Below are two lab activities using the Permanent Forest Plot Project. The Carbon Sequestration and Ecological Interactions in Forests lab is a field activity. Students set up forest plots and collect data. Students can analyze their data in a number of ways. The Forest Species Comparison across Multiple Sites lab is a computer based lab. Students download and analyze tree species composition data from three sites
Carbon Sequestration and Ecological Interactions in Forests
With the use of permanent forest plots, students will learn to measure tree diameter, calculate biomass and carbon sequestration values with allometric equations, collect soil data, describe and measure topographic values, and manage datasets, among other skills. These techniques are conducted in the context of global change questions such as how much carbon dioxide do different forest types sequester and how does that change over time, how is terrestrial carbon affected by abiotic variables, how different are native plants versus non-native plants at sequestering carbon, and what is the relationship between species richness/diversity and forest productivity? The information listed below for this module can also be found online by clicking here.
Instructor Resources
Student Resources
Forest Species Comparison across Multiple Sites
In this lab, students will learn foundational concepts of forest community dynamics and apply quantitative skills to data analysis and interpretation activities. Students will use species data collected from four different forests in three states. The data were generated from the shared method protocol and database of the Permanent Forest Plot Project (PFPP). Here, students will analyze and interpret data to articulate forest species composition dynamics. This lab is designed to train students in the real-world skills and experiences of a collaborative ecologist.