Progress 07/15/08 to 07/14/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We investigated carbon (C) storage on Christmas tree farms in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, an ecosystem that is understudied and an important economic driver in these rural communities. Soil carbon (C) storage can be altered by land-use conversion and by agroforestry management techniques such as weed management and fertilization. The Southern Appalachian Mountains have a mosaic of land uses, including Christmas tree farms, pastures, and unmanaged forests. We contrasted Christmas tree farm (Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir) soil C pools with those of adjacent pastures and forests to estimate C storage differences due to land-use. We partitioned soil C into fractions delineated by stability, an important determinant of long-term C sequestration potential. Soil C pools were quantified across a chronosequence of tree farms that varied in cultivation duration (3-51 years) and interspace groundcover. We took at least 15 multi-day field sampling trips, during which took soil cores, assess groundcover, deployed microclimatic sensing technology, and used other important field technology such as ground-penetrating radar and a normalized difference vegetation index sensor. We have mentored four undergraduate students and one graduate student who have assisted in the collection and processing of these data. These students gained valuable experience in measuring soil carbon and learning other soil science techniques. One of the above-mentioned undergraduate students served as a co-author on one of the publications listed below. Samantha Chapman presented our findings at four conferences, two of which were invitational. At the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting and the North American Carbon Program (2 years), she presented posters detailing our understanding of soil C pools in tree farms and other land use types. Chapman also presented at the Soil Ecology Society Meetings in Burlington, VT in July of 2009. This project became an "Affiliated Project" with the North American Carbon Program (NACP) in 2009 and remains so currently. The NACP website now includes a project description and Google Map and Google Earth links to our sites in North Carolina: http://www.nacarbon.org/cgi-nacp/web/investigations/inv_pgp.plpgid=4 31 Our research was featured in "Limbs and Trees," the newsletter of the National Christmas Tree Growers Association. We have established fruitful collaborations with Christmas tree farmers and USDA scientists and extension agents interested in possible C storage. In June of 2012 PIs Chapman and Langley had a wrap-up meeting with one of the tree farmers we worked with to communicate our findings. In September of 2012, co-PI Langley was the featured speaker at the North Carolina Christmas Tree growers association. During his presentation, he highlighted how the results of our study could be translated to potential management applications that extension agents and farmers could use. PARTICIPANTS: The Principal Investigator, Samantha Chapman, has taken responsibility for 1) directing the project and the personnel involved in the project, 2) obtaining necessary equipment and supplies, 3) collecting all field data and samples (with Co-PI Langley), 4) overseeing and participating in lab processing of samples including nutrient and carbon analyses and incubations, 5) disseminating the findings of this research to the scientific community and the Christmas tree farmers, and 6) analyzing and writing up the data collected from these studies. Co-PI Langley has taken responsibility for 1) collecting field data (with PI-Chapman), 2) setting up and maintaining the equipment associated with the incubations and microclimatic monitoring, 3) applying the model to the data collected to obtain the various carbon fractions, 4) analyzing and synthesizing the data for publication, and 5) writing publications (with PI-Chapman). Reena Palanivel, an undergraduate student hired to process soils and assist in analyzing soil carbon fractions, worked on the project from May 2010-May 2012. Reena took responsibility for sieving soils, measuring % moisture in soils, setting up the initial incubations and doing acid-hydrolysis digestions on soils. Three other undergraduate students, Roger Shaw (2008), Bethanne Albert-Bruninga (2009), and Courtney Curran (2012) have also assisted with soil processing and incubations. A graduate student, Rachel Jones, assisted in the processing and analyses of soils in 2009. The students associated with this project all gained experience running the Lachat flow ion analyzer (soil nutrients) and infra-red gas analyzers (CO2 evolution in incubations) and learned general techniques commonly used in ecosystem science. All the above-mentioned personnel are associated with Villanova University, a partner academic institution, which provides consumables to Chapman for her lab and employs Chapman, Langley, and Jones. Throughout the duration of this project, we have developed fruitful collaborations with three Christmas