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Assessing the Effects of Climate Change and Air Pollution on Soil Properties and Plant Diversity in Northeastern U.S. Hardwood Forests : Model Setup and Evaluation

Belyazid, Salim LU ; Phelan, Jennifer ; Nihlgård, Bengt LU ; Sverdrup, Harald ; Driscoll, Charles ; Fernandez, Ivan ; Aherne, Julian ; Teeling-Adams, Leslie M. ; Bailey, Scott and Arsenault, Matt , et al. (2019) In Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 230(5).
Abstract

The integrated forest ecosystem model ForSAFE-Veg was used to simulate soil processes and understory vegetation composition at three—sugar maple, beech, yellow birch—hardwood forest sites in the Northeastern United States (one at Hubbard Brook, NH, and two at Bear Brook, ME). Input data were pooled from a variety of sources and proved coherent and consistent. While the biogeochemical component ForSAFE was used with limited calibration, the ground vegetation composition module Veg was calibrated to field relevés. Evaluating different simulated ecosystem indicators (soil solution chemistry, tree biomass, ground vegetation composition) showed that the model performed comparably well regardless of the site’s soil condition, climate, and... (More)

The integrated forest ecosystem model ForSAFE-Veg was used to simulate soil processes and understory vegetation composition at three—sugar maple, beech, yellow birch—hardwood forest sites in the Northeastern United States (one at Hubbard Brook, NH, and two at Bear Brook, ME). Input data were pooled from a variety of sources and proved coherent and consistent. While the biogeochemical component ForSAFE was used with limited calibration, the ground vegetation composition module Veg was calibrated to field relevés. Evaluating different simulated ecosystem indicators (soil solution chemistry, tree biomass, ground vegetation composition) showed that the model performed comparably well regardless of the site’s soil condition, climate, and amounts of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) deposition, with the exception of failing to capture tree biomass decline at Hubbard Brook. The model performed better when compared with annual observation than monthly data. The results support the assumption that the biogeochemical model ForSAFE can be used with limited calibration and provide reasonable confidence, while the vegetation community composition module Veg requires calibration if the individual plant species are of interest. The study welcomes recent advances in empirically explaining the responses of hardwood forests to nutrient imbalances and points to the need for more research.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bear Brook, Ecosystem modeling, ForSAFE-Veg, Hubbard Brook, Plant biodiversity, Vegetation modeling
in
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution
volume
230
issue
5
article number
106
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85065027391
ISSN
0049-6979
DOI
10.1007/s11270-019-4145-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
67f608d0-6cda-4c5a-b405-ef503475e4d1
date added to LUP
2019-05-14 14:53:28
date last changed
2022-04-02 08:50:12
@article{67f608d0-6cda-4c5a-b405-ef503475e4d1,
  abstract     = {{<p>The integrated forest ecosystem model ForSAFE-Veg was used to simulate soil processes and understory vegetation composition at three—sugar maple, beech, yellow birch—hardwood forest sites in the Northeastern United States (one at Hubbard Brook, NH, and two at Bear Brook, ME). Input data were pooled from a variety of sources and proved coherent and consistent. While the biogeochemical component ForSAFE was used with limited calibration, the ground vegetation composition module Veg was calibrated to field relevés. Evaluating different simulated ecosystem indicators (soil solution chemistry, tree biomass, ground vegetation composition) showed that the model performed comparably well regardless of the site’s soil condition, climate, and amounts of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) deposition, with the exception of failing to capture tree biomass decline at Hubbard Brook. The model performed better when compared with annual observation than monthly data. The results support the assumption that the biogeochemical model ForSAFE can be used with limited calibration and provide reasonable confidence, while the vegetation community composition module Veg requires calibration if the individual plant species are of interest. The study welcomes recent advances in empirically explaining the responses of hardwood forests to nutrient imbalances and points to the need for more research.</p>}},
  author       = {{Belyazid, Salim and Phelan, Jennifer and Nihlgård, Bengt and Sverdrup, Harald and Driscoll, Charles and Fernandez, Ivan and Aherne, Julian and Teeling-Adams, Leslie M. and Bailey, Scott and Arsenault, Matt and Cleavitt, Natalie and Engstrom, Brett and Dennis, Robin and Sperduto, Dan and Werier, David and Clark, Christopher}},
  issn         = {{0049-6979}},
  keywords     = {{Bear Brook; Ecosystem modeling; ForSAFE-Veg; Hubbard Brook; Plant biodiversity; Vegetation modeling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Water, Air, and Soil Pollution}},
  title        = {{Assessing the Effects of Climate Change and Air Pollution on Soil Properties and Plant Diversity in Northeastern U.S. Hardwood Forests : Model Setup and Evaluation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11270-019-4145-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11270-019-4145-6}},
  volume       = {{230}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}