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Research >> Featured research
At any given time the Duke Forest hosts more than 50 active research projects. Below is a sample of recent research conducted on the Forest:
DARREN DREWRY, graduate student in Duke's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, used a tethersonde platform (a meteorological device attached to a tethered balloon) to collect atmospheric profiles in the Blackwood Division. Measurements of temperature, humidity and CO2 concentrations will be used to constrain estimates of land-to-atmosphere exchange at regional scales.
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| YI-HSIN ERICA TSAI, graduate student in Duke's Department of Biology, is examining the invasion and population dynamics of the parasitic plant known as beech-drops (Epifagus virginiana). Using fine scale plots along the New Hope Creek bottomlands in the Korstian Division, she is mapping the density of beech-drops and its host tree, American beech (Fagus grandifolia). She will also be conducting DNA analysis and collecting seeds for reciprocal germination experiments in order to test for local adaptations. |
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| At the FACTS-1 RESEARCH SITE in the Blackwood Division, researchers are examining the effects of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels on forest ecosystems. Vertical pipes in a circular array bathe the enclosed trees with elevated CO2 concentration. For more information, click here > |
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| JOE SEXTON, graduate student at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, is creating spatiotemporal maps of the Duke Forest’s seral state over the past 20 years to study the ecological drivers of succession in Piedmont forests. Sexton is using GPS-enabled mobile GIS to locate preselected forest vegetation plots in the Durham and Korstian Divisions and to record data directly into GIS data files. These data will be used to calibrate and validate remote sensing models that allow seral states to be retrieved from a 20-year archive of satellite imagery. |
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CHRIS OISHI, graduate student at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, is studying transpiration in a mature hardwood stand in the Blackwood Division to assess interannual variability in the water budget and how different species respond to varying degrees of water stress.
At the nearby FACTS-1 Research Site, Oishi is also using equipment developed by the U.S. Forest Service to compare soil CO2 efflux in elevated and ambient plots, which include fertilized and non-fertilized treatments. |
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