![\"silvo3\"](\"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/ecohydrology-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/157\/2023\/08\/silvo3.jpg\" "\\"silvo3\\"")
\n\t\t\t\t![\"20190917_152157cs\"](\"https:\/\/sites.usnh.edu\/ecohydrology-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/157\/2023\/08\/20190917_152157cs.jpg\" "\\"20190917_152157cs\\"")
\n\tEcohydrological effects of forest conversion to pasture and silvopasture in New England<\/strong><\/p>\nH. Asbjornsen<\/a>,\u00a0A. Coble<\/a>,\u00a0K. Jennings<\/a>,\u00a0M. Vadeboncoeur<\/a> Much of the current land in New England suitable for agriculture is currently under secondary forest cover.\u00a0 Many farmers in New England are clearing or thinning forested lands to expand existing agricultural fields in order reclaim land that was used for agriculture prior to the early 1900s and to meet the consumer demands for locally produced agricultural goods.\u00a0 Clear-cutting portions of the forest is one approach to expand existing agricultural lands.\u00a0 However, there is a growing interest in agroforestry practices such as silvopasture, which is the simultaneous management of livestock grazing and trees on the same land.<\/p>\n The goal of the study is to identify the effects of forest-to-agriculture conversion (clear-cut and silvopasture) on ecosystems services such as nutrient retention and water regulation and balance, as well as effects on provisioning services such as forage crop yield on farms across three states (MA, NH, and VT) in New England.\u00a0 We worked with farmers across the three states to develop monitoring sites at five farms where forest-to-pasture and forest-to-silvopasture will be implemented.\u00a0\u00a0 Forest-to-agriculture conversion plots across the three states were complemented with an experimental conversion study at the UNH\u00a0Organic Dairy Research Farm<\/a>\u00a0(ODRF) in Lee, NH.<\/p>\n The UNH ODRF site includes an established pasture, converted open pasture, converted silvopasture, and a reference intact forest stand (see aerial image below and photos at left).\u00a0 After conversion of forest plots to pasture and silvopasture in 2015, our lab led measurements of tree growth and tree water use in the reference and silvopasture plots.\u00a0 We also measured soil hydraulic properties and precipitation throughfall in order to better undersand the hydroligic effects of of forest-to-agriculture conversions in the northeast.<\/p>\n This work was funded by USDA-AFRI.<\/p>\n A number of publications are in preparation based on this project.\u00a0 So far these have been led by our lab:<\/p>\n Coble AP, Contosta AR, Smith RG, Siegert NW, Vadeboncoeur MA, Jennings KA, Stewart AJ, Asbjornsen H. 2020.\u00a0Influence of forest-to-silvopasture conversion and drought on components of evapotranspiration<\/u>.\u00a0Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment<\/i>, 295: 106916. doi:10.1016\/j.agee.2020.106916<\/a>\u00a0 [PDF available from USFS<\/a>]<\/p>\n Stewart AJ. 2017.\u00a0Land use change in the northeast united states: retaining forest structure and its soil hydraulic properties through silvopasture<\/u>. M.Sc. thesis, University of New Hampshire.\u00a0http:\/\/scholars.unh.edu\/thesis\/1125<\/a><\/p>\n
\nin collaboration with\u00a0Rich Smith<\/a>,\u00a0Alix Contasta<\/a>, and others.\n