Drivers and Controls on Soil Carbon Storage in Temperate Forests
By Adam R. Noel

Seminar: 8:30 am, EDT
Defense: 9:30 am, EDT
Remote via MS Teams: https://bit.ly/3BElloT

Committee
E. Carol Adair, Ph.D., Associate Professor, RSENR, Advisor
Julia Perdrial, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Geology, Chair
Anthony D’Amato, Ph.D., Professor, RSENR
Josef Görres, Ph.D., Associate Professor, PSS

ABSTRACT
Elevated atmospheric CO2 levels pose a threat the global climate stability but large amounts of carbon can be held within soils worldwide. Forests function to capture carbon and eventually, through litter inputs and decomposition, add this carbon to soil systems. This process is driven by climate, landscape conditions, forest and soil characteristics, that have complex interactions with one another across spatial scales. In this dissertation, I examine drivers of drivers of carbon contributions to the mineral soil, via litter decomposition and forest floor carbon pools, and how these contributions vary with forest composition and soil conditions. First, using data from a 10-year litterbag decomposition experiment, I assess how litter decomposition rates and post-decomposition materials remaining relate to soil carbon stocks at sites across North America. Next, I examined how controls on soil carbon stocks vary in strength with increasing soil depth in the diverse forests of Vermont. . Finally, I used National Forest Inventory data and structural equation modeling to examine the link between forest floor and mineral soil carbon pools in the northeastern temperate forests, and identify distinct drivers of each carbon pool. Collectively, this body of research sheds new light on environmental drivers of soil carbon that have been overlooked and suggests new foci for landowners and forest management organizations seeking to manage landscapes with carbon sequestration objectives to combat climate change.

Learn more and Register at www.alumni.uvm.edu/aw2021<http://www.alumni.uvm.edu/aw2021>

Save the Date for the 2021 FEMC Conference!

Our forests and communities are experiencing a wide variety of disruptions and disturbance - from the impacts of forest pests, ungulate browse, and climate change to the indirect outcomes experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic on forest-based recreation, forest fragmentation, and changing community composition. The 2021 FEMC Conference will explore a range of disturbances and disruptions, identify monitoring that can help us understand the response of the forest ecosystems, and help us learn about tools and resources available to help communities go from surviving to thriving during this time of change.

The conference is scheduled for the afternoon of December 16 and the morning of December 17.
Learn more: https://www.uvm.edu/femc/cooperative/conference