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306 results for “Massachusetts”
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and Elongate Hemlock Scale Surveys in Connecticut and Massachusetts 1997-2011
In the eastern USA, eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is the host plant for two invasive insect species - hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) and elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa). We observed the density of adult hemlock woolly adelgid and elongate hemlock scale on eastern hemlock branches on five occasions over 14 years at 142 stands across a latitudinal transect encompassing 7,500 km2 in Connecticut and Massachusetts to assess whether there is a difference in the response to abiotic conditions (winter temperature, summer temperature, summer precipitation) between the two species, and whether the distribution and abundance of each insect species is dependent on biotic interactions with the co-occurring insect species.
Long-term Stand Dynamics in Central Massachusetts 1500-2000
The long-term impact of human land-use is among the most important factors influencing the development of vegetation in New England, a region which experienced extensive agricultural clearance in the 19th century and subsequent reforestation during this century. We employed stand-level pollen stratigraphies and tree-ring chronologies to examine the post-settlement dynamics of hemlock stands which have never been pastured or plowed, representing among the least disturbed parts of the central Massachusetts landscape. Although the sites are currently dominated by large Tsuga canadensis individuals and give the impression of great age and stability, our results indicate that they have dynamic developmental histories driven by exogenous disturbance factors, including logging, forest pathogens, catastrophic wind disturbance, and fire. Sites containing pre-settlement pollen assemblages indicate stand compositions at this time which were substantially different from each other and from modern assemblages. Pollen assemblages similar to those of modern stands were not established in any of our sites until the 20th century and the mechanisms by which these assemblages arose was considerably different in each stand, indicating great flexibility of forest response to a variety of disturbance types.
Land-Cover Change Scenarios for Massachusetts 2010-2060
Working with a panel of practitioners and regional experts, we developed and analyzed four plausible but divergent land-use scenarios that depict the future of Massachusetts from 2010 to 2060. We simulated the land-use scenarios and their interactions with anticipated climate change by coupling statistical models of land use to the LANDIS-II landscape model and then evaluated the outcomes in terms of the magnitude and spatial distribution of (1) direct human uses of the landscape (residential and commercial development, agricultural, timber harvest), (2) ecosystem services (carbon storage, flood regulation, nutrient retention), and (3) habitat quality (forest tree species composition, interior forest habitat). Across all scenarios, conflicts occurred between dispersed residential development and the supply of ecosystem services and habitat quality. In all but the scenario that envisioned a significant agricultural expansion, forest growth resulted in net increases in aboveground carbon storage, despite the concomitant forest clearing and harvesting. One scenario, called Forests as Infrastructure, showed the potential for synergies between increased forest harvest volume through the sustainable practices that encouraged the maintenance of economically and ecologically important tree species, and carbon storage. This scenario also showed trade-offs between development density and water quantity and quality at the watershed scale. The process of integrated scenario analysis led to important insights for land managers and policymakers in a populated forested region where there are tensions among development, forest harvesting, and land conservation. More broadly, the results emphasize the need to consider the consequences of contrasting land-use regimes that result from the interactions between human decisions and spatially heterogeneous landscape dynamics.
Nitrogen Deposition and Pitcher Plant Morphology in Massachusetts and Vermont 1998-1999
Atmospheric transport and deposition of nutrients, especially nitrogen, is a global environmental problem with well-documented consequences for ecosystem dynamics. However, monitoring nitrogen deposition is relatively expensive, monitoring stations are widely spaced, and estimates and predicted impacts of nitrogen deposition are currently derived from spatial modeling and interpolation of limited data. Bogs are nutrient-poor ecosystems that are especially sensitive to increasing nutrient input, and carnivorous plants, which are characteristic of these widespread ecosystem types, may be especially sensitive indicators of N deposition. Botanical carnivory is thought to have evolved in nutrient-poor and well-lit habitats such as bogs because the marginal benefits accruing from carnivory exceed the marginal photosynthetic costs associated with the maintenance of carnivorous organs. However, the production of carnivorous organs can be a phenotypically plastic trait. The northern pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, produces leaves specialized for prey capture and nutrient uptake (pitchers) and leaves that are more efficient at photosynthesis (phyllodia). We hypothesized that relative allocation to these two types of leaves reflects ambient nitrogen availability. We manipulated nutrient availability to plants with leaf enrichment and whole-plot fertilization experiments. Increased nitrogen, but not phosphorus, reduced production of pitchers relative to phyllodia; this result provided empirical support for the cost–benefit model of the evolution of botanical carnivory. Because this phenotypic shift in leaf production occurs in ecological time, our results suggest that S. purpurea could be a reliable and inexpensive biological indicator of nitrogen deposition rates. This suggestion is supported by field observations across a geographic gradient of nitrogen deposition.
