Impacts of Fire and Climate Change on Long-Term Nitrogen Availability and Forest Productivity in the New Jersey Pine Barrens

Authors

Melissa S. Lucash, Portland State UniversityFollow
Robert M. Scheller, Portland State UniversityFollow
Alec M. Kretchun, Portland State University
Kenneth L. Clark, USDA Forest ServiceFollow
John Hom, USDA Forest Service

Published In

Canadian Journal of Forest Research

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2014

Subjects

Forest biodiversity -- Climatic factors, Forest management -- New Jersey, Forests -- Climatic factors, Climatic changes

Abstract

Increased wildfires and temperatures due to climate change are expected to have profound effects on forest productivity and nitrogen (N) cycling. Forecasts about how wildfire and climate change will affect forests seldom consider N availability, which may limit forest response to climate change, particularly in fire-prone landscapes. The overall objective of this study was to examine how wildfire and climate change affect long-term mineral N availability in a fire-prone landscape. We employed a commonly used landscape simulation model (LANDIS-II) in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a landscape characterized by frequent small fires and fire-resilient vegetation. We found that fire had little effect on mineral N, whereas climate change and fire together reduced mineral N by the end of the century. Though N initially limited forest productivity, mineral N was no longer limiting after 50 years. Our results suggest that mineral N is resilient to fire under our current climate but not under climate change. Also, predictions that do not consider N limitation may underestimate short-term but not long-term productivity responses to climate change. Together these results illustrate the importance of including N dynamics when simulating the effects of climate change on forest productivity, particularly in fire-prone regions such as the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

Rights

This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law. The published article is copyrighted by NRC Research Press and can be found at: http://nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfr-2013-0383#.U4TCu3JdVqA

Description

This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.

The published article is copyrighted by NRC Research Press and can be found at: http://nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfr-2013-0383#.U4TCu3JdVqA

DOI

10.1139/cjfr-2013-0383

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/11548

Citation Details

Lucash M., Scheller, R.M, Kretchun, A.M., Clark, K.L., Hom, J., Impacts of fire and climate change on long-term nitrogen availability and forest productivity in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Can. J. For. Res., 2014, 44.