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By Jennifer Donovan
Michigan Tech News
March 3, 2010—
How does a natural forest respond to harvesting under global change
conditions?
Michigan Technological University and the US Forest
Service Institute for Applied Ecosystem Studies (FS IAES) have received
$1.1 million in US Forest Service funding to conduct new research that
asks that question.
“Forests grow differently when they are exposed
to carbon dioxide, ozone and other pollutants,” explained Andrew Burton,
a professor in Michigan Tech’s School of Forest Resources and
Environmental Science. Burton is Michigan Tech’s lead investigator on
the new research study.
During an earlier research collaboration
called the Aspen FACE project, scientists planted aspen and birch trees
in 12 circular plots at the US Forest Service test site near
Rhinelander, Wis. They then exposed them to elevated levels of carbon
dioxide, ozone and a combination of the two, and analyzed the impacts of
varying amounts and mixtures of the greenhouse gases on the tree growth,
roots, leaves, soil carbon and nutrients, insects and diseases and
entire ecosystem carbon storage.
Their main findings were that carbon
dioxide caused increased growth; ozone caused reduced growth, and in
combination, the negative effects of ozone offset much of the positive
effects of CO2.
The new study—at the same site—takes a step back,
starting by cutting down all the trees planted during Aspen FACE and
letting the forest resprout on its own. Researchers then will use
the Aspen FACE technology to expose the new growth to increased levels
of carbon dioxide, ozone and a combination of the two.
Richard Norby,
a corporate research fellow at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and
principal investigator on another federally-funded FACE project, is glad
to see the research continue at Aspen FACE. "The effect of elevated CO2
on forest regeneration has not been well studied, but it could be a very
important factor shaping the state of our future forests and the many
services they provide. This new research at Aspen FACE will be an
important contribution to the nation's global change research
portfolio," he said.
“You might call this a prequel to Aspen FACE,”
said US Forest Service researcher Mark Kubiske. “Last time we planted
the trees. This time we are starting with trees that are regenerating of
their own accord.”
Scientists will be studying what Burton called
“the legacy effects” of new trees sprouting from the root system formed
under the Aspen FACE treatments, as well as continuing effects of the
treatments used on the new growth. They will be simulating
the carbon dioxide concentrations expected 50 years from now and ozone
concentrations typical of a location closer to larger cities —80 to 100
parts per billion.
“Aspen forests play an incredibly important role
in our lives,” Kubiske said. “They are extremely important for paper
production and as a food source and cover for wildlife. Aspen ecosystems
account for about half of the upland hardwood forests throughout the
lake states, and they occur all across the US and Canada. We have to be
able to predict what will happen to existing forests under global change
conditions.” Kubiske is the Institute for Applied Ecosystem Studies’
lead investigator on the new study.
Michigan Tech will be operating
the test site, applying the treatments and monitoring results. The
Forest Service will be operating the experiment, monitoring the growth
and development of the forests and coordinating research among visiting
scientists from the University of Michigan, the University of
Nevada-Reno, the University of Wisconsin, DOE’s Brookhaven National
Laboratory and other collaborators worldwide. More than 80 scientists
are expected to participate in the experiment before it is completed.
Michigan Technological University (mtu.edu) is a leading public research
university developing new technologies and preparing students to create
the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers
more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering;
forest resources; computing; technology; business; economics; natural,
physical and environmental sciences; arts; humanities; and social
sciences.
Original URL:
http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2010/march/story23934.html
March 3,
2010—
How does a natural forest respond to harvesting under global
change conditions?
Michigan Technological University and the US
Forest Service Institute for Applied Ecosystem Studies (FS IAES) have
received $1.1 million in US Forest Service funding to conduct new
research that asks that question.
“Forests grow differently when they
are exposed to carbon dioxide, ozone and other pollutants,” explained
Andrew Burton, a professor in Michigan Tech’s School of Forest Resources
and Environmental Science. Burton is Michigan Tech’s lead investigator
on the new research study.
During an earlier research collaboration
called the Aspen FACE project, scientists planted aspen and birch trees
in 12 circular plots at the US Forest Service test site near
Rhinelander, Wis. They then exposed them to elevated levels of carbon
dioxide, ozone and a combination of the two, and analyzed the impacts of
varying amounts and mixtures of the greenhouse gases on the tree growth,
roots, leaves, soil carbon and nutrients, insects and diseases and
entire ecosystem carbon storage.
Their main findings were that carbon
dioxide caused increased growth; ozone caused reduced growth, and in
combination, the negative effects of ozone offset much of the positive
effects of CO2.
The new study—at the same site—takes a step back,
starting by cutting down all the trees planted during Aspen FACE and
letting the forest resprout on its own. Researchers then will use
the Aspen FACE technology to expose the new growth to increased levels
of carbon dioxide, ozone and a combination of the two.
Richard Norby,
a corporate research fellow at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and
principal investigator on another federally-funded FACE project, is glad
to see the research continue at Aspen FACE. "The effect of elevated CO2
on forest regeneration has not been well studied, but it could be a very
important factor shaping the state of our future forests and the many
services they provide. This new research at Aspen FACE will be an
important contribution to the nation's global change research
portfolio," he said.
“You might call this a prequel to Aspen FACE,”
said US Forest Service researcher Mark Kubiske. “Last time we planted
the trees. This time we are starting with trees that are regenerating of
their own accord.”
Scientists will be studying what Burton called
“the legacy effects” of new trees sprouting from the root system formed
under the Aspen FACE treatments, as well as continuing effects of the
treatments used on the new growth. They will be simulating
the carbon dioxide concentrations expected 50 years from now and ozone
concentrations typical of a location closer to larger cities —80 to 100
parts per billion.
“Aspen forests play an incredibly important role
in our lives,” Kubiske said. “They are extremely important for paper
production and as a food source and cover for wildlife. Aspen ecosystems
account for about half of the upland hardwood forests throughout the
lake states, and they occur all across the US and Canada. We have to be
able to predict what will happen to existing forests under global change
conditions.” Kubiske is the Institute for Applied Ecosystem Studies’
lead investigator on the new study.
Michigan Tech will be operating
the test site, applying the treatments and monitoring results. The
Forest Service will be operating the experiment, monitoring the growth
and development of the forests and coordinating research among visiting
scientists from the University of Michigan, the University of
Nevada-Reno, the University of Wisconsin, DOE’s Brookhaven National
Laboratory and other collaborators worldwide. More than 80 scientists
are expected to participate in the experiment before it is completed.
Michigan Technological University (mtu.edu) is a leading public research
university developing new technologies and preparing students to create
the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers
more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering;
forest resources; computing; technology; business; economics; natural,
physical and environmental sciences; arts; humanities; and social
sciences.
Original URL:
http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2010/march/story23934.html
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