Soil Respiration at Forest Edges along an Urban to Rural Gradient in Massachusetts 2018-2019
As urbanization and forest fragmentation increase around the globe, it is critical to understand how rates of respiration and carbon losses from soil carbon pools are affected by these processes. This study characterizes soils in fragmented forests along an urban to rural gradient, evaluating the sensitivity of soil respiration to changes in soil temperature and moisture near the forest edge. While previous studies found elevated rates of soil respiration at temperate forest edges in rural areas compared to the forest interior, we find that soil respiration is suppressed at the forest edge in urban areas. At urban sites, respiration rates are 25% lower at the forest edge relative to the interior, likely due to high temperature and aridity conditions near urban edges. While rural soils continue to respire with increasing temperatures, urban soil respiration rates asymptote as temperatures climb and soils dry. Soil temperature- and moisture-sensitivity modeling show that respiration rates in urban soils are less sensitive to rising temperatures than those in rural soils. Scaling these results to Massachusetts (MA), which encompasses 0.25 Mha of urban forest, we find that failure to account for decreases in soil respiration rates near urban forest edges leads to an overestimate of growing-season soil carbon fluxes of greater than 350,000 MgC. This difference is almost 2.5 times that for rural soils in the analogous comparison (underestimate of less than 143,000 MgC), even though rural forest area is more than four times greater than urban forest area in MA. While a changing climate may stimulate carbon losses from rural forest edge soils, urban forests may experience enhanced soil carbon sequestration near the forest edge. These findings highlight the need to capture the effects of forest fragmentation and land use context when making projections about soil behavior and carbon cycling in a warming and increasingly urbanized world. We provide soil respiration, soil temp
Soil Carbon at Forest Edges along an Urban to Rural Gradient in Massachusetts since 2018
Global proliferation of forest edges through anthropogenic land-use change and forest fragmentation is well documented, and while forest fragmentation has clear consequences for soil carbon (C) cycling, underlying drivers of belowground activity at the forest edge remain poorly understood. Increasing soil C losses via respiration have been observed at rural forest edges, but this process was suppressed at urban forest edges. We offer a comprehensive, coupled investigation of abiotic soil conditions and biotic soil activity from forest edge to interior at eight sites along an urbanization gradient to elucidate how environmental stressors are linked to soil C cycling at the forest edge. Despite significant diverging trends in edge soil C losses between urban and rural sites, we did not find comparable differences in soil % C or microbial enzyme activity, suggesting an unexpected decoupling of soil C fluxes and pools at forest edges. We demonstrate that across site types, soils at forest edges were less acidic than the forest interior (p less than 0.0001), and soil pH was positively correlated with soil calcium, magnesium and sodium content (adj R2 = 0.37), which were also elevated at the edge. Compared to forest interior, forest edge soils exhibited a 17.8% increase in sand content and elevated freeze-thaw frequency with probable downstream effects on root turnover and decomposition. Using these and other novel forest edge data, we demonstrate that significant variation in edge soil respiration (adj R2 = 0.46; p = 0.0002) and C content (adj R2 = 0.86; p less than 0.0001) can be explained using soil parameters often mediated by human activity (e.g., soil pH, trace metal and cation concentrations, soil temperature), and we emphasize the complex influence of multiple, simultaneous global change drivers at forest edges. Forest edge soils reflect legacies of anthropogenic land-use and modern human management, and this must be accounted for to understand soil activity and C
Long-term Vegetation Dynamics on the Massachusetts Coast from 2000 BP to Present
We use a retrospective approach to reconstruct the past distribution of fire in New England and to investigate the important drivers of this pattern across the period of European arrival to North America. Our study sites are in New England, and range from pitch pine and oak forests of coastal Massachusetts, pine and hardwood forests of central Massachusetts, and northern hardwood and spruce fir forests of northern Massachusetts and Vermont. We collected sediment profiles from 18 lakes across the study area to assess fossil charcoal and pollen abundance over the past 1000 years and including the time period of European arrival and settlement. Based on presettlement pollen composition, our study sites are divided into three vegetation types: 1) pitch pine and oak, 2) oak, pine, and hardwood, and 3) northern hardwoods. The abundance of presettlement charcoal in these lakes is closely related to climate and the composition of surrounding