Mechanistic and predictive understanding of needle litter decay in semi-arid mountain ecosystems experiencing unprecedented vegetation mortality. Final report
This research compared needle litter decay rates and underlying mechanisms between litter released from insect-killed trees to that of naturally senesced litter from healthy trees across climate variables with elevation and snowmelt rates as variables. Our research was designed to address questions of whether there is a significant impact to C and N cycling at the terrestrial-atmospheric interface in association with pine needle decomposition and the role of changes in soil moisture and temperature as a function of these processes. Field activities were primarily conducted within the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory’s (RMBL) East River watershed across a spectrum of ecoregions that spanned approximately 700 vertical meters. Forested catchments at these elevations in southwestern Colorado are threatened by heat-induced drought, altered snowmelt patterns, and invasive insect infestation that have all been associated with climate change. Needle litter from two members of the Pinaceae family experiencing large-scale insect infestations (spruce and lodgepole pine) were collected, redeployed and then sampled over the course of three years. We experimentally tested three tractable parameters that are known to impact litter decay and biogeochemical cycling and are relevant to bark beetle-induced tree mortality: (1) moisture content, (2) temperature by using elevation as a surrogate, and (3) changes to litter compositional chemistry that result from beetle infestation. We examined decay processes and monitored the migration of soluble and gaseous nitrogen and carbon species as well as microbiological signatures of decay such as biodegradable fractions, metal availability and the temporal succession of associated microorganisms at the terrestrial interface.
- Research Organization:
- Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0016451
- OSTI ID:
- 1712688
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase I)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-CSM-SC0016451
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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