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Title: Lessons Learned from Long-Term Ecosystem Studies
The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES) in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA, was started in June 1963 by Gene E. Likens, F. Herbert Bormann, Noye M. Johnson, and Robert S. Pierce. Comprehensive, watershed-ecosystem mass balances of water and chemical elements have been done continuously until the present time. These long-term, integrated and continuous records of precipitation and streamwater amounts and their chemical composition from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) may be the longest in the world (Likens 2013, Holmes and Likens 2016). Long-term watershed and plot-scale studies of biotic, chemical, hydrologic, physical, and geologic conditions and their interactions have contributed to the overall ecological understanding of this complex ecosystem (see review in Holmes and Likens 2016). Watershed-scale experimentation (e.g. deforestation, Watershed 2; forest strip cutting, Watershed 4; wholetree harvest, Watershed 5; base cation replenishment, Watershed 1) have revealed ecosystem processes at the landscape scale.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1637685
PAR ID:
10316502
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Editor(s):
Bruckman, Viktor J
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Land Use Ecology, KIOES Opinions, Reflections on the Ecology of Landscapes, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Issue:
10
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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  1. (, Environmental Data Initiative)
    The Hubbard Brook Watershed Stream and Precipitation Chemistry Record is a dataset of chemical concentration data for precipitation and streamwater samples that have been collected weekly since the summer of 1963 from streams and precipitation gauges throughout the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, a research forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. HBWatER currently collects weekly samples from nine gauged watersheds, the mainstem of the Hubbard Brook into which each small stream drains, and two long-term precipitation collection sites. HBWatER was begun in the 1960's by Gene E. Likens, F. Herbert Bormann, Robert S. Pierce, and Noye M. Johnson who began collecting and analyzing stream and precipitation (rain and snow). They had a simple idea, that by comparing watershed inputs in rain and snow to watershed outputs from streams, they could measure the behavior of entire ecosystems in response to atmospheric pollution or forestry practices. Stream and precipitation samples have been collected every week from 1963 to the present day. Insights gained from studying this long-term chemical record led to the discovery of acid rain in North America and have documented the effectiveness of federal clean air legislation in reducing coalfired power plant emissions. The collection and analysis of HBWatER samples is currently sustained by Tammy Wooster (Cary IES) and Jeff Merriam (USFS) and the dataset is curated and maintained by a team of researchers: Chris Solomon (Cary IES), Emily Bernhardt (Duke), Bill McDowell (UNH), Charley Driscoll (Syracuse U.), Keith Nislow (USFS), and Mark Green (Case Western). Current Financial Support for HBWatER is provided by NSF LTREB # 2401760 and the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 
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  2. (, Environmental Data Initiative)
    The Hubbard Brook Watershed Stream and Precipitation Chemistry Record is a dataset of chemical concentration data for precipitation and streamwater samples that have been collected weekly since the summer of 1963 from streams and precipitation gauges throughout the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, a research forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. HBWatER currently collects weekly samples from nine gauged watersheds, the mainstem of the Hubbard Brook into which each small stream drains, and two long-term precipitation collection sites. HBWatER was begun in the 1960's by Gene E. Likens, F. Herbert Bormann, Robert S. Pierce, and Noye M. Johnson who began collecting and analyzing stream and precipitation (rain and snow). They had a simple idea, that by comparing watershed inputs in rain and snow to watershed outputs from streams, they could measure the behavior of entire ecosystems in response to atmospheric pollution or forestry practices. Stream and precipitation samples have been collected every week from 1963 to the present day. Insights gained from studying this long-term chemical record led to the discovery of acid rain in North America and have documented the effectiveness of federal clean air legislation in reducing coalfired power plant emissions. The collection and analysis of HBWatER samples is currently sustained by Tammy Wooster (Cary IES) and Jeff Merriam (USFS) and the dataset is curated and maintained by a team of researchers: Chris Solomon (Cary IES), Emily Bernhardt (Duke), Bill McDowell (UNH), Charley Driscoll (Syracuse U.), Keith Nislow (USFS), and Mark Green (Case Western). Current Financial Support for HBWatER is provided by NSF LTREB # 2401760 and the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 
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  3. ; (, Environmental Data Initiative)
    Maps showing the estimated territorial boundaries of all bird species occupying the 10-ha bird plot in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, 1969-2021. These data were used in estimating the abundance of bird populations during this period (e.g., Holmes and Sturges 1975, Holmes et al. 1986, Holmes and Sherry 1988, 2001, Holmes 2011). These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. Papers associated with this dataset: Holmes, R. T., & Sturges, F. W. (1975). Bird Community Dynamics and Energetics in a Northern Hardwoods Ecosystem. Journal of Animal Ecology, 44(1), 175–200. https://doi.org/10.2307/3857 Sherry, T. W. (1979). Competitive interactions and adaptive strategies of American Redstarts and Least Flycatchers in a northern hardwoods forest. The Auk, 96(2), 265-283. Holmes, R. T., Bonney, R. E., & Pacala, S. W. (1979). Guild Structure of the Hubbard Brook Bird Community: A Multivariate Approach. Ecology, 60(3), 512–520. https://doi.org/10.2307/1936071 Holmes, R. T., Sherry, T. W., & Sturges, F. W. (1986). Bird Community Dynamics in a Temperate Deciduous Forest: Long-Term Trends at Hubbard Brook. Ecological Monographs, 56(3), 201–220. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937074 Holmes, R. T., & Robinson, S. K. (1988). Spatial patterns, foraging tactics, and diets of ground-foraging birds in a northern hardwoods forest. The Wilson Bulletin, 377-394. Holmes, R. T., & Sherry, T. W. (1988). Assessing population trends of New Hampshire forest birds: local vs. regional patterns. The Auk, 105(4), 756-768. 10.2307/4087390 Holmes, R. T., & Sherry, T. W. (2001). Thirty-year bird population trends in an unfragmented temperate deciduous forest: importance of habitat change. The Auk, 118(3), 589-609. https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/118.3.589 Holmes, R. T. (2011). Avian population and community processes in forest ecosystems: Long-term research in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 262(1), 20-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.06.021 Associated datasets in the data catalog: Holmes, R.T., N.L. Rodenhouse, and M.T. Hallworth. 2022. Bird Abundances at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (1969-present) and on three replicate plots (1986-2000) in the White Mountain National Forest ver 8. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/6422a72893616ce9020086de5a5714cd (Accessed 2023-12-17). 
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  4. (, Environmental Data Initiative)
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  5. (, Environmental Data Initiative)
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