Poster: Ecophysiology

Abs # 7: Carbon gain in seedlings of eastern deciduous forest

Presenter:	Fetcher, Ned , fetchern2@uofs.edu
Authors	Fetcher, Ned  (A)   Corona, Joseph W. (B)
Affiliations:	(A): University Of Scranton, Dept. of Biology (B): Lehigh University, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Although positive carbon gain is necessary for plant survival in the understory, few studies have compared carbon gain for different functional groups growing in the same habitat. We hypothesized that there would be no detectable difference between carbon gain of seedlings of woody species that remain in the understory and seedlings of canopy trees. We used dynamic measurements of photosynthesis to parameterize a model of carbon gain for red oak (Quercus rubra), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), beech (Fagus grandifolia), witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), and juneberry (Amelanchier spp.). Measurements of photosynthetic photon flux density were used to drive the model to provide estimates of daily carbon gain in the understory of the Lacawac Sanctuary in northeastern Pennsylvania.