No abstract

Watershed budget studies at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), New Hampshire, USA, have demonstrated high calcium depletion of soil during the 20th century due, in part, to acid deposition. Over the past 25 years, tree growth (especially for sugar maple) has declined on the experimental watersheds at the HBEF. In October 1999, 0.85 Mg Ca/ha was added to Watershed 1 (W1) at the HBEF in the form of wollastonite (CaSiO3), a treatment that, by summer 2002, had raised the pH in the Oie horizon from 3.8 to 5.0 and, in the Oa horizon, from 3.9 to 4.2. We measured the response of sugar maple to the calcium fertilization treatment on W1. Foliar calcium concentration of canopy sugar maples in W1 increased markedly beginning the second year after treatment, and foliar manganese declined in years four and five. By 2005, the crown condition of sugar maple was much healthier in the treated watershed as compared with the untreated reference watershed (W6). Following high seed production in 2000 and 2002, the density of sugar maple seedlings increased significantly on W1 in comparison with W6 in 2001 and 2003. Survivorship of the 2003 cohort through July 2005 was much higher on W1 (36.6%) than W6 (10.2%). In 2003, sugar maple germinants on W1 were approximately 50% larger than those in reference plots, and foliar chlorophyll concentrations were significantly greater (0.27 g/m2 vs. 0.23 g/m2 leaf area). Foliage and fine-root calcium concentrations were roughly twice as high, and manganese concentrations twice as low in the treated than the reference seedlings in 2003 and 2004. Mycorrhizal colonization of seedlings was also much greater in the treated (22.4% of root length) than the reference sites (4.4%). A similar, though less dramatic, difference was observed for mycorrhizal colonization of mature sugar maples (56% vs. 35%). These results reinforce and extend other regional observations that sugar maple decline in the northeastern United States and southern Canada is caused in part by anthropogenic effects on soil calcium status, but the causal interactions among inorganic nutrition, physiological stress, mycorrhizal colonization, and seedling growth and health remain to be established.

Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae Annand) infestations have resulted in the continuing decline of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière) throughout much of the eastern United States. In 1994 and 2003, we quantified the vegetation composition and structure of two hemlock ravines in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. This is the first study to use pre-adelgid disturbance data, annual monitoring of infestation severity, and annual records of hemlock health to assess forest response to HWA infestation. In 2003, 25% of monitored hemlock trees were either dead or in severe decline. Measures of hemlock decline (crown vigor, transparency, density, and dieback) were correlated with HWA infestation severity and changes in light availability over the study period. Average percent total transmitted radiation more than doubled at these sites from 5.0% in 1994 to 11.7% in 2003. The total percent cover of vascular plants increased from 3.1% in 1994 to 11.3% in 2003. Species richness increased significantly, and more species were gained (53) than lost (19) from both ravine floras over the 9-year study period. Though exotic invasive plants were absent from these ravines in 1994, our 2003 resurvey found invasive plants in 35% of the permanent vegetation plots.

We reduced early winter snowpack in four experimental plots at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hamphire for 2 years to examine the mechanisms of root injury associated with soil freezing. Three lines of evidence suggested that direct cellular damage, rather than physical damage associated with frost heaving, was the principal mechanism of root injury: (i) decreases in root vitality were not greater on sites with more frost heaving, (ii) in situ freezing damage was confined to first-and second-order roots in the organic horizons rather than entire root systems, and (iii) tensile strength of fine roots was not significantly compromised by experimental stretching to simulate ice lens formation. Although significant differences in the intensity of soil freezing (depth, rate, and minimum temperature) were observed across the plots, no clear effects of soil freezing intensity on root injury were observed. Snow manipulation had no effect on mycorrhizal colonization of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) roots. A significant increase in root growth was observed in the second summer after treatments, coincident with a significant pulse of soil nitrate leaching. Through their effects on fine roots, soil freezing events could play an important role in forest ecosystem dynamics in a changing climate.Résumé : Pendant 2 ans, nous avons réduit la couverture de neige au début de l'hiver dans quatre parcelles expérimentales à la forêt expérimentale de Hubbard Brook, au New Hampshire, pour étudier les mécanismes responsables des dommages aux racines causés par le gel dans le sol. Trois types d'indices ont indiqué que des dommages directs aux cellules, plutôt que des dommages physiques dus au soulèvement par la glace, étaient le principal mécanisme responsable des dommages aux racines : (i) la diminution de la vitalité des racines n'était pas plus grande dans les stations où le soulèvement par le gel était plus prononcé, (ii) les dommages in situ causés par le gel étaient limités aux racines de 1 er et 2 e ordres dans les horizons organiques plutôt qu'à l'ensemble du système racinaire et (iii) la résistance à la traction des racines fines n'était pas significativement compromise par un étirement expérimental pour simuler la formation de lentilles de glace. Bien que nous ayons observé des différences significatives dans l'intensité du gel dans le sol (profondeur, taux et température minimum) dans l'ensemble des parcelles, nous n'avons constaté aucun effet évident de l'intensité du gel dans le sol sur les dommages aux racines. La manipulation du couvert nival n'a eu aucun effet sur la colonisation des racines de l'érable à sucre (Acer saccharum Marsh.) par les mycorhizes. Une augmentation significative de la croissance des racines a été observée durant le deuxième été après les traitements. Cette augmentation coïncidait avec une poussée importante de lessivage du nitrate dans le sol. Par leurs effets sur les racines fines, les épisodes de gel dans le sol pourraient jouer un rôle important dans la dynamique des écosystème...

Indirect climate effects on tree fecundity that come through variation in size and growth (climate-condition interactions) are not currently part of models used to predict future forests. Trends in species abundances predicted from meta-analyses and species distribution models will be misleading if they depend on the conditions of individuals. Here we find from a synthesis of tree species in North America that climate-condition interactions dominate responses through two pathways, i) effects of growth that depend on climate, and ii) effects of climate that depend on tree size. Because tree fecundity first increases and then declines with size, climate change that stimulates growth promotes a shift of small trees to more fecund sizes, but the opposite can be true for large sizes. Change the depresses growth also affects fecundity. We find a biogeographic divide, with these interactions reducing fecundity in the West and increasing it in the East. Continental-scale responses of these forests are thus driven largely by indirect effects, recommending management for climate change that considers multiple demographic rates.