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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Forest Growth
Volume 7 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2024.1426644

Regional variation in growth and survival responses to atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur deposition for 140 tree species across the United States

Provisionally accepted
Rebecca M. Dalton Rebecca M. Dalton 1*Jesse N. Miller Jesse N. Miller 2Tara L. Greaver Tara L. Greaver 1Robert D. Sabo Robert D. Sabo 2Kemen G. Austin Kemen G. Austin 3Jennifer N. Phelan Jennifer N. Phelan 3Quinn Thomas Quinn Thomas 4Christopher Clark Christopher Clark 2*
  • 1 United States Environmental Protection Agency, Durham, United States
  • 2 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, District of Columbia, United States
  • 3 RTI International, Durham, North Carolina, United States
  • 4 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    We ask 1) are there significant regional differences in responses of tree growth and survival to atmospheric nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) deposition across the conterminous U.S. and 2) do climate, soil pH, contemporary N and S deposition, mycorrhizal associations, and/or deciduousness correlate with these regional responses? Developing locally relevant tree growth and survival responses is essential for optimizing forest management plans and air pollution policy to protect ecosystem services and anticipate challenges to forests in a rapidly changing world. This primary research article falls within the scope of Frontiers in Forests and Global Change and the Forest Growth Section. Our work examines how atmospheric pollutants impact species' growth and survival across a broad spatial range. Additionally, we examine how the interactive effects of abiotic climate covariates, deciduousness, and mycorrhizal association influence tree species' growth and survival responses to air pollutant deposition.

    Keywords: climate, critical load, forest inventory analysis (FIA), nitrogen deposition, Sulfur deposition, tree growth, Tree survival, Vulnerability

    Received: 01 May 2024; Accepted: 14 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Dalton, Miller, Greaver, Sabo, Austin, Phelan, Thomas and Clark. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Rebecca M. Dalton, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Durham, United States
    Christopher Clark, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, 20004, District of Columbia, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.