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.