Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories

"The Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) is a global network of scientists and forest research sites dedicated to advancing long-term study of the world's forests. The network recognizes the importance of collaborating with local institutions to strengthen science capacity in an era of rapidly changing landscapes and climate to understand and predict forest dynamics."

- ForestGEO's Mission Statement 

The Itasca Plot was established in 2019 with initial seed funding from an Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories (IBSL) Seed-to-Root grant. The plot is coordinated by Dr. Peter Kennedy, in collaboration with Dr. Lee Frelich at the University of Minnesota and Dr. Yue-Hu Hua, at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (China). The initial census was carried out by a large team of University of Minnesota graduate and undergraduate students, including Talia Michaud, Eduardo Perez-Pazos, Lang DeLancey, Erica Houser, Catherine Glenn-Stone, Briana Beatty, Andrew Ratz, Hakeem Hamshari, Soren Matheny, Lex Bancos, Justice Alvarado, and Josie Johnston. Other undergraduate students involved in the project have included Benjamin Tanner (Whitman College) and Collin Adams (Macalester College). Additionally, a number of high school seniors from Waubun High school have worked as part of the census team through the IBSL White Earth Internship.

The first full census of the plot will be completed in summer 2024. In the first 10 hectares of the plot censused, more than 19,000 woody stems >1 cm diameter at breast height have been tagged and mapped. Once the full census is complete, the data will be incorporated into the Global ForestGEO network.

The 15-hectare Itasca ForestGEO Plot is located in the Itasca State Park, in northern Minnesota, USA. This plot sits at the temperate-boreal forest ecotone and contains a mix of fire-dependent conifers along with mesic hardwood species. Relative to other plots in the ForestGEO network, particularly in the northeast North America, Itasca is characterized by a sizable number of large and old conifer trees. Topographic variability in the plot is relatively limited, although a number of smaller forest patches are seasonally flooded.

The most abundant species is sugar maple (Acer saccharum), which is present throughout the understory of the entire plot due to a combination of decades of local fire suppression along with warming annual temperatures. Large red pines (Pinus resinosa) and white pines (Pinus strobus) serve as canopy emergents, but no regeneration of either species is present in the understory. The dominant canopy trees include multiple species of maple (Acer rubrum and A. saccharum), oak (Quercus rubra and Q. macrocarpa), and aspen (Populus tremuloides and P. grandidentata) along with paper birch (Betula papryifera) and linden (Tilia americana). In seasonally flooded locations, American elm (Ulmus americana) and green and black ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica and F. nigra) become locally abundant. The understory includes significant patches of hazel (Corylus cornuta) along with more limited patches of mountain maple (Acer spicatum), ironwood (Ostrya virginiana), or muscle wood (Carpinus caroliniana). The most common large mammals include black bears, white-tailed deer, and porcupines. While the forest in the plot has not burned for at least 150 years, other human disturbance is minimal.

Current team (2024):

Briana Beatty

Erica Houser

Andrew Ratz

Justice Alvarado

Josie Johnston

Past team members:

Talia Michaud

Lance DeLancy

Catherine Glenn-Stone

Hakeem Hashmiri

Lex Bancos

Soren Matheny

Virginia Baker

Amber Kologi