Monthly litterfall, monthly tree band, and annual tree growth of a South Carolina coastal wetland forest

In the southern United States, forested wetlands are of special
interest because of the extent of these forests. One of the problems
in developing management practices for these areas is the difficulty
in adequately describing productivity relations and predicting how the
structure and function of these communities might be affected by
natural or anthropogenic disturbances. Community response to
environmental change often occurs over a period of years, and the
majority of reported studies are for 1–3 years in duration. This study
was initiated in an attempt to examine long-term changes in forest
systems in response to drought, flooding, hurricanes, and climate
change. This study documents long-term changes in structure,
composition, and growth along a gradient of high water table forested
sites of an ancient beach ridge landscape in coastal South Carolina.
Permanent study plots (20-m x 25-m) were established across a moisture
gradient (Xeric, Mesic, and Hydric – 5 plots in each) within a
longleaf pine-swamp blackgum forest system on the southern end of the
Waccamaw Neck area of Georgetown County, SC in January 2000.
Litterfall was measured monthly using five 0.25 m2 litter traps in
each plot beginning in February to December 2018. Monthly
circumference change was recorded on a subset of trees within each
plot using stainless steel dendrometer bands. Diameter of all trees
greater than or equal to 10 cm diameter at breast height in each plot
was recorded annually at the end of the growing season.

美国南部的森林湿地（forested wetlands）因其分布范围之广而备受学界关注。在制定该类区域的经营管理方案时，核心挑战之一在于难以充分阐释其生产力关联，亦无法准确预测这些群落的结构与功能会如何受到自然或人为干扰的影响。群落对环境变化的响应通常需历经数年之久，而现有已发表的研究大多仅持续1至3年。本研究旨在探究森林生态系统对干旱、洪涝、飓风及气候变化的长期响应。本研究记录了南卡罗来纳州海岸古滩脊景观内高水位森林样地的群落结构、组成与生长的长期变化。2000年1月，研究团队在南卡罗来纳州乔治敦县瓦卡莫狭地区域南部的长叶松-沼泽黑胶木森林生态系统中，沿水分梯度（旱生、中湿、湿生，各设置5个样地）建立了20米×25米的永久样地。自2018年2月至12月，每个样地内布设5个0.25平方米的凋落物收集器，每月开展凋落物量测定。同时，在每个样地内选取部分树木，使用不锈钢测径带（dendrometer bands）每月记录其周长变化。每年在生长季末期，对每个样地内所有胸径（diameter at breast height）≥10厘米的树木测定其胸径。