Terrestrial Gradient Throughfall Collections

To investigate long-term forest ecosystem responses to disturbance and stress along an elevational gradient, five plots were established as follows: xeric oak-pine at 782 m, cove hardwood at 795 m, low elevation mixed oak at 865 m, high elevation mixed oak at 1001 m, and northern hardwoods at 1347 m. Phenomena being studied in these plots include: climatology, nutrient dynamics, decomposition, vegetation productivity and population dynamics, and below-ground processes. As part of study on nutrient dynamics, throughfall was sampled weekly and concentrations and fluxes were examined from each of the five gradient plots.