Collaborators sought for a large-scale forest succession experiment

Disturbance, succession and forest carbon dynamics: a large-scale manipulation at the University of Michigan Biological Station

Researchers Peter Curtis (Ohio State Univ.), Chris Vogel (Univ. Michigan), HaPe Schmid (Indiana Univ.), and Chris Gough (Ohio State Univ.) received funding from the National Institute for Climate Change Research to examine ecosystem carbon cycling following experimentally induced accelerated succession in 39 hectares (97 acres) of UMBS forestland. This novel, ecosystem-scale experiment will speed the successional transition from an even-aged aspen-dominated forest to an uneven-aged mixed deciduous-conifer forest, and will result in major changes in plant species composition, tree age distribution, canopy structure, detritus production, and other variables that will affect a broad array of ecological processes at all trophic levels. The experimental manipulation involves killing all mature aspen and birch (about half of all trees) through stem girdling.

We invite researchers who would like to pursue other lines of scientific inquiry to take advantage of this long-term ecosystem-scale manipulation. Pre-treatment data should be collected prior to initiation of the experimental treatment in Spring, 2008. For additional information, please contact Chris Gough (gough.21@osu.edu), co-principle investigator, or view the  proposal narrative and a summary slide show.

For more information,  see the Succession Project website.