In 1990-1991 segments of boles from felled sugar maple (Acer saccharum), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees were placed in the field to study the rate of decomposition and nutrient loss (or gain) over time. The segments incubated in the field, ranging from 0.5-1.3 meters in length, were paired with fresh segments from the same trees. The fresh segments were taken to the lab shortly after felling, dried, weighed and subsampled. Fresh samples of wood and bark were collected separately. Incubated bole segments were collected in 1993 (T1), 1997 (T2), 2001 (T3), 2007 (T4) and 2015/2016 (T5). The whole bole segments were transported to the lab, measured, dried and weighed to determine mass loss. Subsamples of the bole wood and bark were collected for chemical analysis, including cross-polarization with magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) 13C NMR. Chemical analyses were conducted concurrently on the fresh (T0) and incubated samples. This data package includes the unprocessed NMR data, phased spectra, and integrated (spectral area) data in chemical shift regions that correspond to key structural groups. This data set includes data for T1, T3, T4, and T5 samples and their paired T0 fresh samples. Samples from T2 were measured for mass, but inadvertently discarded prior to chemical analysis.
These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station.