Bartlett Experimental Forest NEON / BART

The local climate of the Bartlett Experimental Forests consists of relatively warm summers with temperatures above 32°C (89°F) and cold winters with temperatures reaching -5°C (23°F). Average annual mean temperature is 6.2°C and average annual precipitation is 1270 mm (50 in.). Elevation differences from 200 m (680 ft.) to 900 m (3000 ft.) greatly affect localized climate. It is not uncommon for higher elevations to accumulate more than 600 mm (23.6 in.) of snow during one storm. [1] [2] [6]

BART is made up of White Mountain Plutonic-Volcanic Succession bedrock. The parent materials at BART are mostly ablation till, lodgment till, melt-out till, and supraglacial till derived from conway granite and gneiss. [4] [5] [7]

The soils at BART are spodosols within the subgroup Aquic Haplorthods. They developed on glacial till derived from granite and gneiss. The major soil series on the site include Marlow, Monadnock, and Danforth. The soils are moist, but relatively well-drained. The soil organic horizon under the forest canopy ranges between 3-30 cm in thickness. [1] [4] [5]

Due to the geology of the White Mountain National Forests, most of the locations are well drained. However, lower elevation locations may be slightly less effective at water drainage. [3]

Climate and glacial till soil make BART an ideal area for old-growth northern deciduous hardwoods consisting of beech (Fagus sp.) and sugar maple (Acer saccarum). White pines (Pinus strobus) are dispersed throughout the site but are primarily found in lower elevations. Softwood trees such as hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and spruce are frequently found on cool steep slopes or in lower elevations with poor drainage. [3]

Typical wildlife found in the White Mountains include white-tailed deer, moose, red and gray fox, black bear, snowshoe hare, raccoon, coyote, Canadian lynx, river otter, mink, and porcupine. Notable bird species include bald eagle, peregrine falcon, ruffled grouse, and Becknell's thrush. [2]

Like other areas throughout the northeast, the White Mountains where BART is located have a history of logging through the late 19th century and into the early 20th. The timber industry selectively logged the area for high-value species, built logging railroads, and cut down hardwood stands for fuel. The majority of the forest was managed for logging; however, some portions of the lower forest were cleared for pasture, and higher elevation sections were left wild. Fires were infrequent throughout the past century, but the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 is notably responsible for widespread damage to the forest. The Bartlett Experimental Forest was officially established as a research station in 1931 by Congress. The first 50 years of research focused on forest dynamics and management, ecological relationships of wildlife, and preservation. [2]

The land is actively managed by the USDA Forest Service. Northeastern Forest Service scientists and faculty and graduate students from the University of New Hampshire contribute greatly to the current research in the Bartlett Experimental Forest. Research areas include but are not limited to long-term succession studies, habitat studies, clearcutting and shelterwood studies, stocking, remote sensing, songbirds, bats, small mammals, and salamander. More recently, remote sensing has become an area of increased interest with cooperation among Forest Service, University of New Hampshire and NASA scientists. Ongoing research completed at Bartlett drives many of the management decisions for northeastern hardwood forests. [1] [2]

The Domain 01 support facility in Fitchburg, MA was constructed in June 2013. Terrestrial observational sampling at BART began in October 2014, but plot establishment (the process of selecting, ground-truthing and building out plots) was not completed until November 2015. The instrumentation tower was not fully complete until December 2016. The 2006 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) was selected for stratification because of the consistent and comparable data availability across the United States. TOS Tower Plots were allocated according to a spatially balanced design in and around the NEON tower airshed.