Project Overview
Ongoing forest soil monitoring is essential for understanding the impact of human activities. With funding from the Northern States Research Cooperative, we established 18 plots in Vermont's managed forests. Most are located in federal, state and town forests, parks and management areas. The initial primary focus was on soil carbon, which serves as a major reservoir for carbon storage in forests. Initial soil sampling was done in 2008/2009, along with measurement of aboveground biomass. In 2012/2013 we resampled to determine earthworm numbers and species, and also performed a detailed land-use history of each site. In addition, four sites were resampled to assess the impact of partial harvesting on carbon in the forest floor. We hope that these plots will continue to provide a good baseline for future work.
Objectives
To monitor changes over time in forest soil carbon and nutrient status. To relate these changes to both current management practices (e.g. harvesting) and to past land-use and earthworm impact.
Dataset Availability
Downloadable: 7 datasets
See the full list of available dataTags
Status - Active
Start date: 2012-05-01
Study Area
