Imperiled Ecosystems in a Shifting Climate
2016 Atlantic White Cedar Symposium
May 24-26, 2016

Hotel 1620, 180 Water St., Plymouth, MA

A comparison of aboveground biomass and tree growth rates in Atlantic white cedar, maple-gum, and tall pine pocosin forests of the Great Dismal Swamp

Jamie A Duberstein1, Ken W. Krauss2, Nicole Cormier2, Todd Hawbaker3

1Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Clemson University, Georgetown, South Carolina, USA
2U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
3U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Denver, Colorado, USA

JamieDuberstein@gmail.com

The Great Dismal Swamp Carbon Project is part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, also known as LandCarbon. In support of this larger effort, we surveyed aboveground biomass at three replicate 0.05-ha plots across three different forest types (n=9 plots total) to gather information regarding standing carbon stocks and tree growth rates. These plots are a subset of 76 plots maintained at random locations across Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Forest types included healthy, mature Atlantic white cedar [Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P.]; healthy, mature tall pond pine (Pinus serotina Michx.) pocosin; and degraded, less desirable red maple (Acer rubrum L.)/blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica Marshall) mix. Trees, saplings, and shrubs were surveyed in the nine field plots, and growth measurements of 10 co-dominant trees were made using dendrometer bands, beginning in 2015. The Component Ratio Method was used to determine standing stock biomass (as carbon: C) within the forest types. Tree bole circumference growth was converted to basal area increment for all dendrometers that were not vandalized by wildlife. Carbon storage in the AWC forest type was greatest (14.1 kg C m-2) compared to red maple/blackgum (8.1 kg C m-2) and tall pine pocosin (13.1 kg C m-2). The AWC forest type also had the largest basal area increment (8.6 cm2 tree-1) compared to red maple/blackgum (7.3 cm2 tree-1) and tall pine pocosin (3.8 cm2 tree-1). Results indicate that AWC restoration will help meet the management goal of protecting and expanding imperiled AWC habitats, while also providing an added benefit of sequestering and storing carbon to help offset greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion.