LTREB Renewal: Linking Long-term Alterations in Atmospheric Chemistry to Changes in Nutrient Dynamics and Sustainable Productivity in central Appalachian Forests

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For decades the burning of fossil fuels created large amounts of acid rain that threatened the productivity, fertility, water quality, and biodiversity of Appalachian forests. More recently, government regulations have reduced the levels of acid rain and created an opportunity to assess the ability of these forests to recover from past damage. Assessing the impact of changes in acid deposition requires long-term measurements and experiments in order to detect trends and better understand how forests function under changing conditions. Such long-term records and experiments are extremely rare. This project focuses on a unique, long-term dataset and manipulative experiments at the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF) in West Virginia. The research will continue long-term measurements, some of which have been made continuously at FEF since 1951. It will also continue two complementary experimental manipulations: a whole-watershed acidification experiment that began in 1989, and a Long Term Soil Productivity experiment that began in 1996. The unique data resulting from these experiments will significantly improve our understanding of the link between changes in air pollution and forest health in ways that inform public policy, enhance ecological theory, and improve forest management practices.Data from this project will be used along with the Multiple Element Limitation (MEL) model and supplemental measurements to examine four questions about the impacts of acid and nitrogen deposition on forested watersheds: (1) Has a diminished biological demand for nitrate (a source of water pollution) contributed to enhanced nitrate losses?; (2) Are greater nitrate losses following nitrogen additions to a young forest due to something other than increased rates of nitrate production?; (3) Will chronic nitrogen addition and acidification diminish carbon storage in young forests?; and (4) Does enhanced nitrogen availability reduce the diversity of forest herbs and trees? In addition, a significant amount of damage caused by Superstorm Sandy at the FEF created a unique opportunity to examine whether greater nitrogen availability causes forests to be more susceptible to damage by severe storm events. This project will continue an internship program that trained 20 students during the last 5 years and a creative writing course designed to inspire a new generation of non-fiction writers by challenging them to learn about (and reflect on) the long-term studies at the FEF. The writing course trained 18 students in the last 3 years and is part of the National Ecological Reflections Network.