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

该项目将调查过去两个世纪美国东部白栎林丰度的变化，并考虑这些变化的社会后果。白栎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、动物物种栖息地和文化价值。历史上，白橡树是美国东部森林的重要组成部分，在欧美人定居之前，白橡树是森林中最丰富的树木。然而，在过去的两个世纪里，白栎的丰度有所下降，这促使本研究了解过去高丰度的原因以及它们减少的原因。该项目将调查可能导致18世纪白橡木丰富的两个重要过程：美洲原住民为了保持开阔的景观而烧毁植被，以及严重干旱的发生，这些干旱有利于白橡木等耐旱物种。该项目将分析现在的森林，以了解环境和历史的土地利用条件，在这种条件下白栎林持续或减少。为了理解橡树衰退对人类的影响，该项目将评估包括美洲原住民社区在内的利益相关者群体赋予白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，提供STEM领域的实地和实验室教育经验，特别是在地理信息系统、树木年轮分析和统计建模方面。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具有共同的欧洲和美洲原住民土地利用遗产的生态系统。项目结果将与州和联邦土地管理机构、印第安人塞内卡民族和土地保护协会等实体广泛分享。调查结果也将通过各种方式传播，包括一本书。这项研究将在纽约州北部的森林中进行，重点关注三个中心研究问题：(1)过去橡树和其他干地树种的高丰度是环境因素还是美洲原住民的土地利用实践造成的？(2)在什么样的环境和土地利用条件下，白栎树发生了更新或衰退？(3)白栎树和白栎林为美国东部社区提供了哪些物质和非物质利益？历史记录将提供对晚期美洲原住民（约1790年）和早期欧美人（约1790-1850年）定居时期的景观特征和土地利用实践的深入了解，并将用于构建土地利用历史。统计模型将确定过去森林组成、环境条件（如地形、土壤）和美洲土著土地利用之间的关系。树木年代学研究将使用从剩余的老树中提取的树芯样本进行，以评估树木生长模式与干旱模式和土地利用变化的关系。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，以了解白栎树在何种环境下存活或衰落。在研究领域的利益相关者的调查和访谈将被用来确定与白橡树相关的当今经济和文化价值。

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.