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

森林在清除大气中的二氧化碳并将其储存在土壤中发挥着重要作用--因此 抵消大气中二氧化碳使我们的气候变暖的趋势。我们会问如何爆发 云杉芽孢虫，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，改变了这一点 进程。在落叶的森林中，枯死的针叶和蠕虫的粪便可能会在短期内增加碳的排放。 流到土壤中。然而，从长远来看，落叶森林从森林中清除二氧化碳的能力较差。 大气，更薄的树冠意味着更温暖的土壤，因此，潜在地释放更多的储存 土壤中的碳。我们将通过比较具有以下特点的林地来研究这些影响及其相互作用 被芽孢子虫落叶，附近有类似的地块，已经被保护不受芽孢子虫的损害 用生物杀虫剂BTK进行空中喷洒。我们将测量针头和毛虫粪便从 将树冠移至地面，测量土壤核心中的碳含量，并测量二氧化碳的排放 来自土壤中的微生物。我们还将测量“菌根”真菌的丰度。 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。 总而言之，这些测量将帮助我们了解芽孢子虫的爆发如何改变 森林，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 研究将包括来自纽约大学的知名科学家和学生参加培训 布伦瑞克，加拿大林业局，以及加拿大农业和农业食品公司。

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.