Poster Abstract Details

Author(s):
H.A. Enloe; B.G. Lockaby; W.C. Zipperer

Affiliation:
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849; School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849; USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611

Presentation Type:
Poster

Topic Area:
Evaluating changes to ecosystem goods and services along urban-rural gradients

Abstract Text:
Very few urbanization studies have addressed decomposition and carbon cycling in coastal regions. In particular, the southeastern United States is projected to undergo a large percent increase in population and a concurrent stress on natural ecosystems. The goal of the proposed research is to understand how litter decomposition and nutrient cycling are influenced by urbanization and plantation development in a subtropical coastal landscape of the Florida panhandle. The research will focus on key biogeochemical processes and carbon dynamics and will (1) measure foliar decomposition rates, (2) quantify both the mineralization of nutrients in decomposing foliar litter and soil nitrogen mineralization, and (3) quantify inputs of carbon via root turnover and litterfall over a two year period within natural, urban and slash pine plantation forests. This research has just been initiated and we will present our goals, methods and site selection criteria. The western coastal landscape of Florida presents several challenges to site selection, including shifts in vegetation communities according to soil drainage and identifying previous land use history (i.e. fire in natural and plantation forests). The work builds on a previous study by Nagy (2009) which showed increased carbon sequestration in urban environments compared to rural forests.