{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10.1007/s004420050619", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-27T16:14:50Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2002-08-25", "title": "Soil Carbon And Nitrogen In A Pine-Oak Sand Plain In Central Massachusetts: Role Of Vegetation And Land-Use History", "description": "Over the last 150 years much of the landscape of eastern North America has been transformed from predominantly agricultural lands to forest. Although cultivation strongly affects important ecosystem processes such as biomass accumulation, soil organic matter dynamics, and nitrogen cycling, recovery of these processes after abandonment is insufficiently understood. We examined soil carbon and nitrogen pools and nitrogen dynamics for 16 plots on a central Massachusetts sand plain, over 80% of which had been cultivated and subsequently abandoned at least 40 years ago. The two youngest old-field forests, located on sites abandoned 40-60 years prior to our sampling, had the lowest mineral soil carbon content (0-15\u2009cm), 31% less than the average of unplowed soils. Soil carbon concentration and loss-on-ignition were significantly higher in unplowed soils than in all plowed soils, but these differences were offset by the higher bulk density in formerly plowed soils, leading to no significant differences in C content between plowed and unplowed soil. Soil C:N ratios were lower in formerly plowed soils (26.2) than in unplowed soils (28.0). While soil N content was not affected by land-use history or vegetation type, net N mineralization showed much greater variation. In situ August net nitrogen mineralization varied nearly 40-fold between stand types: lowest in pitch pine and white pine stands (-0.13 and 0.10\u2009kg\u2009N\u2009ha-1\u200928\u2009day-1), intermediate in scrub oak stands (0.48\u2009kg\u2009N\u2009ha-1\u200928\u2009day-1) and highest in aspen and mixed oak stands (1.34-3.11\u2009kg\u2009N\u2009ha-1\u200928\u2009day-1). Mineralization was more strongly related to present vegetation than to land-use history or soil N content. Appreciable net nitrification was observed only in the most recently abandoned aspen plot (0.82\u2009kg\u2009N\u2009ha-1\u200928\u2009day-1), suggesting that recent disturbance and residual agricultural lime stimulated nitrification. Carbon:nitrogen ratios increased and pH declined with stand age. Higher bulk density, lower loss-on-ignition and C:N ratios, and slightly lower C concentrations in the surface mineral soil are the persistent legacies of agriculture on soil properties. Short-term agricultural use and the low initial C and N concentrations in these sandy soils appear to have resulted in less persistent impacts of agriculture on soil C and N content and N cycling.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "soil-properties", "Forests", "Environmental-Sciences)", "01 natural sciences", "nitrogen", "variation-", "Soil", "Quercus", "soil-nitrogen", "nitrogen-", "cultivation-", "cycling-", "soil-organic-matter", "vegetation-history", "sandy-soils", "soil-carbon", "2. Zero hunger", "7440-44-0: CARBON", "carbon-", "pines-", "Soil-studies", "land-use-history", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "pine-oak-sand-plain", "Chemistry", "North-America", "Nearctic-region)", "Massachusetts", "agricultural-practice", "biomass-production", "trees-", "7727-37-9: Nitrogen", "nitrification-", "United-States", "forests-", "Agricultural ecosystems", "land-use", "Massachusetts- (USA-", "forest-lands", "Nutrient dynamics", "vegetation-type", "USA", "Vegetation", "mineralization-", "15. Life on land", "Pinus", "soil-types", "Terrestrial-Ecology (Ecology-", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "agricultural-land", "ecosystems-"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Campton, Jana E., Boone, Richard D., Motzkin, Glenn, Foster, David R.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050619"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Oecologia", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s004420050619", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s004420050619", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s004420050619"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "1998-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1574-6941.12009", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-27T16:19:19Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-09-13", "title": "Chronic N-Amended Soils Exhibit An Altered Bacterial Community Structure In Harvard Forest, Ma, Usa", "description": "At the Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA, the impact of 20 years of annual ammonium nitrate application to the mixed hardwood stand on soil bacterial communities was studied using 16S rRNA genes pyrosequencing. Amplification of 16S rRNA genes was done using DNA extracted from 30 soil samples (three treatments \u00d7 two horizons \u00d7 five subplots) collected from untreated (control), low N-amended (50 kg ha(-1) year(-1)) and high N-amended (150 kg ha(-1) year(-1)) plots. A total of 1.3 million sequences were processed using qiime. Although Acidobacteria represented the most abundant phylum based on the number of sequences, Proteobacteria were the most diverse in terms of operational taxonomic units (OTUs). UniFrac analyses revealed that the bacterial communities differed significantly among soil horizons and treatments. Microsite variability among the five subplots was also evident. