skip to main content


Title: Soil properties in the MELNHE study at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, Bartlett Experimental Forest and Jeffers Brook, central NH USA, 2009 - present
The Multiple Element Limitation in Northern Hardwood Ecosystems (MELNHE) project studies N, P, and Ca acquisition and limitation of forest productivity through a series of nutrient manipulations in northern hardwood forests. We are monitoring resin N and P availability, N mineralization, and soil enzyme activities. This data set includes soil water content, soil pH, organic horizon mass, soil organic matter, bicarbonate extractable P, extractable Ca, and soil texture data. Additional detail on the MELNHE project, including a datatable of site descriptions and a pdf file with the project description and diagram of plot configuration can be found in this data package: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-hbr&identifier=344. This work is a contribution of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study. Hubbard Brook is part of the LTER network, which is supported by the US National Science Foundation. The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest is operated and maintained by the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These data have been described and analyzed in the following publications: Shan S, Devens H, Fahey TJ, Yanai RD, Fisk MC. 2022. Fine root growth increases in response to nitrogen addition in phosphorus-limited northern hardwood forests. Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00735-4 Goswami S, Fisk MC, Vadeboncoeur MA, Johnston M, Yanai RD, and Fahey TJ. 2018. Phosphorus limitation of aboveground production in northern hardwood forests. Ecology 99:438-449. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2100 Ratliff TJ, Fisk MC. 2015. Phosphatase activity is related to N availability but not P availability across hardwood forests in the northeastern United States. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 94:61-69 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.11.009. Bae B, Fahey TJ, Yanai RD, Fisk MC. 2015. Soil nitrogen availability affects belowground carbon allocation and soil respiration in northern hardwood forests of New Hampshire. Ecosystems 18:1179–1191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9892-7. Fisk MC, Ratliff TJ, Goswami S, Yanai RD. 2014. Synergistic soil response to nitrogen plus phosphorus fertilization in hardwood forests. Biogeochemistry 118:195-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9918-1  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1637685
NSF-PAR ID:
10395931
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Publisher / Repository:
Environmental Data Initiative
Date Published:
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. The MELNHE study looks at patterns of resource limitation through nutrient manipulations in three study sites in New Hampshire: Bartlett Experimental Forest, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, and Jeffers Brook, located in the White Mountain National Forest. The investigation is monitoring stem diameter, leaf area, sap flow, foliar chemistry, leaf litter production and chemistry, foliar nutrient resorption, root biomass and production, mycorrhizal associations, soil respiration, heterotrophic respiration, N and P availability, N mineralization, soil phosphatase activity, soil carbon and nitrogen, nutrient uptake capacity of roots, and mineral weathering. This data set includes phosphate, nitrate and ammonium availability measured using resin exchange strips. Additional detail on the MELNHE project, including a datatable of site descriptions and a pdf file with the project description and diagram of plot configuration can be found in this data package: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-hbr&identifier=344 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. The following papers describe and make use of these data: Fisk MC, Ratliff TJ, Goswami S, Yanai RD. 2014. Synergistic soil response to nitrogen plus phosphorus fertilization in hardwood forests. Biogeochemistry 118:195-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9918-1 Goswami S, Fisk MC, Vadeboncoeur MA, Johnston M, Yanai RD, and Fahey TJ. 2018. Phosphorus limitation of aboveground production in northern hardwood forests. Ecology 99: 438-449. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2100 Shan S, Fisk MC, Fahey TJ. 2018. Contrasting effects of N on rhizosphere processes in two northern hardwood species. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 126: 219-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.09.007 Shan S, Devens H, Fahey TJ, Yanai RD, Fisk MC. 2022. Fine root growth increases in response to nitrogen addition in phosphorus-limited northern hardwood forests. Ecosystems, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00735-4 Gonzales KE, Yanai RD, Fahey TJ, Fisk MC. 2023. Evidence for P limitation in eight northern hardwood stands: Foliar concentrations and resorption by three tree species in a factorial N by P addition experiment. Forest Ecology and Management 529: 120696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120696 Li S, Fisk MC, Yanai RD, Fahey TJ. 2023. Co-limitation of root growth by nitrogen and phosphorus in early successional northern hardwood forest. Ecosystems. https://10.1007/s10021-023-00869-7 
    more » « less
  2. The Multiple Element Limitation in Northern Hardwood Ecosystems (MELNHE) project studies N and P acquisition and limitation through a series of nutrient manipulations in northern hardwood forests. This data set includes net N mineralization measured in Oe, Oa, and mineral soil horizons in all 13 of the MELNHE study sites. Samples are collected every several years, beginning with pretreatment (2008 and 2009) through 2017, representing 3 years of N and P fertilization. Additional detail on the MELNHE project, including a datatable of site descriptions and a pdf file with the project description and diagram of plot configuration can be found in this data package: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-hbr&identifier=344 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. The following papers describe and make use of these data: Kang H, Fahey TJ, Bae K, Fisk MC, Sherman RE, Yanai RD, See C. 2016. Response of forest soil respiration to nutrient addition depends on site fertility. Biogeochemistry 127:113-124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0172-6. Ratliff TJ, Fisk MC. 2016. Phosphatase activity is related to N availability but not P availability across hardwood forests in the northeastern United States. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 94:61-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.11.009. Bae B, Fahey TJ, Yanai RD, Fisk MC. 2015. Soil nitrogen availability affects belowground carbon allocation and soil respiration in northern hardwood forests of New Hampshire. Ecosystems 18:1179-1191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9892-7. Fisk MC, Ratliff TJ, Goswami S, Yanai RD. 2014. Synergistic soil response to nitrogen plus phosphorus fertilization in hardwood forests. Biogeochemistry 118:195-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9918-1. 