vegetation. Charcoal is most abundant in pitch pine forests and least common in northern hardwood and spruce forests. Following the arrival of Europeans, charcoal abundance increases, at most sites substantially, and vegetation composition changed in a direction of either greater dominance by pitch pine or white pine, depending on whether the forests were located in the southern or northern part of New England. The major factor influencing the distribution of fire across New England is climate, which has a direct effect on the physical conditions conducive to fire ignition and spread and an indirect effect on fire through its control on the distribution of vegetation at this spatial scale. We find evidence that other factors exert some control over local fire regimes as well including landforms and their impact on vegetation composition, firebreaks, and prevailing winds. Native Americans likely influenced the local occurrence of fire, but their impact on regional fire regimes in New England is not apparent from this or other studies. Ho
PIE LTER surveys of salt marsh breeding birds using point counts in Rowley and Newbury, Massachusetts
This data set contains the results of point count surveys of breeding birds in the salt marshes of the Plum Island Estuary. Surveys have been carried out each year in June beginning in 2004 and are ongoing. Currently six circles of 100 m radius are being surveyed. Three of the circles are in plots that had been regularly hayed and three in unhayed plots. Currently only one of the plots is regularly hayed. 85 species recorded as of 2020. Most frequently encountered are Agelaius phoeniceus, Ammospiza caudacuta, Tringa semipalmata.
PIE LTER water-column nutrient and particulate transects along the Parker River Estuary, Massachusetts, 1994 - 2019.
Water chemistry including nutrient concentrations for various forms of N, P, C, as well as suspended sediments and light extinction coefficients, was determined from bi-annual nutrient transects along the Plum Island Sound estuary from the Parker River Dam to the mouth of the sound. Grab samples were taken at 11 sites along a 24 km transect from the mouth of the estuary to as near the dam at the head of the estuary as poosible. These samples have generally been collected in Spring and Fall and are done in conjunction with metabolism transects measuring dissolved oxygen levels. The Spring and Fall transects correspond to the high-flow, pre-growth season and the low-flow, post-growth season, respectively.
Environmental Data for Soil, Leaf, and Root samples Boston Street Trees and Massachusetts Rural and Urban Forests in Summer 2021
This dataset provides detailed environmental and tree-level data and metadata for over 850 samples collected from 91 trees across an urban-to-rural gradient in Massachusetts. The dataset captures key variables characterizing urban environmental gradients, including soil moisture, pH, temperature, and nitrogen availability. Tree-level attributes include species identification, diameter at breast height (DBH), and growth rate based on previous tree census data. Geographic coordinates and site-specific context (urban forest, rural forest, street tree, forest edge, forest interior) are included to enable spatial analyses. The microbial sequence data associated with this environmental metadata can be found in the NCBI SRA under BioProject accession number PRJNA1297772.
PIE LTER surveys of salt marsh breeding birds using point counts in Rowley and Newbury, Massachusetts (Reformatted to the ecocomDP Design Pattern)
This data package is formatted as an ecocomDP (Ecological Community Data Pattern). For more information on ecocomDP see https://github.com/EDIorg/ecocomDP. This Level 1 data package was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-pie/175/8. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: This data set contains the results of point count surveys of breeding birds in the salt marshes of the Plum Island Estuary. Surveys have been carried out each year in June beginning in 2004 and are ongoing. Currently six circles of 100 m radius are being surveyed. Three of the circles are in plots that had been regularly hayed and three in unhayed plots. Currently only one of the plots is regularly hayed. 85 species recorded as of 2020. Most frequently encountered are Agelaius phoeniceus, Ammospiza caudacuta, Tringa semipalmata. The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER is developing a predictive understanding of the response of a linked watershed-marsh-estuarine system in northeastern Massachusetts to rapid environmental change. Over the last 30 years, surface sea water temperatures in the adjacent Gulf of Maine have risen at 3 times the global average, rates of sea-level rise have accelerated, and precipitation has increased. Coupled with these changes in climate and sea level are substantial changes within the rapidly urbanizing watersheds that influence water, sediment, and nutrient delivery to the marsh and estuary. In PIE IV our focus is on: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts. NSF OCE LTER-Plum Island Ecosystems: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts.