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination of normalized OTU data followed by permutational manova further confirmed these observations. Richness indicators and indicator species analyses revealed higher bacterial diversity associated with N amendment. Differences in bacterial diversity and community composition associated with the N treatments were also observed at lower phylogenetic levels. Only 28-35% of the 6 936 total OTUs identified were common to three treatments, while the rest were specific to one treatment or common to two.", "keywords": ["DNA", " Bacterial", "0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology", "Nitrates", "Bacteria", "Genes", " rRNA", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "Trees", "Scientific Contribution Number 2470", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Massachusetts", "RNA", " Ribosomal", " 16S", "Fertilizers", "Phylogeny", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12009"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/FEMS%20Microbiology%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1574-6941.12009", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1574-6941.12009", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1574-6941.12009"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-10-11T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1126/science.1074153", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "unspecified", "updated": "2026-07-27T16:19:53Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2002-12-12", "title": "Soil Warming And Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks To The Climate System", "description": "<p>In a decade-long soil warming experiment in a mid-latitude hardwood forest, we documented changes in soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in order to investigate the consequences of these changes for the climate system. Here we show that whereas soil warming accelerates soil organic matter decay and carbon dioxide fluxes to the atmosphere, this response is small and short-lived for a mid-latitude forest, because of the limited size of the labile soil carbon pool. We also show that warming increases the availability of mineral nitrogen to plants. Because plant growth in many mid-latitude forests is nitrogen-limited, warming has the potential to indirectly stimulate enough carbon storage in plants to at least compensate for the carbon losses from soils. Our results challenge assumptions made in some climate models that lead to projections of large long-term releases of soil carbon in response to warming of forest ecosystems.</p>", "keywords": ["Nitrogen", "Climate", "Temperature", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon", "Trees", "Soil", "Biodegradation", " Environmental", "Massachusetts", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Fertilizers", "Ecosystem", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Paul A. Steudler, H. Lux, Jerry M. Melillo, Toby Ahrens, F. P. Bowles, John D. Aber, S. Morrisseau, C. Catricala, K. Newkirk, A. Magill,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1074153"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1126/science.1074153", "name": "item", "description": "10.1126/science.1074153", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1126/science.1074153"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2002-12-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/08-0172.1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-27T16:20:44Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2009-09-17", "title": "Effects Of Warming And Altered Precipitation On Plant And Nutrient Dynamics Of A New England Salt Marsh", "description": "<p>Salt marsh structure and function, and consequently ability to support a range of species and to provide ecosystem services, may be affected by climate change. To better understand how salt marshes will respond to warming and associated shifts in precipitation, we conducted a manipulative experiment in a tidal salt marsh in Massachusetts, USA. We exposed two plant communities (one dominated by Spartina patens\uffe2\uff80\uff93Distichlis spicata and one dominated by short form Spartina alterniflora) to five climate manipulations: warming via passive open\uffe2\uff80\uff90topped chambers, doubled precipitation, warming and doubled precipitation, extreme drought via rainout shelter, and ambient conditions. Modest daytime warming increased total aboveground biomass of the S. alterniflora community (24%), but not the S. patens\uffe2\uff80\uff93D. spicata community. Warming also increased maximum stem heights of S. alterniflora (8%), S. patens (8%), and D. spicata (15%). Decomposition was marginally accelerated by warming in the S. alterniflora community. Drought markedly increased total biomass of the S. alterniflora community (53%) and live S. patens (69%), perhaps by alleviating waterlogging of sediments. Decomposition was accelerated by increased precipitation and slowed by drought, particularly in the S. patens\uffe2\uff80\uff93D. spicata community. Flowering phenology responded minimally to the treatments, and pore water salinity, sulfide, ammonium, and phosphate concentrations showed no treatment effects in either plant community. Our results suggest that these salt marsh communities may be resilient to modest amounts of warming and large changes in precipitation. If production increases under climate change, marshes will have a greater ability to keep pace with sea\uffe2\uff80\uff90level rise, although an increase in decomposition could offset this. As long as marshes are not inundated by flooding due to sea\uffe2\uff80\uff90level rise, increases in aboveground biomass and stem heights suggest that marshes may continue to export carbon and nutrients to coastal waters and may be able to increase their carbon storage capability by increasing plant growth under future climate conditions.</p>", "keywords": ["Greenhouse Effect", "0106 biological sciences", "570", "Spartina patens", "Time Factors", "open-topped chamber", "Light", "Rain", "Plant Development", "Distichlis spicata", "Sodium Chloride", "01 natural sciences", "Spartina alterniflora", "Distichlis spicata;", "Spartina alterniflora;", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "decomposition", "Temperature", "Water", "nutrient cycling", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "Circadian Rhythm", "salt marsh", "climate change", "Massachusetts", "13. Climate action", "Wetlands", "altered precipitation", "ecosystem services"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/08-0172.1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecological%20Applications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/08-0172.1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/08-0172.1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/08-0172.1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2009-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Massachusetts&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Massachusetts&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Massachusetts&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Massachusetts&offset=4", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 4, "numberReturned": 4, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-07-28T04:03:33.029152Z"}