Source: TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE, THE submitted to
UNDERSTANDING DROUGHT SENSITIVITY IN EASTERN U.S. FORESTS TO INFORM SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029588
Grant No.
2021-67012-38667
Cumulative Award Amt.
$90,618.03
Proposal No.
2022-08658
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2022
Project End Date
Jun 30, 2024
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A7201]- AFRI Post Doctoral Fellowships
Project Director
Gersony, J.
Recipient Organization
TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE, THE
1 CHAPIN WAY
NORTHAMPTON,MA 010636302
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Eastern U.S. forests provide an important economic and cultural resource and are responsible for sequestering 40% of the region's carbon emissions. Sustainable forest management (SFM) practices are essential to optimize these roles and ensure that forests of the future will be resilient to projected changes in climate. To maximize the success of SFM practices, we need to understand how environmental conditions will change, and how trees and forests will respond to that change. In the eastern U.S., spring and summer droughts are predicted to become more frequent in the coming decades. How eastern forests will respond to drought, with regards to carbon sequestration and biomass production, is poorly understood due to critical knowledge gaps and inconsistent classifications of drought tolerance for the dominant species. The proposed research seeks to address this limitation through a 3-fold approach: using a combination of newly developed and traditional physiological methods to measure individual tree drought sensitivity across different sites in the eastern US to reveal the mechanisms underpinning tree-level drought responses (Aim 1), surveying water-use traits at 7 eddy flux sites that have experienced drought to identify the drivers of ecosystem level drought responses (Aim 2), and modifying an ecosystem model (PnET) with the information learned in Aims 1 and 2 to forecast carbon sequestration and biomass production under various climate and management scenarios (Aim 3). Through this work we will be able to provide practical information to various stakeholders that will inform SFM in the eastern U.S.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
40%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1230613102050%
1230613107050%
Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0613 - Mixed conifer-broadleaf forests;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goals of this proposal are two-fold: to improve our understanding of mechanisms affecting drought sensitivity in eastern U.S. forests, and to use the knowledge gained to make projections of growth and carbon (C) sequestration under future scenarios of forest management and climate to inform sustainable forest management (SFM) practices. To accomplish these goals, we will (Aim 1) conduct a focused set of physiological and micro-environmental measurements of the dominant species across sites in the eastern USin order to classify intra- and inter-specific dynamics of water use strategies and how they relate to individual tree-level C sequestration during drought, as well as probability of mortality. This aim will help us elucidate the role of turgor loss (ΨTLP) in drought sensitivity, as well as the relationship between short-term and generational drought responses. To spatiallyscale up (Aim 2), we will then survey ΨTLP of the dominant species at 7 eddy flux sites across the eastern U.S.that have experienced moderate to severe drought at some point in the available data record. This aim will allow us to classify intra- and inter-specific differences in drought responses, investigate the degree to whichΨTLP influences C sequestration during and after a drought at the ecosystem scale, and evaluate the relationship between short-term and long-term drought responses. Lastly (Aim 3), we will modify a widely used forest ecosystem model to include the knowledge gained from Aims 1 and 2 to forecast how C sequestration and biomass production will change in future climate scenarios and under different managing strategies. In sum, at both the tree and forest scales, we have large gaps in our understanding of drought-eastern forest interactions, and investigating these interactions and providing pragmatic advice to land managers will be key for SFM both now and in the future.
Project Methods
We will focus on scaling up our previous leaf-level findings to whole tree and ecosystem responses to drought. We will also focus on expanding our leaf-level findings by investigating leaf-level turgor loss point across more variable soils and plot conditions. We will do the latter by measuring TLP using the novel osmometry method across sites with known variation in soil texture and water availability in the northeastern US. We will do the former by surveying more species for TLP that have a known whole-tree drought response in the literature. We have already started this approach and have found a very strong relationship betweenb TLP and growth-based whole-tree drought responses. We will also work on relating this leaf-level response to eddy flux data and incorporating the knowledge gained into an ecosystem model (PnET). Our effort regarding dissemination of knowledge wil take the form of presentations at forestry-related conferences in the northeastern US (e.g. NE CASC symposium and NE Society of American Foresters conference). It will also take the form of writing poetry and creating art related to our findings that will be disseminated through literary journals and art exhibits. We will evaluate the success of the project by monitoring the timing of paper and conference abstract submissions and art submissions.