    more » « less
  3. The valley-wide plots are a grid of 431 sites along fifteen N–S transects established at 500-m intervals spanning the entire Hubbard Brook Valley. The plot network was designed by Paul Schwarz for spatial analysis of tree species distribution patterns within the valley. Multiple above- and below-ground attributes have been measured on these plots. This dataset includes forest inventory data at 10 year intervals, for 1995, 2005, and 2015. The full survey takes three seasons to complete, with the datatable listing the exact measurement interval for each tree. Data are included for both trees and saplings on 371 core plots (all surveys) and 60 densified plots (1998, 2008). Locations of plots in this study can be found in the following dataset: Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest Valleywide Plots: GIS Shapefile (2022.) https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/440b176372e0cdeb341731aea816b67c 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. These data have been used in a number of publications including: Schwarz, P.A., Fahey, T.J., Martin, C.W., Siccama, T.G., and Bailey, A. 2001. Structure and composition of three northern hardwood–conifer forests with differing disturbance histories. For. Ecol. Manage. 144(1–3): 201–212. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(00)00371-6. Schwarz, P.A., Fahey, T.J., and McCulloch, C.E. 2003. Factors controlling spatial variation of tree species abundance in a forested landscape. Ecology, 84(7): 1862–1878. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2003)084[1862:FCSVOT]2.0.CO;2. van Doorn, N.S., Battles, J.J., Fahey, T.J., Siccama, T.G., and Schwarz, P.A. 2011. Links between biomass and tree demography in a northern hardwood forest: a decade of stability and change in Hubbard Brook Valley, New Hampshire. Can. J. For. Res. 41(7): 1369–1379. doi:10.1139/X11-063. Cleavitt, NL; AB Clyne and TJ Fahey. 2019. Epiphytic macrolichen patterns along an elevation gradient in the White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 146(1): 8-17. Cleavitt, NL; Battles, JJ, Fahey, TJ, and Blum, J. 2014. Determinants of survival over seven years for a natural cohort of sugar maple seedlings in a northern hardwood forest. Can. J. For. Res.44 (9): 1112-1121. 
    more » « less
  4. Root cores were obtained in 2010 (pre-treatment) from two soil depths, 0-10 cm and 30-50 cm, in two MELNHE stands, C5 and C7, at Bartlett Experimental Forest. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) colonization and root length were quantified in each core to determine if AM or EM was more prevalent in shallow or deep soils. Detailed description and analyses of these data can be found in: Nash, J.M., Diggs, F.M. & Yanai, R.D. Length and colonization rates of roots associated with arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal fungi decline differentially with depth in two northern hardwood forests. Mycorrhiza 32, 213–219 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-022-01071-8 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. 
    more » « less
  5. Climate models for the northeastern United States (U.S.) over the next century predict an increase in air temperature between 2.8 and 4.3 °C and a decrease in the average number of days per year when a snowpack will cover the forest floor (Hayhoe et al. 2007, 2008; Campbell et al. 2010). Studies of forest dynamics in seasonally snow-covered ecosystems have been primarily conducted during the growing season, when most biological activity occurs. However, in recent years considerable progress has been made in our understanding of how winter climate change influences dynamics in these forests. The snowpack insulates soil from below-freezing air temperatures, which facilitates a significant amount of microbial activity. However, a smaller snowpack and increased depth and duration of soil frost amplify losses of dissolved organic C and NO3- in leachate, as well as N2O released into the atmosphere. The increase in nutrient loss following increased soil frost cannot be explained by changes in microbial activity alone. More likely, it is caused by a decrease in plant nutrient uptake following increases in soil frost. We conducted a snow-removal experiment at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest to determine the effects of a smaller winter snowpack and greater depth and duration of soil frost on trees, soil microbes, and arthropods. A number of publications have been based on these data: Comerford et al. 2013, Reinmann et al. 2019, Templer 2012, and Templer et al. 2012. 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. Campbell JL, Ollinger SV, Flerchinger GN, Wicklein H, Hayhoe K, Bailey AS. Past and projected future changes in snowpack and soil frost at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. Hydrological Processes. 2010; 24:2465–2480. Comerford DP, PG Schaberg, PH Templer, AM Socci, JL Campbell, and KF Wallin. 2013. Influence of experimental snow removal on root and canopy physiology of sugar maple trees in a northern hardwood forest. Oecologia 171:261-269. Hayhoe K, Wake CP, Huntington TG, Luo LF, Schwartz MD, Sheffield J, et al. Past and future changes in climate and hydrological indicators in the US Northeast. Climate Dynamics. 2007; 28:381–407. Hayhoe, K., Wake, C., Anderson, B. et al. Regional climate change projections for the Northeast USA. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 13, 425–436 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-007-9133-2. Reinmann AB, J Susser, EMC Demaria, PH Templer. 2019. Declines in northern forest tree growth following snowpack decline and soil freezing.  Global Change Biology 25:420-430. Templer PH. 2012. Changes in winter climate: soil frost, root injury, and fungal communities (Invited). Plant and Soil 35: 15-17 Templer PH , AF Schiller, NW Fuller, AM Socci, JL Campbell, JE Drake, and TH Kunz. 2012. Impact of a reduced winter snowpack on litter arthropod abundance and diversity in a northern hardwood forest ecosystem. Biology and Fertility of Soils 48:413-424. 
    more » « less