Elevated growth and biomass along temperate forest edges

Luca L. Morreale, Jonathan R. Thompson, Xiaojing Tang, Andrew B. Reinmann & Lucy R. Hutyra Abstract Fragmentation transforms the environment along forest edges. The prevailing narrative, driven by research in tropical systems, suggests that edge environments increase tree mortality and structural degradation resulting in net decreases in ecosystem productivity. We show that, in contrast to tropical systems, temperate forest edges exhibit increased forest growth and biomass with no change in total mortality relative to the forest interior. We analyze >48,000 forest inventory plots across the north-eastern US using a quasi-experimental matching ...

Diverging patterns at the forest edge: Soil respiration dynamics of fragmented forests in urban and rural areas

Sarah M. Garvey, Pamela H. Templer, Erin A. Pierce, Andrew B. Reinmann, Lucy R. Hutyra Abstract As urbanization and forest fragmentation increase around the globe, it is critical to understand how rates of respiration and carbon losses from soil carbon pools are affected by these processes. This study characterizes soils in fragmented forests along an urban to rural gradient, evaluating the sensitivity of soil respiration to changes in soil temperature and moisture near the forest edge. While previous studies found elevated rates of soil respiration at temperate forest edges in rural areas compared to the forest interior, we find that soil ...