tree farmers: Harry Yates, Cline Church, and Sam Church. These farmers have generously allowed us to sample for soil C across their large suite of farms and have provided invaluable information on farm age and management. We have met with these farmers multiple times and have shared the progress of our project and our results to date with them. We have also built collaborations with other researchers examining C storage in plant biomass on Christmas tree farms. Dr. Jeff Owen and Dr. Ron Gehl of NC State University each lead separate research teams examining Christmas tree farms and soil fertility. Dr. Ryan Emmanuel has been using a flux tower to examine the total C footprint of Christmas tree farms. We have met with each of these scientists and discussed our reciprocal interests. We are collaborating with Ron Gehl on sampling at his herbicide manipulation plots to further assess the contribution of groundcover to soil C storage. Finally, we have collaborated and performed field work with Wes Tuttle (USDA-NRCS-NSSC, Soil Scientist) who has taken ground penetrating radar measurements at our sites. TARGET AUDIENCES: As was discussed in the "Participants" and "Outputs" sections, we have built strong relationships with our main target audience, Christmas tree farmers, both at the level of the individual farmer and at the level of the major organization, The National Christmas Tree Growers Association. Through articles in the association newsletter, individual meetings with farmers, meetings with groups of farmers and extension agents, and presentations at association meetings, we continue to collaborate and share ideas and data on soil carbon in tree farms and adjacent land use types with these groups of people. Another target audience includes the undergraduate students Chapman teaches at Villanova University. Chapman has used this research project to demonstrate how land management influences on soil carbon in courses at both the introductory and graduate level at Villanova. The data from our project was also used as a case study for a biogeochemistry class taught by Dr. Keith Reinhardt at Idaho State University. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Throughout this study, the funding that has supported our sampling trips, lab incubations, and chemical analyses has also allowed us to build fruitful collaborations, disseminate knowledge of this research, and generate the methodological advances and results detailed below. In a recent publication in the Soil Science Society of America Journal (in press) we document our major findings. We found that duration of tree cultivation did not alter tree farm soil C pools. However, recalcitrant C pools were twice as high when interspace groundcover increased from 35% to 70%. Total, active, slow and recalcitrant soil C pools were highest in forests, as compared to pastures and tree farms. Tree farm soils had about 25% less C concentration than the adjacent forest soils, but because there no downward trend with duration of cultivation, the reduction likely occurred rapidly upon initial clearing. Tree farms and forests had longer mean residence times for active and slow C than pastures, potentially indicating an influence of woody root production. Our findings suggest that maintaining tree farm interspace vegetation, possibly through reduced herbicide usage, can enhance soil C sequestration. In performing this research, we have made various methodological advances including but not limited to 1) assessing soil depth in various North Carolina mountain ecosystems using ground penetrating radar (GPR; Wes Tuttle, USDA-NRCS-NSSC), 2) improving CO2 respiration incubation techniques for tree farm soils 3) using a green-seeker NDVI sensor to measure vegetation greenness index in Christmas tree farms. Each of these advances will help scientists better assess the carbon (C) storage potential of these, and other related ecosystems. Our technique for using NDVI sensors on tree farms can help farmers assess the current status of their understory coverage and dominant crop productivity. This knowledge might, in turn, allow decreased herbicide and fertilizer usage. These findings, as presented at both scientific meetings and meetings with farmers and extension agents, can help inform land management decisions and soil carbon sequestration strategies. In an ongoing investigation of experimentally manipulated herbicide usage, we are studying the direct impacts of groundcover on soil C storage. This study will help us to cement our findings on herbaceous cover management and further inform our extension agent collaborators on how farm management can alter C sequestration potential. Overall, our research is assisting scientists, land managers, and farmers in determining whether Christmas tree farms can concurrently provide an economically viable crop and the salient ecosystem service of carbon storage.
Publications
- Chapman, S.K., R.U. Palanivel, and J.A. Langley. 2012 in press. Soil carbon stability responds to land-use and groundcover management in Southern Appalachian agro-ecosystems. Soil Science Society of America Journal.
