Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future

2017 Annual Meeting | Oct. 22-25 | Tampa, FL

108890 Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Following American Chestnut Restoration in Mixed Hardwood Forests.

Poster Number 513

See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Forest, Range and Wildland Soils
See more from this Session: New Paradigms of Soil Organic Matter and Consequences for Forest Soils and Management Poster

Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Tampa Convention Center, East Exhibit Hall

Geoffrey Schwaner, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV and Charlene N. Kelly, Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Abstract:
The once dominant American chestnut tree (Castenea dentata) was essentially extirpated from the US eastern hardwood forest as a result of the infestation by the chestnut blight-fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) in the early 1900’s, in what is considered the largest disturbance event since glaciation. However, back-cross breeding and transgenic approaches have resulted in the production of blight resistant trees, and the reintroduction of the American chestnut is considered imminent. In the event of a successful reintroduction, significant ecosystem changes in carbon (C) and nutrient cycling are expected, but have yet to be understood or quantified at a landscape level. This study aims to quantify changes in ecosystem nutrient cycling between chestnut and two contemporary species, northern red oak and black cherry, at a plantation at Purdue University’s Martell Forest. Measured pools of C and nitrogen (N) include mineral soil, leaf litter and forest floor, and standing biomass. Measured fluxes include N mineralization, CO2 respiration, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leachate from soils, and litter decomposition rates, which are being measured via a laboratory incubation study. Explanatory variables from the incubation units include soil pH, oxidizable C content, and extracellular enzyme activity to assess differences in organic matter chemistry and microbial function related to C cycling. Early results indicate soils beneath chestnut have lower extractable inorganic N, N mineralization, and peroxidase enzyme activity associated with lignin degradation relative to soils beneath red oak and black cherry.

See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Forest, Range and Wildland Soils
See more from this Session: New Paradigms of Soil Organic Matter and Consequences for Forest Soils and Management Poster