SGER: The Gribben Buried Forest: A Unique Opportunity for Exploratory Research

一万年前，全球气候是高度动态的，北美的植被正在经历冰期后最迅速的重组。随着气候迅速变暖，曾经占据北美内陆大部分地区的云杉林面积正在减少。最近，密歇根州上半岛的一家矿业公司就发现了这样的森林。格里本森林被冰川沉积物埋在原地，保存完好，保存完整的植物材料、凋落物、腐殖质层和土壤剖面。这个地点的木材经放射性碳测定大约有一万年的历史。该场址是正在进行的采矿作业的一部分，将于1995年夏季销毁。这项探索性研究的目标是：(1)对埋藏的树木、凋落物和土壤进行取样；(2)回答有关古森林组成、结构、生长和动态的基本问题；(3)将样本存档并将数据分发给更广泛的科学界，以便这个了解1万年历史的森林及其环境的独特机会不会被科学失去。这项探索性研究小额赠款将为了解冰川从该地区消退后森林植被的组成、结构和动态提供一个独特的机会。这些数据将允许对森林生态学和古生态学基础的许多概念框架的假设进行直接检验。

Ten thousand years ago the global climate was highly dynamic and the vegetation of North America was undergoing the most rapid reorganization of the post-glacial period. Spruce forests that once dominated much of interior North America were decreasing in extent as the climate rapidly warmed. One such forest was recently exposed by a mining company in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Gribben forest was buried in-place by glacial sediment and remains intact, with completely preserved plant material, litter, humus layers, and soil profiles. Wood from this site was recently radiocarbon dated at approximately 10,000 years old. The site is part of an active mining operation and will be destroyed in the summer of 1995. The objectives of this exploratory research are to (1) sample the buried trees, litter and soil, (2) answer fundamental questions about paleo-forest composition, structure, growth and dynamics, and (3) archive samples and distribute data to the broader scientific community so that this unique opportunity to understand a 10,000 year old forest and its environment is not lost to science. This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will provide a unique opportunity to learn about the composition, structure, and dynamics of forest vegetation immediately after the glaciers receded from this area. The data will allow a direct test of assumptions of much of the conceptual framework underlying forest ecology and paleoecology.