- Chapman, S.K. and Langley, J.A. 2011. Soil carbon storage in Christmas tree farms, pastures and forests of the Southern Applachian mountains. Online Conference Proceedings (Abstract) North American Carbon Program Meeting, New Orleans, LA
- Chapman, S.K. Shaw R. and Langley J.A. 2009. Soil carbon and Christmas tree farms: Investigating carbon across a gradient of land use in the Southern Appalachians. Online Conference Proceedings (Abstract) North American Carbon Program Meeting, San Diego, CA.
- Chapman, S.K., Shaw R.and Langley J.A. 2009. Soil carbon storage across a gradient of land us e in mountain ecosystems. Abstract Book, Soil Ecology Meetings Burlington, VT, July 2009
- Chapman, S.K., Shaw R. and Langley, J.A. 2008. Soil Carbon Storage in Christmas Tree Farms: Maximizing Ecosystem Management and Sustainability for Carbon Sequestration. Program and Abstract Book, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA **since this is a final report we included all publications
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Progress 07/15/09 to 07/14/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Outputs We had proposed to investigate carbon (C) storage on Christmas tree farms in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, an ecosystem that is understudied and an important economic driver in these rural communities. After one year, and over the course of four field trips to North Carolina, we have sampled five core sites (a site includes a Christmas tree farm and reference forest and pasture plots) and 25 peripheral sites for soil C storage, % herbaceous cover, and NDVI (vegetation "greenness"). We outfitted each of these sites with microclimatic monitoring devices and collected soil cores for chemical analyses. We performed two incubations to assess medium and labile C pools: a pilot incubation to assess methodology, and an assessment of C pools at various soil depths. We have also measured recalcitrant soil C pools and extractable NO3 and NH4 from tree farm and reference soils. Two undergraduate students and one graduate student have assisted in the collection and processing of these data, yielding valuable experience in measuring soil parameters, and resulting in one of the undergraduates serving as a co-author the presentations listed below. Samantha Chapman presented our findings at four conferences, two of which were invitational. At the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting and the North American Carbon Program (2 years), she presented posters detailing our understanding of soil C pools in tree farms and other land use types. Chapman also presented at the Soil Ecology Society Meetings in Burlington, VT in July of 2009. This project became an "Affiliated Project" with the North American Carbon Program (NACP) in 2009 and remains so currentlyThe NACP website now includes a description and Google Map and Google Earth links to our sites in North Carolina: http://www.nacarbon.org/cgi-nacp/web/investigations/inv_pgp.plpgid=4 31 Last year, our research was featured in "Limbs and Trees," the newsletter of the National Christmas Tree Growers Association. We have established fruitful collaborations with Christmas tree farmers and USDA scientists and extension agents interested in possible C storage on . Finally, our findings to date were presented at a meeting of the regional chapter of the National Christmas Tree Growers Association in Boone, NC. Finally, we have written the first manuscript resulting from this project, entitled "Soil carbon storage on Christmas tree farms, " which will be submitted in August 2011. PARTICIPANTS: The Principal Investigator, Samantha Chapman, has taken responsibility for 1) directing the project and the personnel involved in the project, 2) obtaining necessary equipment and supplies, 3) collecting all field data and samples (with Co-PI Langley), 4) overseeing and participating in lab processing of samples including nutrient and carbon analyses and incubuations, 5) disseminating the findings of this research to the scientific community and the Christmas tree farmers, and 6) analyzing and writing up the data collected from these studies. Co-PI Langley has taken responsibility for 1) collecting field data (with PI-Chapman), 2) setting up and maintaining the equipment associated with the incubations and microclimatic monitoring, 3) applying the model to the data collected to obtain the various carbon fractions, 4) analyzing and synthesizing the data for publication, and 5) writing publications (with PI-Chapman). Reena Palanivel, an undergraduate student hired to process soils and assist in analyzing