REU: Ecosystem-level Processes in Oligotrophic Pine Barrens Ecosystems

Suny College At Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Center for Earth and Environmental Science at Plattsburgh State University (PSU) and the W. H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute will provide an eight-week summer research experience for 12 highly motivated undergraduate students interested in ecosystem research. The PSU summer research program will involve an interdisciplinary investigation of ecosystem-level processes in the sandstone-pavement jack pine barrens in northeastern New York. the physical environment of the pine barrens strongly influences ecosystem processes such as runoff, organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling, and aquatic and terrestrial habitats. This special ecosystem is a distinctive component of the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Resserve and the REU studies will have significance for organizations like the Adirondack Nautre conservancy and Nature Conservancy Canada, which are developing management plans for these areas. The sandstone pavement ecosystems have been a focus of undergraduate research at PSU since 1972 and the REU program will build upon these ongoing efforts. The principal objectives of the Plattsburgh REU program are to promote the professional development of our undergraduate researchers and instill a better appreciation for ecosystem complexity, function and value. The REU participants, individually and in small groups, will work closely with the program's faculty mentors on research projects ranging from surface and ground water hydrogeology, forest biochemistry (nutrient cycling) and terrestrial plant, aquatic and wetlands ecology.