Understanding the resilience of longleaf pine savannas following Hurricane Michael

University Of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa AL

Investigators

Abstract

The Southern Longleaf Pine Ecosystem once covered much of the southeastern coastal plain and is the most diverse forest ecosystem in the temperate zone. Hurricanes are important and frequent disturbances in southeastern U.S. ecosystems, and were important in shaping pre-settlement ecosystems. Hurricanes significantly damage forests as the hurricane makes landfall and moves inland. The damage extent varies with both hurricane characteristics and forest composition and structure. Hurricane Michael moved across the Northern Gulf of Mexico in 2018, resulting in catastrophic winds (Category 2 force) that reached over 100 miles inland and caused extensive damage along its path. The storm's impact to forests varied with local conditions (e.g. soil, topography) and the forest management strategies present across this area. The implications of this damage to the carbon, water, and energy cycles of these forests, the relationships between impacts, storm intensity, and forest management, and how the forests will recover are poorly understood. This RAPID award will explore how the physical and ecological changes from hurricane damage affect the coupled biogeochemical cycles of these forests. This award will provide local and regional forestry and resource managers, conservation professionals, policy makers, timber industry representatives, and small private landowners practical understanding of hurricane impacts and the potential for recovery based on demonstrations, development of management strategies, and potential policies for natural resource management and conservation. The primary goal of this RAPID award is to determine the disturbance-related shift in ecosystem structure and function as it relates to the resilience of the longleaf pine savanna from disturbances such as hurricanes. In southern Georgia and northern Florida, Hurricane Michael damaged longleaf pine forests by downing whole trees and resulted in extensive loss of branches and leaves. Efforts to maintain and restore longleaf pine ecosystems in this regional include long-term studies that show the importance of its ecosystem services, including carbon, water and energy exchange. Three of these long-term forest sites in the southeastern NEON domain were in the hurricane path and are proposed to study the mechanistic controls on carbon, energy, and water cycling following the extensive hurricane damage. Using these sites, this study will provide a vulnerability assessment of the effects of hurricanes and an understanding of ecological resilience using thermodynamic metrics. The award will explore fundamental thermodynamic concepts to understand the impacts and explain the resilience and recovery of these forests. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.