Leaf Train
Leaf Train
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The Boreal Forest is the largest spanning forest biome on Earth!
The Boreal Forest is the largest spanning forest biome on Earth!
Still, we see the same select tree species dominating this extensive landscape. How do these handful of species manage to survive (and even thrive) despite widely varied rainfall, temperature, and other environmental conditions? Some insight may lie in intraspecific trait variation, the observable differences in traits within the same species. By collecting samples of our target species' leaf, core and surrounding soil, we can begin to tell the story of how trees are allocating their resources to adapt to geographic variance, and global change.
Still, we see the same select tree species dominating this extensive landscape. How do these handful of species manage to survive (and even thrive) despite widely varied rainfall, temperature, and other environmental conditions? Some insight may lie in intraspecific trait variation, the observable differences in traits within the same species. By collecting samples of our target species' leaf, core and surrounding soil, we can begin to tell the story of how trees are allocating their resources to adapt to geographic variance, and global change.
interested in exploring other biomes? check out nat geo's interactive atlas! click here
Project Context: The Original Leaf Train
Project Context: The Original Leaf Train
In 2005 and 2006...
In 2005 and 2006...
A team of researchers from UMN took a panoramic snapshot of the North American Boreal Forest. The goal: understanding how intraspecific trait variation (ITV) within a tree species allows it to survive over an exceptionally large geographic range, that spans wide temperature and precipitation gradients.
A team of researchers from UMN took a panoramic snapshot of the North American Boreal Forest. The goal: understanding how intraspecific trait variation (ITV) within a tree species allows it to survive over an exceptionally large geographic range, that spans wide temperature and precipitation gradients.
Now, twenty years later...
Now, twenty years later...
Our team is retracing their steps, sampling over 150 sites across the same 3000 km transect from Minnesota to Northwest Territories, Canada. We're targeting the same six species: white spruce, black spruce, jack pine, trembling aspen, balsam poplar, and paper birch (with an occasional burr oak, red oak, or red maple).
Our team is retracing their steps, sampling over 150 sites across the same 3000 km transect from Minnesota to Northwest Territories, Canada. We're targeting the same six species: white spruce, black spruce, jack pine, trembling aspen, balsam poplar, and paper birch (with an occasional burr oak, red oak, or red maple).
Methods Madness!
Methods Madness!
Curious about the day-to-day of our Leaf Train conductors? Here's a quick rundown of our fieldwork flow:
Curious about the day-to-day of our Leaf Train conductors? Here's a quick rundown of our fieldwork flow:
Using the 2005 Leaf Train coordinates as a guideline, we're stopping every 50 km as we travel north and west through the boreal forest. We're targeting young, moderately dense forest, with trees no taller than 6m. We're avoiding bogs and lowland terrain.
With our baseline criteria met, we start our work!
Take a GPS coordinate
Write down notes about the location
Collect soil and leaf litter from around the trees
Next, we flag our target species, measure their size and height, count needle cohorts (for conifers: years of growth that are still hanging on to their needles), and take a core. Finally, we clip a branch from the southern (sunny) side in the top 1/3rd of the canopy.
Back at the RV, leaves go into bags with damp paper towels to keep the leaves hydrated. We keep them cool with ice so they stay fresh until we weigh them.
At the end of a day, we weigh our leaf and needle samples from each site. We scan them to measure their size and shape.
Once a sample's been scanned and weighed, it goes off to a 60°C dehydrating oven. Drying the samples stops respiration and preserves the carbon to nitrogen ratio so we can correctly analyze our samples upon our return.
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