Document Type
Article
Date
12-2012
Keywords
climate change, forests, long-term studies, northeastern United States, winter
Disciplines
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Description/Abstract
Evaluations of the local effects of global change are often confounded by the interactions of natural and anthropogenic factors that overshadow the effects of climate changes on ecosystems. Long-term watershed and natural elevation gradient studies at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest and in the surrounding region show surprising results demonstrating the effects of climate change on hydrologic variables (e.g., evapotranspiration, streamflow, soil moisture); the importance of changes in phenology on water, carbon, and nitrogen fluxes during critical seasonal transition periods; winter climate change effects on plant and animal community composition and ecosystem services; and the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and land-use history on plant community composition. These studies highlight the value of long-term integrated research for assessments of the subtle effects of changing climate on complex ecosystems.
Recommended Citation
Groffman PM, et al. 2012. Long-Term Integrated Studies Show Complex and Surprising Effects of Climate Change in the Northern Hardwood Forest. BioScience 62: 1056-1066.
Source
Local Input
Additional Information
First author and Syracuse University authors listed for additional author see the article.
Copyright 2012 BioScience. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and BioScience.
The article may be found at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.12.7