Estimating Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Carbon Fluxes in Forested and Mixed-Use Watersheds of the Lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina: Uncertainties Associated with Infrequent Sampling

2011 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 2099-2110 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Birgand ◽  
T. W. Appelboom ◽  
G. M. Chescheir ◽  
R. W. Skaggs
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Carbon Fluxes ◽  
Mixed Use ◽  
Lower Coastal Plain ◽  
Nitrogen Phosphorus

Identification of Lower Coastal Plain Sites of Low Soil Fertility

1980 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Ralston ◽  
D. D. Richter
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Aerial Photo ◽  
Aerial Photo Interpretation ◽  
Forest Survey ◽  
Lower Coastal Plain ◽  
Site Types

Abstract Analysis of forest survey plot data for 16 coastal counties in North Carolina indicated substantial areas of very low productivity for pine growth were associated with two site types, savannas and pocosins, that are easily identified by aerial photo interpretation. Results indicate that the ready identifiability of such areas provides a rapid method for screening areas for soil test sampling and for making large-scale economic appraisals of sites where fertilizer investments might be worthwhile.

scholarly journals Millennial-Scale Carbon Storage in Natural Pine Forests of the North Carolina Lower Coastal Plain: Effects of Artificial Drainage in a Time of Rapid Sea Level Rise

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1294
Author(s):  
Maricar Aguilos ◽  
Charlton Brown ◽  
Kevan Minick ◽  
Milan Fischer ◽  
Omoyemeh J. Ile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Lower Coastal Plain ◽  
Overstory Tree

Coastal forested wetlands provide important ecosystem services along the southeastern region of the United States, but are threatened by anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Here, we examined the species composition, mortality, aboveground biomass, and carbon content of vegetation and soils in natural pine forests of the lower coastal plain in eastern North Carolina, USA. We compared a forest clearly in decline (termed “ghost forest”) adjacent to a roadside canal that had been installed as drainage for a road next to an adjacent forest subject to “natural” hydrology, unaltered by human modification (termed “healthy forest”). We also assessed how soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation changed over time using 14C radiocarbon dating of wood sampled at different depths within the peat profile. Our results showed that the ghost forest had a higher tree density at 687 trees ha−1, and was dominated by swamp bays (Persea palustric), compared to the healthy forest, which had 265 trees ha−1 dominated by pond pine (Pinus serotina Michx). Overstory tree mortality of the ghost forest was nearly ten times greater than the healthy forest (p < 0.05), which actually contributed to higher total aboveground biomass (55.9 ± 12.6 Mg C ha−1 vs. 27.9 ± 8.7 Mg ha−1 in healthy forest), as the dead standing tree biomass (snags) added to that of an encroaching woody shrub layer during ecosystem transition. Therefore, the total aboveground C content of the ghost forest, 33.98 ± 14.8 Mg C ha−1, was higher than the healthy forest, 24.7 ± 5.2 Mg C ha−1 (p < 0.05). The total SOC stock down to a 2.3 m depth in the ghost forest was 824.1 ± 46.2 Mg C ha−1, while that of the healthy forest was 749.0 ± 170.5 Mg C ha−1 (p > 0.05). Carbon dating of organic sediments indicated that, as the sample age approaches modern times (surface layer year 2015), the organic soil accumulation rate (1.11 to 1.13 mm year−1) is unable to keep pace with the estimated rate of recent sea level rise (2.1 to 2.4 mm year−1), suggesting a causative relationship with the ecosystem transition occurring at the site. Increasing hydrologic stress over recent decades appears to have been a major driver of ecosystem transition, that is, ghost forest formation and woody shrub encroachment, as indicated by the far higher overstory tree mortality adjacent to the drainage ditch, which allows the inland propagation of hydrologic/salinity forcing due to SLR and extreme storms. Our study documents C accumulation in a coastal wetland over the past two millennia, which is now threatened due to the recent increase in the rate of SLR exceeding the natural peat accumulation rate, causing an ecosystem transition with unknown consequences for the stored C; however, much of it will eventually be returned to the atmosphere. More studies are needed to determine the causes and consequences of coastal ecosystem transition to inform the modeling of future coastal wetland responses to environmental change and the estimation of regional terrestrial C stocks and flux.

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