Title:

Soil and foliar elements and overstory tree and regeneration data from the biomass harvest and prescribed fire experiment at the Penobscot Experimental Forest, Maine, USA, 2014-2025

Author(s):

Abramoff, Rose Z.; Muñoz Delgado, Bethany L.; Kenefic, Laura S.; Fernandez, Ivan J.

Publication Year:

2026

How to Cite:

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Abramoff, Rose Z.; Muñoz Delgado, Bethany L.; Kenefic, Laura S.; Fernandez, Ivan J. 2026. Soil and foliar elements and overstory tree and regeneration data from the biomass harvest and prescribed fire experiment at the Penobscot Experimental Forest, Maine, USA, 2014-2025. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2026-0033

Abstract:

This data publication includes 12 tabular datasets containing soil elements, foliar elements, soil pH, and forest tree and regeneration data collected in Compartment 33 (C33) of the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) in Bradley, Maine, USA. The PEF is located in the Acadian Forest region at the transition between eastern broadleaf and boreal forest types, with soils derived from glacial till or glaciomarine sediments. Data were collected across four silvicultural treatments in a manipulative experiment established in 1964-1965: whole-tree harvest (WTH), stem-only harvest (SOH), stem-only harvest with prescribed burn (SOHB), and an unharvested reference (UNH). The study area has a mixedwood (mixed softwood - hardwood) tree species composition. The experiment used a randomized complete block design with three replicate blocks and 27 treated experimental units, plus four UNH plots, for a total of 31 permanent sample plots established in 2014.

Datasets represent measurements collected between 2014 and 2025, at the end of the rotation after the first harvest and burn (conducted in 1964-1965), and both before and after a second harvest and burn (conducted in 2018). Foliar nutrient concentrations (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, N, P, Zn) were measured from balsam fir and red maple canopy foliage collected in August 2014 from 16 plots. Plant-available soil nutrients (NH₄-N, NO₃-N, Ca, K, Mg, P) were assessed using ion exchange resin membranes (IERMs) deployed in July 2014 (16 plots) and October 2018 (31 plots), extracted with KCl and HCl. Soil pH was measured using CaCl₂ solution from organic and mineral horizon samples collected in October 2018 from 31 plots. Forest regeneration data include seedling stem density by species collected in June 2014, July 2018, and June 2019, and sapling stem density by species collected in May 2014 and May 2025. Laboratory analyses were performed at the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station laboratory in Durham, New Hampshire and the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station Analytical Lab in Orono, Maine. These data support analyses of long-term elemental concentration and regeneration responses to biomass harvesting and prescribed fire in a northern mixedwood forest, with relevance for forest management and fuels treatment planning in the northeastern U.S.

Keywords:

biota; geoscientificInformation; environment; Ecology, Ecosystems, & Environment; Plant ecology; Soil; Fire; Fire effects on environment; Natural Resource Management & Use; Forest management; Timber; Inventory, Monitoring, & Analysis; Monitoring; biomass harvesting; whole-tree harvest; stem-only harvest; prescribed fire; soil elements; foliar elements; forest regeneration; northern mixedwood; long-term silviculture; ion exchange resin membranes; Penobscot Experimental Forest; Maine

Related publications:

• Abramoff, Rose Z.; Muñoz Delgado, Bethany L.; Kenefic, Laura S.; Fernandez, Ivan J. 2026. Nutrient and regeneration responses to biomass harvesting and prescribed fire in a northern mixedwood forest. Forest Ecology and Management. 618: 123980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2026.123980
• Muñoz Delgado, Bethany L.; Kenefic, Laura S.; Weiskittel, Aaron R.; Fernandez, Ivan J.; Benjamin, Jeffrey G.; Dibble, Alison C. 2019. Northern mixedwood composition and productivity 50 years after whole-tree and stem-only harvesting with and without post-harvest prescribed burning. Forest Ecology and Management. 441: 155-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.03.032 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/57916

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