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Identifying which aspects of global environmental change are driving observed ecosystem process responses is a great challenge. Here, we address how long-term (10-25 year) alterations in soil moisture, and nitrogen (N) oligotrophication (i.e. decreases in soil N availability relative to plant demand), alter the production of plant-available N via net mineralization and nitrification in a northern hardwood forest. Our objectives were to determine whether soil moisture has changed over the past decade and whether N cycle processes have become less sensitive to soil moisture over time due to N oligotrophication. We used long-term data sets from several related studies to show: (i) increasing winter soil temperatures and declining summer soil moisture from late 2010 into 2024; (ii) reductions in sensitivity of N cycling rates to soil moisture, and (iii) declining moisture-adjusted N cycle processes (the ratio of rate of N process:soil moisture) over time in both summer and winter. These changes suggest continued reductions in N availability to plants in these forests, with potential effects on forest productivity and response to disturbance. 

Soil temperature and soil moisture have been measured at multiple locations at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), as part of a study of the relationships between snow depth, soil freezing and nutrient cycling (http://www.ecostudies.org/people_sci_groffman_snow_summary.html). In October 2010, we established 6, 20 x 20-m plots (intensive plots) and 14 10 x 10-m plots (extensive plots) along an elevation gradient, with eight of the plots on north-facing slopes and twelve on south-facing slopes. Soil temperature and soil moisture were measured at hourly intervals on these plots beginning in November 2010. Six locations were discontinued in September 2012 (E04, E05, E06, E11-B, E13, and E14). Previous versions of this dataset included both temperature and moisture. These data are now available as moisture(this dataset) and temperature (https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-hbr&identifier=315]. 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. 

Soil temperature and soil moisture have been measured at multiple locations at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), as part of a study of the relationships between snow depth, soil freezing and nutrient cycling (http://www.ecostudies.org/people_sci_groffman_snow_summary.html). In October 2010, we established 6, 20 x 20-m plots (intensive plots) and 14 10 x 10-m plots (extensive plots) along an elevation gradient, with eight of the plots on north-facing slopes and twelve on south-facing slopes. Soil temperature and soil moisture were measured at hourly intervals on these plots beginning in November 2010. Six locations were discontinued in September 2012 (E04, E05, E06, E11-B, E13, and E14). Previous versions of this dataset included both temperature and moisture. These data are now available as temperature (this dataset) and moisture (https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-hbr&identifier=137). 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. 

This dataset consists of groundwater levels measured within wells distributed across Watershed 3 at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest from 2007-2020. Water levels are expressed as a depth (cm) from the soil surface. This dataset is a part of a larger project aimed at explaining the spatial and temporal variation in stream water chemistry at the headwater catchment scale using a framework based on the combined study of hydrology and soil development – hydropedology. The project will demonstrate how hydrology strongly influences soil development and soil chemistry, and in turn, controls stream water quality in headwater catchments. Understanding the linkages between hydrology and soil development can provide valuable information for managing forests and stream water quality. Feedbacks between soils and hydrology that lead to predictable landscape patterns of soil chemistry have implications for understanding spatial gradients in site productivity and suitability for species with differing habitat requirements or chemical sensitivity. Tools are needed that identify and predict these gradients that can ultimately provide guidance for land management and silvicultural decision making. Better integration between soil science, hydrology, and biogeochemistry will provide the conceptual leap needed by the hydrologic community to be able to better predict and explain temporal and spatial variability of stream water quality and understand water sources contributing to streamflow. 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. 

Nitrogen (N) is a critical element in many ecological and biogeochemical processes in forest ecosystems. Cycling of N is sensitive to changes in climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, and air pollution. Streamwater nitrate draining a forested ecosystem can indicate how an ecosystem is responding to these changes. We observed a pulse in streamwater nitrate concentration and export at a long-term forest research site in eastern North America that resulted in a 10-fold increase in nitrate export compared to observations over the prior decade. The pulse in streamwater nitrate occurred in a reference catchment in the 2013 water year, but was not associated with a distinct disturbance event. We analyzed a suite of environmental variables to explore possible causes. The correlation between each environmental variable and streamwater nitrate concentration was consistently higher when we accounted for the antecedent conditions of the variable prior to a given streamwater observation. In most cases, the optimal antecedent period exceeded two years. We assessed the most important variables for predicting streamwater nitrate concentration by training a machine learning model to predict streamwater nitrate concentration in the years preceding and during the streamwater nitrate pulse. The results of the correlation and machine learning analyses suggest that the pulsed increase in streamwater nitrate resulted from both (1) decreased plant uptake due to lower terrestrial gross primary production, possibly due to increased soil frost or reduced solar radiation or both; and (2) increased net N mineralization and nitrification due to warm temperatures from 2010 to 2013. Additionally, variables associated with hydrological transport of nitrate, such as maximum stream discharge, emerged as important, suggesting that hydrology played a role in the pulse. Overall, our analyses indicate that the streamwater nitrate pulse was caused by a combination of factors that occurred in the years prior to the pulse, not a single disturbance event. 

Statistical confidence in estimates of timber volume, carbon storage, and other forest attributes depends, in part, on the uncertainty in field measurements. Surprisingly, measurement uncertainty is rarely reported, even though national forest inventories routinely repeat field measurements for quality assurance. We compared measurements made by field crews and quality assurance crews in the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the U.S. Forest Service, using data from 2790 plots and 51 740 trees and saplings across the 24 states of the Northern Region. We characterized uncertainty in 12 national core tree-level variables; seven tree crown variables used in forest health monitoring; three variables describing seedlings; and 11 variables describing the site, such as elevation, slope, and distance from a road. Discrepancies in measurement were generally small but were higher for some variables requiring judgment, such as tree class, decay class, and cause of mortality. When scaled up to states, forest types, or the region, uncertainties in basal area, timber volume, and aboveground biomass were negligible. Understanding all sources of uncertainty is important to designing forest monitoring systems, managing the conduct of the inventory, and assessing the uncertainty of forest attributes required for making regional and national forest policy decisions. 

Soil temperature and soil moisture have been measured at multiple locations at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), as part of a study of the relationships between snow depth, soil freezing and nutrient cycling (http://www.ecostudies.org/people_sci_groffman_snow_summary.html). In October 2010, we established 6, 20 x 20-m plots (intensive plots) and 14 10 x 10-m plots (extensive plots) along an elevation gradient, with eight of the plots on north-facing slopes and twelve on south-facing slopes. Soil temperature and soil moisture were measured at hourly intervals on these plots beginning in November 2010. Six locations were discontinued in September 2012 (E04, E05, E06, E11-B, E13, and E14). Previous versions of this dataset included both temperature and moisture. These data are now available as temperature (this dataset) and moisture (https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-hbr&identifier=137). 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. 

Soil temperature and soil moisture have been measured at multiple locations at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), as part of a study of the relationships between snow depth, soil freezing and nutrient cycling (http://www.ecostudies.org/people_sci_groffman_snow_summary.html). In October 2010, we established 6, 20 x 20-m plots (intensive plots) and 14 10 x 10-m plots (extensive plots) along an elevation gradient, with eight of the plots on north-facing slopes and twelve on south-facing slopes. Soil temperature and soil moisture were measured at hourly intervals on these plots beginning in November 2010. Six locations were discontinued in September 2012 (E04, E05, E06, E11-B, E13, and E14). Previous versions of this dataset included both temperature and moisture. These data are now available as moisture(this dataset) and temperature (https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-hbr&identifier=315]. 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.