US-Mexico Collaborative Research: Afforestation Effects on Nitrogen Cycling in Mexico's Eastern Highlands

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In this U.S.-Mexico project researchers from the U.S. and Mexico will gain a preliminary understanding of the consequences of tropical afforestation and its spatial configuration across the landscape for nitrogen cycling, and to identify and model landscapes where plantation establishment is likely to have the greatest impact on nitrogen biogeochemistry. In this pilot study baseline measurements of nitrogen fluxes and nitrogen cycling will be conducted, and the ratios of carbon to nitrogen to phosphorus (C:N:P) in the litter and soils of pine plantations and grasslands will be examined. By quantifying differences in nitrogen cycling between pine plantations and grasslands, the research will shed light on ecosystem response to afforestation, whether natural or intentional, and to increasing levels of nitrogen deposition. Such investigations are needed in order to scale ecosystem process rates such as nitrification across spatially heterogeneous landscapes and to predict watershed nitrogen losses more accurately. This pilot will be carried out by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from two U.S. institutions, the University of North Texas and Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in conjunction with colleagues from Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico.This project affords a valuable opportunity to answer important questions at the intersection of ecosystem science, global change, and land-cover change. This project should enable the researchers to confirm previous findings and develop a model of the nitrogen-cycling effects of afforestation, especially within the context of land-use change, increased nitrogen deposition from urbanization, and phosphorus-limited forests of tropical developing countries worldwide. The results of this study will provide the foundations for a future international collaborative research proposal that can provide important data for policy makers considering the implications of reforestation and afforestation and the potential trade-offs and unintended consequences of each. Graduate students and early-career scientists from underrepresented groups will benefit from inclusion in these studies with international research partners. Involvement of young researchers in collaborative international activities is a major goal of OISE.