Carbon sequestration consequences of spruce budworm outbreaks and control in eastern Canadian forests**

森林在从大气中去除二氧化碳并将其储存在土壤中发挥着重要作用，从而**抵消了大气二氧化碳使我们的气候变暖的趋势。我们将询问云杉芽孢虫的爆发是如何改变这一过程的。云杉芽孢虫是一种主要的森林害虫，会使数百万公顷的针叶树落叶并死亡。在落叶的森林中，枯死的针叶和蠕虫粪便可能会在短期内增加流向土壤的碳。然而，从长远来看，落叶森林从大气中清除二氧化碳的能力较弱，而较薄的树冠意味着土壤变暖，因此，潜在地，土壤中释放出更多储存的碳。我们将研究这些影响和它们的相互作用，方法是将已经**被蠕虫落叶的森林地块与类似的附近地块进行比较，这些类似的地块已经通过生物杀虫剂BTK空中喷洒保护，不会受到毛虫的损害。我们将测量针叶和毛虫粪便从树冠**落到地面的情况，测量土壤核心的碳含量，测量土壤微生物**的二氧化碳排放量。我们还将测量“菌根”真菌的丰度，这种真菌与树根结成伙伴关系，从树上接收含碳糖并将其转移到土壤中。**这些测量将帮助我们了解芽孢子虫的爆发如何改变**森林中的碳循环，以及我们如何使用BTK处理进行干预，以保护森林的碳储存作用。这项研究将包括来自新不伦瑞克大学、加拿大林业局和加拿大农业和农业食品公司的资深科学家和学生参加培训。

Forests play an important role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in soil - thus**countering the tendency for atmospheric carbon dioxide to warm our climate. We will ask how outbreaks of**spruce budworm, a major forest pest that defoliates and kills conifers over millions of hectares, alter this**process. In defoliated forests, dead needles and budworm feces likely provide a short-term boost in carbon**flow to soils. However, in the longer term, defoliated forests are less able to remove carbon dioxide from the**atmosphere, and the thinner tree canopy means warmer soils and therefore, potentially, more release of stored**carbon from the soil. We will study these effects and their interactions by comparing forest plots that have**been defoliated by budworm with similar, nearby plots that have been protected from budworm damage by**aerial spray with a biological insecticide, Btk. We will measure the fall of needles and caterpillar feces from**the canopy to the ground, measure carbon content in soil cores, and measure the emission of carbon dioxide**from microbes in the soil. We will also measure the abundance of "mycorrhizal" fungi - fungi that form**partnerships with tree roots and which receive carbon-containing sugars from the tree and move them into soil.**Together, these measurements will help us understand how budworm outbreaks change the carbon cycle in**forests, and how we can use Btk treatments to intervene to protect the carbon-storage role of the forest. This**research will involve both established scientists and students in training from the University of New**Brunswick, the Canadian Forest Service, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.