RUI: Assessing the Environmental and Human Drivers and Cultural Dimensions of Changes in Oak Forests of the Eastern U.S.

本项目将调查过去两个世纪美国东部白色橡树林的丰富变化，并考虑这些变化的社会影响。 白色橡树林为社会提供了许多物质和非物质利益，包括商业木材产品，动物物种的栖息地和文化价值。 历史上，白色橡树是美国东部森林的重要组成部分，是欧洲-美国定居之前森林中最丰富的树木。但是，白色橡树的丰度在过去两个世纪中有所下降，促使这项研究了解过去高丰度的原因以及它们下降的原因。该项目将调查两个重要的过程，可能有助于白色橡树在十八世纪的丰富：植被燃烧的美洲原住民保持开放的景观，以及发生严重干旱，有利于耐旱物种，如白色橡树。 该项目将分析当今的森林，以了解白色橡树森林持续存在或衰退的环境和历史土地使用条件。为了理解橡树衰退的人类层面，该项目将评估利益攸关方群体，包括美洲土著社区，赋予白色橡树和森林的经济和文化价值。该研究将为本科生提供培训，包括那些传统上在科学领域代表性不足的学生，在STEM领域，特别是地理信息系统，年轮分析和统计建模领域，提供实地和实验室教育经验。该项目的成果将为管理橡树景观提供新的知识，以满足经济，生态和文化目标。该框架和方法可扩展到其他生态系统共享的欧洲和美洲原住民的土地使用遗产。项目调查结果将与州和联邦土地管理机构、塞尼卡印第安人国家和土地保护机构等实体广泛分享。调查结果也将通过各种方式进行交流，包括一本书。这项研究将在北方纽约州的森林进行，并集中在三个中心的研究问题：（1）是环境因素或美洲原住民的土地利用方式负责橡树和其他旱生树种在过去的高丰度？(2)白色橡树在什么样的环境和土地利用条件下再生或衰退？(3)白色橡树和森林为美国东部的社区提供了哪些物质和非物质利益？ 历史记录将提供深入了解景观特征和土地利用的做法，在晚美洲原住民（约。1790年）和早期的欧洲-美国（CA。1790-1850）定居时期，并将用于建设土地使用的历史。统计模型将确定过去的森林组成、环境条件（如地形、土壤）和美洲土著土地使用之间的关系。 将利用从剩下的老树中提取的树芯样本进行树木年代学研究，以评估树木生长模式与干旱模式和土地使用变化的关系。现代树种组成将与环境条件（如土壤）和土地利用历史进行比较，以了解白色橡树持续或衰退的环境。调查和采访的利益相关者在研究领域将被用来确定当今的经济和文化价值与白色橡树。

This project will investigate the changes in abundance of white oak forests in the eastern United States over the past two centuries as well as consider the societal ramifications of these changes. White oak forests provide numerous material and non-material benefits to society that include commercial timber products, habitat for animal species, and cultural value. Historically white oaks were an essential component of eastern U.S. forests, being the most abundant tree in forests prior to Euro-American settlement. However, white oak abundance has declined over the past two centuries, motivating this study to understand the reasons for high abundance in the past and the reasons for their decline. The project will investigate two significant processes that likely contributed to white oak abundance in the eighteenth century: vegetation burning by Native Americans to maintain open landscapes, and the occurrence of high-severity droughts that favored drought-tolerant species such as white oak. The project will analyze present-day forests to understand environmental and historical land-use conditions under which white oak forests persist or decline. To comprehend the human dimensions of oak decline, the project will assess economic and cultural values that stakeholder groups, including Native American communities, ascribe to white oak trees and forests. The research will provide undergraduate student training, including those traditionally underrepresented in the sciences, with field and lab-based educational experiences in STEM fields, specifically in geographic information systems, tree-ring analysis, and statistical modeling. The outcomes of this project will contribute new knowledge for managing oak landscapes to meet economic, ecological, and cultural goals. The framework and methods are scalable to other ecosystems with shared Euro- and Native American land-use legacies. Project findings will be widely shared with entities such as state and federal land management agencies, the Seneca Nation of Indians, and land conservancies. Findings will also be communicated through various means, including a book.This research will be conducted in the forests of northern New York state and focuses on three central research questions: (1) Were environmental factors or Native American land-use practices responsible for the high abundance of oak and other xeric (dry-site) tree species in the past? (2) Under what environmental and land-use conditions have white oaks regenerated or declined? (3) What material and non-material benefits do white oak trees and forests provide communities in the eastern United States? Historical records will provide insight into landscape characteristics and land-use practices during late Native American (ca. 1790) and early Euro-American (ca. 1790-1850) settlement period, and will be used to construct a land-use history. Statistical models will determine relationships between past forest composition, environmental conditions (e.g. topography, soils), and Native American land-use. Dendrochronological studies will be conducted using tree-core samples extracted from remaining old trees to assess patterns of tree growth in relation to drought patterns and land-use changes. Modern tree species composition will be compared with environmental conditions (e.g. soils) and land-use histories to understand settings under which white oak persisted or declined. Surveys and interviews of stakeholders in the study area will be used to ascertain the present-day economic and cultural values associated with white oaks.