![]() And if the most extreme climate predictions for the region prove true, sugar maples will eventually-over a period of centuries-disappear from the state’s Lower Peninsula altogether. In the coming decades, Michiganders should expect decreased growth of sugar maples across the state, according to the study, which is scheduled for online publication in the journal Ecology on Jan. The new U-M-led study, based on 20 years of data from four forest sites in both Michigan peninsulas, concludes that nitrogen deposition from human activities “will not fully compensate for the negative effects of growing under the drier forecasted climates.” ![]() It’s a difficult question to answer, and previous studies produced contradictory results. This human-derived nitrogen is considered a pollutant but also has a fertilizing effect on trees, promoting growth.Ĭlimate scientists and forest ecologists have long wondered whether the fertilizing effects of human-derived nitrogen would be enough to offset added stresses produced by a warmer, drier climate. Some climate forecasts for the Upper Great Lakes region in the coming decades call for warmer temperatures and an increased likelihood of summer drought, conditions that could prove stressful for sugar maples and other trees.īut as the climate continues to change, forests worldwide are also being exposed to rising levels of growth-boosting nitrogen compounds generated by motor vehicles, power plants, factories, agriculture and other human sources. This location is one of four Michigan study sites used in a U-M-led study examining how nitrogen deposition and a changing climate affect the growth of sugar maples. Former University of Michigan postdoctoral research fellow Zac Freedman collects a soil sample at a study site in Oceana County, Michigan.
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