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Description

The percentage cover (abundance), frequency of occurrence, biomass, species richness, and species diversity of understory herbs was measured on a paired watershed ecosystem in eastern Maine, USA. This paired watershed site (Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, BBWM) has had the West Bear Brook Watershed treated bi-monthly with granular ammonium sulfate at a rate of 28.8 kg S ha-1 yr-1 and 25.2 kg N ha-1 yr-1 since 1989. East Bear Brook Watershed serves as the reference site. More than 100 plots were randomly located across the two watersheds. The data suggest that there is generally a lower frequency of occurrence of understory plants on the treated watershed. In addition there was a significant difference in species richness with the treated watershed (West Bear) being lower than the reference watershed (East Bear). Biomass measures generally followed this same trend although there were not significant differences detected. These differences reflect treatment effects in light of biogeochemical changes shown to be occurring in other studies due to treatments.

Document Type

Article

ISSN

1070-1524

Rights and Access Note

Rights assessment remains the responsibility of the researcher. No known restrictions on publication.

Volume

202

Publication Date

9-1-2009

Publisher

Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station

City

Orono

Keywords

forest ecology, biodiversity measurement, biomass estimates, ammonium sulfate

Disciplines

Atmospheric Sciences | Biogeochemistry | Environmental Monitoring | Forest Biology | Fresh Water Studies | Soil Science

TB202: Composition and Biomass of Forest Floor Vegetation in Experimentally Acidified Paired Watersheds at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine
 

Rights Statement

No Copyright - United States