Aspen Bibliography
Impacts of Historic Disturbance on Drought Response of Aspen-Dominated Forest
Document Type
Article
Publisher
U.S. Department of Agriculture
First Page
242
Last Page
246
Publication Date
2023
Abstract
Water limitation is expected to have greater impact on forest growth in the Lake States region in the future, and management may have long-term impacts on how forests respond to this and other potential stressors. We examined the response of aspen-dominated forest growing on droughty, sandy soils to a regionwide drought that occurred in 2012. During July 2018, we stem-mapped, measured, and cored overstory trees across nine replicated treatments at the Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) study installation at Huron-Manistee National Forest in lower Michigan, USA. Annual biomass growth, reconstructed from cross-dated tree ring widths, was used to calculate indices of resistance and resilience and evaluate drought responses at tree and stand scales. Our results indicate little to no direct impact of organic matter removal or compaction on stand-scale growth responses to the 2012 drought, but species, tree size, and density (neighborhood crowding) did influence resistance and resilience.
Recommended Citation
Schwager, J., M. T. Curzon, and B. J. Palik. 2023. Impacts of Historic Disturbance on Drought Response of Aspen-dominated Forest. Pages 242-246 in Northern Hardwood Conference 2021: Bridging Science and Management for the Future. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-211, USDA Forest Service, Madison, Wisconsin.