Rhizotron

The Rhizotron in Houghton, Michigan is an underground facility with 24 windows looking out into northern forest soils. The Rhizotron allows us to better understand the environmental controls and management impacts on forests belowground by providing a research facility that enables repeated non-destructive access to forest soil as it really is in nature.

For more information, please contact Erik Lilleskov.

Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) Experiment

FACE is a multidisciplinary study to assess the effects of increasing tropospheric ozone and carbon dioxide levels on the structure and function of northern forest ecosystems.

The Aspen FACE experiment, located near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, consists of twelve 30m rings in which the concentrations of carbon dioxide and tropospheric ozone can be controlled. The design provides the ability to assess the effects of these gasses alone, and in combination, on many ecosystem attributes, including growth, leaf development, root characteristics, and soil carbon.

For more information, please contact Neil Nelson.

Quarantine Facility

The USDA Forest Service Quarantine Facility, Ansonia, Connecticut, is utilized to confine arthropod pests and their biological control agents for biological control research. It is certified by the state of Connecticut and the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service on a permit-by-permit basis. The area under quarantine is 3100 square feet and is entered through a double air lock system equipped with light traps.

For more information, please contact Melody Keena.