PIE LTER zooplankton surveys using plankton tows along transects in the Plum Island Sound estuary, Massachusetts (Reformatted to a Darwin Core Archive)
This data package is formatted as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A, event core). For more information on Darwin Core see https://www.tdwg.org/standards/dwc/. This Level 2 data package was derived from the Level 1 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/edi/337/2, which was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-pie/405/2. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: Zooplankton were collected in spring and late summer/fall at four stations representing the salinity gradient in the Parker River-Plum Island Sound estuary. Two size classes, greater than 335 micron and greater than 150 micron, were collected by net tows. Conductivity or salinty and temperature were recorded for each sample. Samples were concentrated to less than 250 mls and preserved in 70 percent EtOH. For taxonomy, sample splits were taken such that a minimum of 250 individuals were present, and counted under a dissecting microscope. Individuals were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible, generally to species. Adult copepods were additionally characterized by sex. The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER has, since its inception in 1998, been working towards a predictive understanding of the long-term response of coupled land-estuary-ocean ecosystems to changes in three drivers: climate, sea level, and human activities. The Plum Island Estuary-LTER includes the coupled Parker, Rowley, and Ipswich River watersheds, estuarine areas including a shallow open sound, and extensive tidal marshes. PIE is connected to the Gulf of Maine in the Acadian biogeographic province, which is a cold water, macrotidal environment that is geographically and biologically distinct from coastal ecosystems to the south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Over the next four years the LTER will build upon the progress they have made in understanding the importance of spatial patterns and
Plum Island LTER phytoplankton identification using HPLC and Chem Taxonomy along transects in the Plum Island Sound estuary, Massachusetts. (Reformatted to a Darwin Core Archive)
This data package is formatted as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A, event core). For more information on Darwin Core see https://www.tdwg.org/standards/dwc/. This Level 2 data package was derived from the Level 1 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/edi/338/2, which was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-pie/404/4. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: Water column samples are collected along an estuarine salinity gradient as part of our monitoring surveys of the Parker River estuary each spring and late summer (typically high vs low freshwater input). Samples are filtered, and stored frozen for later pigment analyses by HPLC. Pigment data are then analyzed by CHEMTAX, calibrated to a matrix of pigment ratios based on taxonomy and enumeration of selected subsamples by microspcopy. Data are presented in terms of chlorophyll a concentrations partitionaed among the major phytoplankton groups as determined by CHEMTAX. For 2003-2006, sampling stations along the Plum Island Sound-Parker River were at fixed geographic locations at specific "Bends" in the river. In 2008, we began sampling the water column in salinity space rather than at specific geographic locations along the river. This sampling approach was adopted in order to follow particular water masses in this macrotidal estuary. In practical terms, it means that sampling locations, or stations, are not static. Therefore, we have mapped the 11 sampling locations (latitude and longitude are logged at each station) from each transect along the mainstem of the estuary, so each station may be placed along the river (to the nearest 0.5km) as well as in salinity space. We have also used the km marker to assign the sampling locations from each survey to one of four bounding boxes : the Sound (Plum Island Sound; EST-PR-SoundBND) which encompasses approximatly the first 9
Eddy flux measurements during 2015 from low marsh site (Spartina alterniflora) within Shad Creek catchment, Rowley, Massachusetts.
We deployed an eddy covariance system to measure ecosystem-atmosphere exchange of CO2 above a low marsh system (Spartina alterniflora) located within the Shad creek catchment off Plum Island Sound, Rowley MA. The data represents CO2 exchange for all July to October 2015. This site was established in 2015.
