The direct and indirect effects of plantation forestry expansion on usable water in the southeastern US

nsf_logoThis 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 of the US. Learn More

The project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant NSF-EAR-1344703. Project investigators: Gaby Katul (PI), Marco Marani (co-PI) and Jean-Christoph Domec (co-PI). Collaborators: Gabriele Manoli (Postdoc).

 

   res         pub          outreach

 


News:

January 2016. A new study led by G. Manoli, J.C. Domec, M. Marani and G. Katul shows that the transition from old natural forests to young plantations can impact cloud formation and rainfall recycling mechanisms. You can learn more here about the research, which was accepted in Global Change Biology.

December 2015. A team of grad students, postdocs and professors involved in the project met the students of Dillard Drive Middle School (Raleigh,  NC) for a lesson on Soil-Plant-Atmosphere processes!

October 2015: Gabriele Manoli, Postdoc in the project, gave a SECU Daily Planet talk, at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on the role of plants in the water cycle! Here you can find the talk!