![]() Given the rapid growth of the human population in the southeastern US, the consequences of increased drought frequency and duration can be severe on usable water resources as trees are ?first users? of precipitated water. The model and its various components will be evaluated individually and collectively against a number of long-term field experiments. Here, a complete soil-plant-atmosphere mathematical model is proposed to address the impacts of pine plantation expansion. Previous studies focused either on aboveground pathways of water movement or on below ground processes. With regards to the indirect effects, the link between root-zone soil water and the initiation of rainfall is now attracting significant attention as potentially having a key role on the alterations brought about by the replacement of natural forests with other uses. Given that forests are "first-users" of precipitated water, this direct effect can significantly alter "usable" water in the Southeastern. This project evaluates the direct effects of this rapid land-use conversion on evapotranspiration (loss of water to the atmosphere directly from the soil and through plants) and groundwater recharge, as well as its indirect effects on summertime rainfall initiation within the Southeast region. Given the regional scale of this land-cover change, future water resources planning for the Southeastern US must account for the rapid areal expansion in pine plantation area. Over the last 50 years, this expansion primarily replaced natural and thus older pine forests with younger and faster growing Loblolly pines. ![]() Economic models predict accelerated areal expansion in pine plantations within the Southeastern US by industry and private owners, in part, due to federal policies to reduce timber harvesting from western forests. Currently, planted pines are at some 40 million acres and occupy about 20 percent of entire forested area in the southern United States. The southern United States, particularly its Southeastern region, includes some of the most intensively managed forests. Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:Ġ40100 NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 040100 NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 040100 NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT Jean-Christoph Domec (Co-Principal Investigator).Gabriel Katul (Principal Investigator) Marco Marani (Co-Principal Investigator).The direct and indirect effects of plantation forestry expansion on usable water in the southeastern US NSF Org:
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