A 15-Year Trend of Carbon Dynamics in Two Massachusetts Forests

Presenter

Harley Lynn Westgate

Campus

Worcester State University

Sponsor

Allison L. Dunn, Department of Earth, Environment, and Physics, Worcester State University

Schedule

Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A9, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 1 (A1-A20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Global climate change is driven by human emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. Terrestrial vegetation absorbed approximately 31% of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities during the most recent decade (2010-2019), slowing the rate of climate change as a result. In this study, we investigate the role that forests, the largest terrestrial carbon sink, play in the carbon balance of a midlatitude forest in north-central Massachusetts, USA. We investigated two forest stands: one (“control”) is a red pine plantation that was established in 1925, the other (“harvest”) is a former red pine plantation harvested in 1990, and is now a naturally regenerating mixed hardwood and white-pine forest. All trees ≥ 5 cm diameter breast height (DBH; 1.3 m) were identified, measured, then tagged, and were surveyed yearly for growth, mortality, and recruitment from 2008-2023.

Using the tree diameter data, we calculated forest carbon sequestration between 2008 and 2023. We found that our control site lost carbon to the atmosphere (from 137 Mg C ha-1 in 2008 to 49 Mg C ha-1 in 2023) due to an ice storm in 2008 and an inferred infestation of red pine scale (a small, invasive insect) in 2022. The harvest site increased carbon storage from 35 Mg C ha-1 in 2008 to 64 Mg C ha-1. Our results underscore the complex carbon dynamics in forested ecosystems and the critical role of episodic disturbances.

Keywords

Deciduous forests, Carbon storage, Carbon dynamics, Ecological disturbances

Research Area

Climate Science

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