Linking root distribution and mycorrhizal colonization with topography in a mixed-mesic forest in central Pennsylvania.

Lexie dividing soil cores at Shale Hills

Lexie dividing soil cores at Shale Hills

Funded by DOE Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and the Ecosystem Science and Management Department.

My current research focuses on the Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory. I am working on a DOE funded project aiming to illuminate the influences of rooting depth and distribution in a temperate, hardwood forest. More specifically, I am analyzing how root distribution, edaphic characteristics and mycorrhizal colonization vary with depth and topographic location within the site. Evaluating my data in the context of previous ecologic, geologic and hydrologic research performed at the Shale Hills site will lend insight into defining measurable predictors for root distribution in a diverse landscape.