soil carbon fractions, worked on the project from May 2010-current. Reena took responsibility for sieving soils, measuring % moisture in soils, setting up the initial incubations and doing acid-hydrolysis digestions on soils. Two graduate students, Lorae Simpson and Rachel Jones have each assisted in the processing and analyses of soils. The three students associated with this project all gained experience running the Lachat flow ion analyzer (soil nutrients) and infra-red gas analyzers (CO2 evolution in incubations) and learned general techniques commonly used in Ecosystem Science. Throughout this second year of the project, we have maintained fruitful collaborations with three Christmas tree farmers: Harry Yates, Cline Church, and Sam Church. These farmers have generously allowed us to sample for soil C across their large suite of farms and have provided invaluable information on farm age and management. We have met with these farmers multiple times and have shared the progress of our project and our results to date with them. We have also built collaborations with other researchers examining C storage in plant biomass on Christmas tree farms. Dr. Jeff Owen and Dr. Ron Gehl of NC State University each lead separate research teams examining Christmas tree farms and soil fertility. Dr. Ryan Emmanuel is using a flux tower to examine the total C footprint of Christmas tree farms. We have met with each of these scientists and discussed our reciprocal interests. Finally, we have collaborated and performed field work with Wes Tuttle (USDA-NRCS-NSSC, Soil Scientist) who has taken ground penetrating radar measurements at our sites. TARGET AUDIENCES: As was discussed in the "Participants" and "Outputs" sections, we have built strong relationships with our main target audience, Christmas tree farmers, both at the level of the individual farmer and at the level of the major organization, The National Christmas Tree Growers Association. Through articles in the association newsletter, individual meetings with farmers, and meetings with groups of farmers and extension agents, we continue to collaborate and share ideas and data on soil carbon in tree farms and adjacent land use types with these groups of people. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Outcomes/ Impacts During the second year of this study, the funding that has supported our sampling trips, lab incubations, and chemical analyses has also allowed us to build fruitful collaborations, disseminate knowledge of this research, and generate the methodological advances and results detailed below. In performing this research, we have made various methodological advances including but not limited to 1) assessing soil depth in various North Carolina mountain ecosystems using ground penetrating radar (GPR; Wes Tuttle, USDA-NRCS-NSSC), 2) improving CO2 respiration incubation techniques for tree farm soils 3) using a green-seeker NDVI sensor to measure vegetation greenness index in Christmas tree farms. Each of these advances will help scientists better assess the carbon (C) storage potential of these, and other related ecosystems. Our technique for using NDVI sensors on tree farms can help farmers assess the current status of their understory coverage and dominant crop productivity. This knowledge might, in turn, allow decreased herbicide and fertilizer usage. After two years of field and lab research, we have generated the results listed here. First, total soil carbon was about 3.5% in Christmas tree farms. Second, labile soil C respiration rates were significantly higher in pastures and forests than in tree farms. Third, recalcitrant soil C pools were significantly greater in the forests than in the pastures and tree farms, which had similar amounts of recalcitrant soil carbon. Fourth, total soil C seemed to decrease slightly with increasing tree farm age. Finally, percent cover (as a proxy for herbicide management) increases the amount of recalcitrant soil C on tree farms. These findings, coupled with our ongoing presentations at scientific meetings and meetings with farmers, can help inform land management decisions and soil carbon sequestration strategies. A proposed ongoing investigation of herbicide usage impacts on C storage will help us to cement our findings on herbaceous cover management and inform our extension agent collaborators on how farm management can alter C sequestration potential. Overall, our research should assist scientists, land managers, and farmers in determining whether Christmas tree farms can concurrently provide an economically viable crop and the salient ecosystem service of carbon storage.