Eddy flux measurements during 2016 from low marsh site (Spartina alterniflora) within Shad Creek catchment, Rowley, Massachusetts, PIE LTER.
We deployed an eddy covariance system to measure ecosystem-atmosphere exchange of CO2 above a low marsh system (Spartina alterniflora) located within the Shad creek catchment off Plum Island Sound, Rowley MA. The data represents CO2 exchange for all July to October 2016. This site was established in 2015.
Eddy flux measurements during 2017 from low marsh site (Spartina alterniflora) within Shad Creek catchment, Rowley, Massachusetts, PIE LTER.
We deployed an eddy covariance system to measure ecosystem-atmosphere exchange of CO2 above a low marsh system (Spartina alterniflora) located within the Shad creek catchment off Plum Island Sound, Rowley MA. The data represents CO2 exchange for all July to October 2017. This site was established in 2015.
Dissolved Organic Carbon Concentration, Dissolved Organic Matter Optical Properties, and Water Quality Indicators in the Plum Island Estuary (PIE), Massachusetts, USA (2018-2023)
This is a data set of paired in situ measurements of water quality parameters, total suspended solids concentration, and concentration and optical properties (absorption coefficient spectra and fluorescence indices) of dissolved organic matter (DOM) collected between 2018 and 2023 in the Plum Island Estuary and nearshore waters. In situ water quality measurements (salinity, temperature, optical dissolved oxygen saturation, turbidity, and dissolved organic matter fluorescence) were collected with a water quality sonde from the surface (top 1 m of water column), along with corresponding samples that were processed and analyzed in the lab for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, chromophoric DOM (CDOM), absorption coefficient spectra, DOM excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence, and total suspended sediment (TSS) concentration. The data were used in multiple studies (see manuscripts listed below) focusing on the dynamics of DOC and CDOM in the Plum Island Estuary.
Salt marsh redox potential at sites with runnel remediation in SE Massachusetts, 2020-2022
Natural disturbances, sea level rise, and historic human impacts to salt marshes have increased impounded water on marsh surfaces, resulting in vegetation loss and the associated loss of important ecosystem services such as carbon storage. Runnels are a climate adaptation technique designed to restore salt marsh habitat by reestablishing a tidal connection between impounded water and a nearby drainage feature. While runnels can drain impounded water and promote revegetation, the unintended effects of altering redox conditions remain unknown. Draining sediment and increasing redox potential could stimulate decomposition. We measured redox potential in two marshes in SE Massachusetts (Little Bay in Fairhaven, and Ocean View Farm in Dartmouth) prior to runnel restoration, and two years post restoration. We measured redox potential using three spatial distinctions: in the center of the panne, landward of the panne, and seaward of the panne. This was done every 2-3 weeks over a growing season.
Litterbag decomposition after runnel restoration in southern Massachusetts salt marshes from 2020-2022.
Natural disturbances, sea level rise, and historic human impacts to salt marshes have increased impounded water on marsh surfaces, resulting in vegetation loss and the associated loss of important ecosystem services such as carbon storage. Runnels are a climate adaptation technique designed to restore salt marsh habitat by reestablishing a tidal connection between impounded water and a nearby drainage feature. While runnels can drain impounded water and promote revegetation, the unintended effects of altering redox conditions remain unknown. Panne formation and runnel restoration could alter organic matter decomposition of litter. Therefore, we measured litterbag decomposition in two MA marshes for 3 years: 1 year prior to restoration, and two years post.
Sediment porewater salinity and moisture at runnel restoration sites in SE Massachusetts from 2020 - 2022.
Natural disturbances, sea level rise, and historic human impacts to salt marshes have increased impounded water on marsh surfaces, resulting in vegetation loss and the associated loss of important ecosystem services. Runnels are a climate adaptation technique designed to restore salt marsh habitat by reestablishing a tidal connection between impounded water and a nearby drainage feature. Porewater salinity and moisture content are two sediment characteristics that could potentially be altered by panne formation and runneling, which could impact rates of carbon decomposition. We installed runnels in two marshes in SE Massachusetts in 2020, and monitored salinity and moisture content changes for two years (2021-2022).
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DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
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OpenNeuro
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