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Title: Guidelines and considerations for designing field experiments simulating precipitation extremes in forest ecosystems

Abstract

1. We report that precipitation regimes are changing in response to climate change, yet understanding of how forest ecosystems respond to extreme droughts and pluvials remains incomplete. As future precipitation extremes will likely fall outside the range of historical variability, precipitation manipulation experiments (PMEs) are critical to advancing knowledge about potential ecosystem responses. However, few PMEs have been conducted in forests compared to short-statured ecosystems, and forest PMEs have unique design requirements and constraints. Moreover, past forest PMEs have lacked coordination, limiting cross-site comparisons. Here, we review and synthesize approaches, challenges, and opportunities for conducting PMEs in forests, with the goal of guiding design decisions, while maximizing the potential for coordination.2. We reviewed 63 forest PMEs at 70 sites world-wide. Workshops, meetings, and communications with experimentalists were used to generate and build consensus around approaches for addressing the key challenges and enhancing coordination.3. Past forest PMEs employed a variety of study designs related to treatment level, replication, plot and infrastructure characteristics, and measurement approaches. Important considerations for establishing new forest PMEs include: selecting appropriate treatment levels to reach ecological thresholds; balancing cost, logistical complexity, and effectiveness in infrastructure design; and preventing unintended water subsidies. Response variables in forest PMEs weremore » organized into three broad tiers reflecting increasing complexity and resource intensiveness, with the first tier representing a recommended core set of common measurements.4. Differences in site conditions combined with unique research questions of experimentalists necessitate careful adaptation of guidelines for forest PMEs to balance local objectives with coordination among experiments. Finally, we advocate adoption of a common framework for coordinating forest PME design to enhance cross-site comparability and advance fundamental knowledge about the response and sensitivity of diverse forest ecosystems to precipitation extremes.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [3];  [1];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [4];  [1];  [13] more »;  [14];  [8];  [10];  [15] « less
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
  2. USDA Forest Service, Durham, NH (United States)
  3. Boston Univ., MA (United States)
  4. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
  5. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
  6. City University of New York and Brooklyn College, New York, NY (United States)
  7. Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain)
  8. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  9. Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH (United States); Mount Washington Observatory, North Conway, NH (United States)
  10. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  11. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  12. Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia); Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)
  13. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  14. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Burlington, VT (United States)
  15. Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Durham, NH (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
OSTI Identifier:
1488730
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1479037
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Methods in Ecology and Evolution (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Methods in Ecology and Evolution (Online); Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-210X
Publisher:
British Ecological Society - Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; climate extremes; drought; ecological thresholds; savannas; shrublands; woodlands

Citation Formats

Asbjornsen, Heidi, Campbell, John L., Jennings, Katie A., Vadeboncoeur, Matthew A., McIntire, Cameron, Templer, Pamela H., Phillips, Richard P., Bauerle, Taryn L., Dietze, Michael C., Frey, Serita D., Groffman, Peter M., Guerrieri, Rosella, Hanson, Paul J., Kelsey, Eric P., Knapp, Alan K., McDowell, Nathan G., Meir, Patrick, Novick, Kimberly A., Ollinger, Scott V., Pockman, Will T., Schaberg, Paul G., Wullschleger, Stan D., Smith, Melinda D., and Rustad, Lindsey E. Guidelines and considerations for designing field experiments simulating precipitation extremes in forest ecosystems. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13094.
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Asbjornsen, Heidi, Campbell, John L., Jennings, Katie A., Vadeboncoeur, Matthew A., McIntire, Cameron, Templer, Pamela H., Phillips, Richard P., Bauerle, Taryn L., Dietze, Michael C., Frey, Serita D., Groffman, Peter M., Guerrieri, Rosella, Hanson, Paul J., Kelsey, Eric P., Knapp, Alan K., McDowell, Nathan G., Meir, Patrick, Novick, Kimberly A., Ollinger, Scott V., Pockman, Will T., Schaberg, Paul G., Wullschleger, Stan D., Smith, Melinda D., & Rustad, Lindsey E. Guidelines and considerations for designing field experiments simulating precipitation extremes in forest ecosystems. United States. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13094.
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Asbjornsen, Heidi, Campbell, John L., Jennings, Katie A., Vadeboncoeur, Matthew A., McIntire, Cameron, Templer, Pamela H., Phillips, Richard P., Bauerle, Taryn L., Dietze, Michael C., Frey, Serita D., Groffman, Peter M., Guerrieri, Rosella, Hanson, Paul J., Kelsey, Eric P., Knapp, Alan K., McDowell, Nathan G., Meir, Patrick, Novick, Kimberly A., Ollinger, Scott V., Pockman, Will T., Schaberg, Paul G., Wullschleger, Stan D., Smith, Melinda D., and Rustad, Lindsey E. Sun . "Guidelines and considerations for designing field experiments simulating precipitation extremes in forest ecosystems". United States. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13094. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1488730.
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@article{osti_1488730,
title = {Guidelines and considerations for designing field experiments simulating precipitation extremes in forest ecosystems},
author = {Asbjornsen, Heidi and Campbell, John L. and Jennings, Katie A. and Vadeboncoeur, Matthew A. and McIntire, Cameron and Templer, Pamela H. and Phillips, Richard P. and Bauerle, Taryn L. and Dietze, Michael C. and Frey, Serita D. and Groffman, Peter M. and Guerrieri, Rosella and Hanson, Paul J. and Kelsey, Eric P. and Knapp, Alan K. and McDowell, Nathan G. and Meir, Patrick and Novick, Kimberly A. and Ollinger, Scott V. and Pockman, Will T. and Schaberg, Paul G. and Wullschleger, Stan D. and Smith, Melinda D. and Rustad, Lindsey E.},
abstractNote = {1. We report that precipitation regimes are changing in response to climate change, yet understanding of how forest ecosystems respond to extreme droughts and pluvials remains incomplete. As future precipitation extremes will likely fall outside the range of historical variability, precipitation manipulation experiments (PMEs) are critical to advancing knowledge about potential ecosystem responses. However, few PMEs have been conducted in forests compared to short-statured ecosystems, and forest PMEs have unique design requirements and constraints. Moreover, past forest PMEs have lacked coordination, limiting cross-site comparisons. Here, we review and synthesize approaches, challenges, and opportunities for conducting PMEs in forests, with the goal of guiding design decisions, while maximizing the potential for coordination.2. We reviewed 63 forest PMEs at 70 sites world-wide. Workshops, meetings, and communications with experimentalists were used to generate and build consensus around approaches for addressing the key challenges and enhancing coordination.3. Past forest PMEs employed a variety of study designs related to treatment level, replication, plot and infrastructure characteristics, and measurement approaches. Important considerations for establishing new forest PMEs include: selecting appropriate treatment levels to reach ecological thresholds; balancing cost, logistical complexity, and effectiveness in infrastructure design; and preventing unintended water subsidies. Response variables in forest PMEs were organized into three broad tiers reflecting increasing complexity and resource intensiveness, with the first tier representing a recommended core set of common measurements.4. Differences in site conditions combined with unique research questions of experimentalists necessitate careful adaptation of guidelines for forest PMEs to balance local objectives with coordination among experiments. Finally, we advocate adoption of a common framework for coordinating forest PME design to enhance cross-site comparability and advance fundamental knowledge about the response and sensitivity of diverse forest ecosystems to precipitation extremes.},
doi = {10.1111/2041-210X.13094},
journal = {Methods in Ecology and Evolution (Online)},
number = 12,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {9}
}
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DOI:  10.1111/2041-210X.13094
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