Publications
- Publications Chapman, S.K. and Langley, J.A. 2011. Soil carbon storage in Christmas tree farms, pastures and forests of the Southern Applachian mountains. Online Conference Proceedings (Abstract) North American Carbon Program Meeting, San Diego, CA. Chapman, S.K. Shaw R. and Langley J.A. 2009. Soil carbon and Christmas tree farms: Investigating carbon across a gradient of land use in the Southern Appalachians. Online Conference Proceedings (Abstract) North American Carbon Program Meeting, San Diego, CA. Chapman, S.K., Shaw R.and Langley J.A. 2009. Soil carbon storage across a gradient of land use in mountain ecosystems. Abstract Book, Soil Ecology Meetings Burlington, VT, July 2009 Chapman, S.K., Shaw R. and Langley, J.A. 2008. Soil Carbon Storage in Christmas Tree Farms: Maximizing Ecosystem Management and Sustainability for Carbon Sequestration. Program and Abstract Book, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA
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Progress 07/15/08 to 07/14/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We had proposed to investigate carbon (C) storage on Christmas tree farms in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, an ecosystem that is understudied and an important economic driver in these rural communities. After one year, and over the course of four field trips to North Carolina, we have sampled five core sites (a site includes a Christmas tree farm and reference forest and pasture plots) and 25 peripheral sites for soil C storage, % herbaceous cover, and NDVI (vegetation "greenness"). We outfitted each of these sites with microclimatic monitoring devices and collected soil cores for chemical analyses. We performed two incubations to assess medium and labile C pools: a pilot incubation to assess methodology, and an assessment of C pools at various soil depths. We have also measured recalcitrant soil C pools and extractable NO3 and NH4 from tree farm and reference soils. Two undergraduate students and one graduate student have assisted in the collection and processing of these data, yielding valuable experience in measuring soil parameters, and resulting in one of the undergraduates serving as a co-author the presentations listed below. Samantha Chapman presented our findings at three conferences this year, one of which was invitational. At the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting and the North American Carbon Program, she presented posters detailing our understanding of soil C pools in tree farms and other land use types. Chapman also presented at the Soil Ecology Society Meetings in Burlington, VT in July. In September, this project became an "Affiliated Project" with the North American Carbon Program (NACP). Chapman made many contacts at the NACP meetings, including with biogeochemical modelers, with whom we plan to collaborate with to model C storage in agroforests in the future. This meeting provided an excellent opportunity to discuss synthesizing methods and disseminating soil C data with other scientists. The NACP website now includes a description and Google Map and Google Earth links to our sites in North Carolina: http://www.nacarbon.org/cgi-nacp/web/investigations/inv_pgp.plpgid=4 31 This year, our research was featured in "Limbs and Trees," the newsletter of the National Christmas Tree Growers Association. We have also been asked to write an article for this publication this winter. We have established fruitful collaborations with Christmas tree farmers, USDA scientists, and other researchers examining C storage and we continue to meet with each of these groups to present and discuss our current findings and future research collaborations. Finally, our findings to date were presented at a meeting of the regional chapter of the National Christmas Tree Growers Association in Boone, NC. PARTICIPANTS: The Principal Investigator, Samantha Chapman, has taken responsibility for 1) directing the project and the personnel involved in the project, 2) obtaining necessary equipment and supplies, 3) collecting all field data and samples (with Co-PI Langley), 4) overseeing and participating in lab processing of samples including nutrient and carbon analyses and incubuations, 5) disseminating the findings of this research to the scientific community and the Christmas tree farmers, and 6) analyzing and writing up the data collected from these studies. Co-PI Langley has taken responsibility for 1) collecting field data (with PI-Chapman), 2) setting up and maintaining the equipment associated with the incubations and microclimatic monitoring, 3) applying the model to the data collected to obtain the various carbon fractions, 4) analyzing and synthesizing the data for publication, and 5) writing publications (with PI-Chapman). Roger Shaw, an undergraduate student hired to process soils and assist in analyzing soil carbon fractions, worked on the project from July 2008-October 2008. Roger took responsibility for sieving soils, measuring % moisture in soils, setting up the initial incubations and doing acid-hydrolysis digestions on soils. Two graduate students, Lorae Simpson