Facilities Improvement, Andrews Experimental Forest: Automated CNS Analysis of Plant and Soil Samples

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The H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest is an interdisciplinary research site operated by Oregon State University, and actively used by collaborating researchers from OSU, the University of Washington, the U. S. Forest Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USGS, and other universities. The site is located in Willamette National Forest, and is one of 17 NSF-supported Long-Term Ecological Research Sites and the venue for an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Site. The PI requests support for a CNS analyzer, a soil/tissue sample mill, and a microcomputer for data acquisition. These instruments would be available to resident and visiting investigators in the Station's Plant/Soil Analysis Lab. The proposed instrument acquisition would add sulfur analysis to the Lab's capabilities, increase the number of analyses performed at the Station, decrease the size of the samples that could be analyzed, and decrease the per sample cost of chemical analysis. These analyses are critical to the studies of wood decomposition and chemical flux through ecosystems that are underway at the Forest. Acquisition of this instrument will have a significant beneficial impact on many current and future research projects.