Red Maple Seedling Soil Warming Experiment in Harvard Forest Lath House 2015

Microhabitat environmental conditions are an important filter for seedling establishment, controlling the availability of optimal recruitment sites. Understanding how tree seedlings respond to warming soil temperature is critical for predicting population recruitment in the future hardwood forests of northeastern North America, particularly as environmental conditions and thus optimal microhabitat availabilities change. We examined the effect of 5˚C soil warming during the first growing season on germination, survival, phenology, growth, and stem and root biomass allocation in Acer rubrum (red maple) seedlings. While there was no effect of soil warming on germination or survival, seedlings growing in warmer soils demonstrated significantly accelerated leaf expansion, delayed autumn leaf senescence, and an extended leaf production period. Further, seedlings growing in warmer soils showed larger leaf area, stem and root structures at the end of the first growing season, with no evidence of biomass allocation tradeoffs. Results suggest A. rubrum seedlings can capitalize on soil warming by adjusting leaf phenology and leaf production, resulting in a longer period of carbon uptake and leading to higher overall biomass. The absence of growth allocation tradeoffs suggests A. rubrum will respond positively to increasing soil temperatures in northeastern forests, at least in the early life stages.