Comparisons with Results from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the Northern Appalachians

Abstract

The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) is located in central New Hampshire, in the heart of the White Mountains, toward the northern end of the Appalachian chain. HBEF was established in 1955, two decades after Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory (CHL), but research objectives at both sites have long been similar, that is, to understand hydrologic and nutrient cycling processes for forest ecosystems and to determine responses to natural and human disturbances. This chapter summarizes the responses to intensive cuttings on three watersheds at HBEF and compares the results with those from the clearcutting on Watershed 7 (WS 7) at CHL. HBEF and CHL have some major differences in site characteristics that would be expected to cause variability between sites in hydrologic and nutrient cycles and responses to disturbances.