Patterns and processes of soil carbon dynamics in a northeastern United States forest

Forest soils represent a substantial component of the terrestrial carbon cycle and are an important research area for a number of carbon cycle science initiatives. Whereas patterns of aboveground productivity have been relatively well measured and are increasingly included in regional-scale model analyses, belowground estimates are still highly uncertain and progress has been hampered by methodological difficulties. The lack of data poses a problem because belowground measurements are needed to create complete carbon budgets for terrestrial ecosystems at local, regional and global scales. Ecosystem carbon balances will help identify how and where carbon is being stored, as well as how carbon storage may change as forests recover from past disturbance or transition into different forest types as a result of climate changes. In this study, I examined patterns of soil respiration and belowground carbon allocation at the Bartlett Experimental Forest, a north temperate forest landscape located in New Hampshire, USA. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)