PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This long-term experiment will increase the frequency of simulated hurricane effects above background levels to once every six years. The experiment will determine effects of repeated disturbance of the forest canopy and increased detrital inputs to the forest floor on germination, growth, survival, nutrient cycling, soil conditions, and trophic structure. Climate change models predict increased frequency and intensity of Caribbean hurricanes (Emmanuel 1987, Goldenberg et al. 2001), and our goal is to evaluate predictions regarding the effects of an increased rate of hurricane disturbance on tabonuco forest (Sanford et al. 1991). The experiment also is designed to decouple the effects of canopy disturbance (e.g. , light levels, temperature, moisture, etc. ) from those of increased detrital inputs on rates of detrital processing and resultant community and ecosystem processes. Manipulations and measurements of detrital processing, SOM, and soil properties associated with SOM will continue for at least three more funding periods (until 2024). In the short-term, we will use faunal manipulations nested within the canopy trimming experiment to measure the strength of interactions between autotrophic and detrital food webs in the context of hurricane-like disturbance. These results will be directed specifically at parameterizing the Trophic Interaction Model (see LTER 3 Proposal). This experiment also will provide a physical and intellectual focal point for the project participants.
| Record_num | Catalog_na | Identifier (Metadata online only) |
| 143 | LTERDBAS |
Canopy Trimming Experiment (CTE) plant seedling measurements |
| 144 | LTERDBAS | Canopy Trimming Experiment (CTE) Plants greater than 1 centimeter diameter at breast height (DBH) |
| 145 | LTERDBAS | Canopy Trimming Experiment (CTE) Litter decomposition and Connectivity basket data |
| 146 | LTERDBAS | Canopy Trimming Experiment (CTE) Fern surveys |
The following table (October 2004)summarizes the measurements taken, their frequency and the investigator in charge. The metadata for some of the databases corresponding to these measurements have already been filed with the LUQ IM and will be soon published on this website. The data is restricted in accordance to our Data Management Policies.
|
Measurements |
Frequency |
|
Abiotic/structural |
hourly |
|
Temperature (soil & air) |
a |
|
Soil Moisture & Light |
a |
|
Relative humidity & throughfall/precipitation |
a |
|
Biotic |
|
|
Plants |
quarterly |
|
Density of understory plants/seedlings |
a |
|
Canopy height, canopy photos |
a |
|
Ferns Leaf area index |
a annually |
|
Microbes |
quarterly |
|
*Microbial biomass (soil) |
a |
|
*Microbial classification (soil & litter) |
a |
|
Animals |
quarterly |
|
*Density of aerial insects |
a |
|
Density of frogs |
a |
|
*Density of litter arthropods |
a |
|
Density of anoles |
a |
|
Density of spiders Density of snails & walking sticks |
a a annually |
|
Ecosystem Processes |
|
|
Litterfall |
a bimonthly |
|
Tree diameter increments |
annually |
|
Root turnover/growth - ingrowth cores |
quarterly |
|
Root biomass |
aquarterly |
|
Litter decomposition rates |
monthly |
|
Herbivory rates-understory Herbivory rates-canopy |
a quarterly a biannually |
|
*Soil nutrients (total & available) |
a quarterly |
|
*Soil respiration & trace gas flux |
a monthly |
|
Soil solution nutrients |
a monthly |
|
Invertebrate Manipulation-exclusion by size |
Monthly/quarterly |
a= pre-treatment measurement(s) conducted
Created By: Eda
C. Melendez-Colom (emelend@lternet.edu
)
* = Sampling frequency will increase around trim
October 14, 2004
Last Modified On: March 1, 2006