and Rachel Jones have each assisted in the processing and analyses of soils. The three students associated with this project all gained experience running the Lachat flow ion analyzer (soil nutrients) and infra-red gas analyzers (CO2 evolution in incubations) and learned general techniques commonly used in Ecosystem Science. Throughout this first year of the project, we have established fruitful collaborations with three Christmas tree farmers: Harry Yates, Cline Church, and Sam Church. These farmers have generously allowed us to sample for soil C across their large suite of farms and have provided invaluable information on farm age and management. We have met with these farmers multiple times and have shared the progress of our project and our results to date with them. We have also built collaborations with other researchers examining C storage in plant biomass on Christmas tree farms. Dr. Cari Furiness and Dr. Eric Hinesley of NC State University each lead separate research teams examining Christmas tree C storage. We have met with each of these scientists and discussed our reciprocal interests. We have had meetings with Della Deal, Extension Agent and Jeff Owen, Forestry Extension Specialist to discuss our research in Christmas tree farms and plan to continue collaborating with these agency scientists. Finally, we have collaborated and performed field work with Wes Tuttle (USDA-NRCS-NSSC, Soil Scientist) who has taken ground penetrating radar measurements at our sites. TARGET AUDIENCES: As was discussed in the "Participants" and "Outputs" sections, we have built strong relationships with our main target audience, Christmas tree farmers, both at the level of the individual farmer and at the level of the major organization, The National Christmas Tree Growers Association. Through articles in the association newsletter, individual meetings with farmers, and presentations to groups of farmers and extension agents, we continue to share ideas and data on soil carbon in tree farms and adjacent land use types. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
During the first year of this study, the funding that has supported our sampling trips, lab incubations, and chemical analyses has allowed us to build fruitful collaborations, disseminate knowledge of this research, and generate the methodological advances and results detailed below.In performing this research, we have made various methodological advances including but not limited to 1) assessing soil depth in various North Carolina mountain ecosystems using ground penetrating radar (GPR; Wes Tuttle, USDA-NRCS-NSSC), 2) improving CO2 respiration incubation techniques for tree farm soils 3) using a green-seeker NDVI sensor to measure vegetation greenness index in Christmas tree farms. Each of these advances will help scientists better assess the carbon (C) storage potential of these, and other related ecosystems. Our technique for using NDVI sensors on tree farms can help farmers assess the current status of their understory coverage and dominant crop productivity. This knowledge might, in turn, allow decreased herbicide and fertilizer usage. After one year of field and lab research, we have generated the preliminary results listed here. First, total soil carbon was about 3.5% in Christmas tree farms. Second, labile soil C respiration rates were significantly higher in pastures and forests than in tree farms. Third, recalcitrant soil C pools were significantly greater in the forests than in the pastures and tree farms, which had similar amounts of recalcitrant soil carbon. Fourth, recalcitrant soil C was similar across a chronosequence of tree farms. Finally, total soil C seemed to increase slightly with increasing tree farm age, however these findings need to be refined with the increased sampling we are currently performing. These findings, coupled with our ongoing presentations at scientific meetings and meetings with farmers, can help inform land management decisions and soil carbon sequestration strategies. Ongoing investigations of herbicide usage impacts on C storage will help us to assess how farm management can alter C sequestration potential. Overall, our research should assist scientists, land managers, and farmers in determining whether Christmas tree farms can concurrently provide an economically viable crop and the salient ecosystem service of carbon storage.
Publications
- Chapman, S.K. Shaw R. and Langley J.A. 2009. Soil carbon and Christmas tree farms: Investigating carbon across a gradient of land use in the Southern Appalachians. Online Conference Proceedings (Abstract) North American Carbon Program Meeting, San Diego, CA.
- Chapman, S.K., Shaw R.and Langley J.A. 2009. Soil carbon storage across a gradient of land use in mountain ecosystems. Abstract Book, Soil Ecology Meeting, Burlington, VT
- Chapman, S.K., Shaw R. and Langley, J.A. 2008. Soil Carbon Storage in Christmas Tree Farms: Maximizing Ecosystem Management and Sustainability for Carbon Sequestration. AGU Program and Abstract Book, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA
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