A Forest in the Water

Abstract

I remember how I had to stray off the well-worn path and dig through the tall reeds to get to the oldest area of my site. The day was warm and sunny but the breeze off the standing water was cool and crisp. It took my breath away seeing this restored area of my site, where at only eight years young, the area had transformed from a decrepit agricultural field to a flourishing floodplain site. My project is multi-faceted, where I investigate how hydrology and other site factors impact tree regeneration in a singular floodplain forest mitigation site that has been restored in three different time periods. I will also be using a novel technique called soil magnetic susceptibility, which has been used mostly in geoarchaeology, in planning my own experimental tree plantings in the youngest area of the site in order to quantitatively predict planted tree survival and growth. By creating my own forest in the water, I hope to improve the understanding of the factors that control tree growth and mortality, which are crucial for the success of future restoration projects.