Progress 07/01/22 to 06/28/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by our efforts during this project are undergraduate students, local naturalists (academic and government scientists), peer scientists, and the general public. The undergraduate students were reached through PI Gersony teaching two different courses that discussed sustainable forest management and drought physiology. The local naturalists were reached through PI Gersony giving an invited talk at the Northeast Natural History Conference in Burlington, VT in 2023 about the data from this project. Peer scientists were reached through PI Gersony presenting the work at the Gordon Research Conference for Multi-Scale Vascular Plant Biology in 2024. Additionally, they will be reached by the multiple publications coming out of this project (e.g. Groover et al. submitted, New Phyt; Gersony et al. in prep.). The general public were reached by an interview/article that was written by a communications director at NIFA, about PI Gersony and this project,another interview/article that was written and shared by the Botanic Garden at Smith College about PI Gersony and this research, and a newspaper article in the Daily Hapshire Gazette (regional Newspaper) that featured PI Gersony discussing the work. Changes/Problems:NA What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?On this project, 6+ undergraduate students have been involved, as well as 1 full-time research technician, and 1 part-time research technician. These researchers have been trained and mentored through sample collection, sample analysis, data analysis and data presentations. Additionally, our part-time research technician helped organize the StemNoire conference which is a professional development conference/workshop for Black women in STEM. Lastly, two researchers were sent to a tree-ring training workshop to help analyze and scale up our data from the leaf to the whole-tree. These opportunities have provided professional development and training formultiple researchers, a majority of whom are from margnialized backgrounds. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?This work is being communicated to various partners through talks, poster presentations, papers, meetings, newspaper articles and art. For example, this work was presented as a talkat the Northeast Natural History Conference andas a poster at the Ecological Society of America and the Gordon Research Conference in Multi-scale Vascular Plant Biology. Additionally, this work is being communicated in multiple manuscripts that are already, or will be,submitted this year. With regards to art, this work is being communicated through art exhibits and a published poetry chapbookthat are public facing. Additionally, this work has been communicated in an article in the local newspaper. Lastly, this work is also being communicated directly to the scientists who work on the Tree Atlas to help inform their modeling and we will continue to communicate it directly to forest managers through talks and outreach products. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This project is resulting in a deeper knowledge about how trees respond to drought in northeastern forests. The major activities conducted wereresearch trips to Bartlett Forest, Harvard Forest, and Thompson farm over the course of the project. During these trips we measured hundreds of leaves for their turgor loss point (TLP) - a key trait that tells us how robust a tree is against wilting.Through this work we have elucidated nuanced information about how trees respond to drought. Aim 1: We found large inter-specific variation across ten species, with red oak having almost a 2-fold increase in turgor loss point(TLP) when compared to yellow birch. Interestingly, this variation across tenspecies mapped perfectly on to wood anatomy, with diffuse porous species having less negative TLP. We found small intra-specific variation across natural sites in NH and along an elevational gradient. We found no real variation in TLPwhen looking at manipulated environments (drought exclosure and N addition). This suggests that drought response cannot acclimate quickly to changing environmental conditions, but may be able to adapt over generations. We found mixed variation across time for the same individuals. Lastly, we found variation with individuals and across individual of different heights. Through characterizing this variation, our key outcome is that we are increasing our physiological understanding of the variation associated with this key drought trait and our ecophysiological understanding of how northeastern trees respond to drought. Aim 2: To scale up, we pivoted to relating leaf level traits (TLP) to whole-tree growth responses during drought (tree rings). When plotted against data from the literature, we found that this variation in TLPacross species correlated with whole-tree drought response metrics, suggesting that this leaf level information in drought response scales to the whole tree. Our key outcome here is that leaf level surveys of important traits can be useful in informing forest managers of whole-tree behavior during environmental stress. Aim 3: For aim 3, we pivoted to providing this information to scientists working with the USDA Forest Service tree atlas. By providing the information to these scientists (via meetings and published manuscript later this year), our key outcome is that we will be able to help improve large-scale predictions of how trees and forests will fare under future climate scenarios.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Groover, Andrew; Holbrook, Michele; Polle, Andrea; Sala, Anna; Medlyn, Belinda; Brodersen, Craig; Pittermann, Jarmila; Gersony, Jessica; Sokolowska, Katarzyna; Bogar, Laura; McDowell, Nate; Spicer, Rachel; David-Schwartz, Rakefet; Keller, Stephen; Tschaplinski, Tim; Preisler, Yakir. Tree drought physiology: Critical research questions and strategies for mitigating climate change effects on forests. Submitted. New Phytologist.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Jess Gersony, Jack Hastings, Avery Maltz, Al Torrens-Martin, Iz Thompson, Andy, Steve Kanneberg, Matt Vadebonceour, Sam Zuckerman, Heidi Asbjornsen, Scott Ollinger. Investigating turgor loss point and safety margins: inter-specific, intra-specific and intra-individual variation for temperate, mature trees. In prep. To be submitted Summer 2024 to New Phytologist.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Jess Gersony, Jack Hastings, Andy Ouimette, Scott Ollinger. Investigating turgor loss point and safety margins: inter-specific, intra-specific and intra-individual variation in temperate, mature trees. Poster presentation.
  • Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gersony, Jess. I Could Collect a Lake. Poetry Chapbook published by Bottlecap Press.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Samuel Zuckerman, Jess Gersony, Matt Vadeboncoeur, Marge Poma Alarcon, Heidi Asbjornsen. Turgor Loss Point varies across ecotypes in common garden drought. In prep.


Progress 07/01/22 to 06/30/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by our efforts during this reporting period are undergraduate students, local naturalists (academic and government scientists), and the general public. The undergraduate students were reached through PI Gersony teaching two different courses that discussed sustainable forest management and drought physiology. The local naturalists were reached through PI Gersony giving an invited talk at the Northeast Natural History Conference in Burlington, VT about the data from this project. The general public were reached by an interview/article that was written by a communications director at NIFA,about PI Gersony and this project, and another interview/article that was written and shared by the Botanic Garden at Smith College about PI Gersony and this research. Changes/Problems:We requested a no-cost extension. We did this because we transferred the grant from UNH to Smith College and this took some processing time. During that time we were not able to hire a technician to finish the work. But we are in the process of hiring the technician now for the next year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has allowed for PI Gersony to mentor a non-traditional undergraduate student at Smith College throughout the academic year. This undergraduate student was responsible for analyzing the leaves collected for their drought resistant strategies. They learned how to conduct lab work and interpret results, as well as make a scientific poster that they will present at the Ecological Society for America this summer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through traditional and non-traditional approaches. PI Gersony presented the findings at the Northeast Natural History Conference and the Thompson Farm Workshop. PI Gersony also published one poem about the research in a literay journal, Bear Review. Lastly, the results were also communicated via two different interview articles: one done by the USDA and one by the Botanic Garden at Smith College. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to finish conducting the research this summer by measuring additional turgor loss point samples. We plan to present the findings at the Ecological Society of America conference, as well as the New England Society of American Foresters conference. We plan to continue publishing poems related to the research, in the form of a chapbook. We also plan to provide more training opportunities for post-baccalaureate students through hiring a research technician. We also plan to publish a scientific journal article.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This project is resulting in a changing in our knowledge about how trees respond to rought in northeastern forests. This past year we measured drought strategies of northeastern forest trees across 2 different field sites in New Hampshire: Bartlett Experimental Forest and Thompson Farm. We have prelimiary findings that support the idea that wood anatomy very accurately predicts how plants will respond to drought. Because wood-anatomy (e.g. if the tree is ring or diffuse porous) is a known trait generally conserved across species, this has important implications for creating generalizable categories of drought responses of trees. In other words, if upon further research this coming year these findings hold, we will be able to very confidently communicate to forest managers (through collaboration with NIACS and presenations at NESAF) which species will be more robust in the face of climate-change induced drought. We have already communicated these findings at the Northeast Natural History Conference through the form of a presentation. This year we plan to publish the findings in a scientific journal as well as communicate directly with forest managers through presentations and workshops.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Blumstein, M., Gersony, J., Mart�nez?Vilalta, J. and Sala, A., 2023. Global variation in nonstructural carbohydrate stores in response to climate. Global Change Biology, 29(7), pp.1854-1869.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gersony, J., Ouimette, A., Hastings, J., Baillargeon, K., and Ollinger, S. Investigating northeastern trees' drought physiology: a turgor loss point perspective. Invited Oral Presentation, Northeast Natural History Conference, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Investigating northeastern trees' drought physiology: a turgor loss point perspective. Invited Oral Presentation, Thompson Farm Conference, 2023.