chosen to represent a moisture gradient within the mixed-oak type. Stands were selected on the basis of several criteria, including species composition, history, and preliminary dating of old trees.Two additional stands were analyzed in the Joyce Kilmer Little Santeetlah Creek watershed. They were chosen because of their similar species composition and structure as stands in Coweeta. Prism sampling (2.0 BAF, metric) was done at five to ten points in each stand to characterize stand composition and structure. Points were spaced along transects in each stand at variable distance intervals due to differences in stand shape and size. To avoid counting a tree more than once, the minimum distance between points was at least two times the limiting distance as determined for a typically large tree in each stand. Exact point locations were random distances perpendicular from the transect. Species, diameter at breast height (1.37 m), and crown class (dominant, co-dominant, intermediate and overtopped) were recorded for each tree greater than 10 cm dbh. For saplings smaller than 10 cm dbh and greater than 1.37 m high, species and DBH were recorded in 0.01 ha plots around each sample point. At every other sample point in stands with 10 points, cores were taken of all trees tallied. In stands with fewer than 10 sample points, all trees from at least 5 points were cored. Cores were taken to the pith at 1 meter from the ground parallel to topographic contours to reduce effects of tension wood. Approximately 80 trees per stand were cored. Cores were stored in straws until transported to the lab. In the lab, cores were air dried, mounted, and sanded using progressively finer sandpaper in preparation for analysis. Slope, aspect and elevation were recorded for each stand.
Sampling Frequency: Once per stand; summer 2004
Data Columns:

Not applicable. No data has been submitted by researchers.
Publications:

None generated.
Data Restrictions: Users must adhere to the Coweeta LTER Data Policy.
Metadata: EML Format (XML Schema) | Information about EML
Data Downloads: No data have been submitted by researchers.