Forest soils of Maine in an environment of change

The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine is one of the longest running whole forested watershed manipulation experiments in the world. For over 25 years the experiment has studied the effects of air pollution on forested watershed chemistry, hydrology and ecology. The particularly focus has been on atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur interacting with our changing climate. The science has contributed to everything from our understanding of the benefits and shortfalls of the U.S. Clean Air Act, to data used to understand the impacts of biomass energy on forest sustainability. The new five year project period emphasizes some of the poorly understood muti-decadal responses of the environment to policy and change.