Black locust biomass, growth and nitrogen fixation in southern Appalachian forests

These data include: 1) percent nitrogen (N) of black locust aboveground biomass across stand age compiled from two studies; 2) the conversion factor from acetylene to N₂ fixed (C₂H₄:N₂) determined on 11 black locust trees in 2017 and 2018; 3) black locust density (stems/ha) data collected from vegetation plots following a forest clear cut; 4) comparison of plot versus tree based methods for sampling black locust nodule biomass at four stands in 2017 and 2018; 5) test of assumption that nodule biomass declines with increasing distance from black locust trees, sampled in 2017 and 2018; 6) black locust nodule biomass expressed on a tree basis from three stand ages, collected in 1981; 7) nodule presence, nodule biomass (g nodule/tree) and acetylene reduction activity (µmol C₂H₄ /g nodule hr) for 118 black locust trees sampled in 2017 and 2018 along a stand age gradient; 8) black locust density (stems/ha) in high-density plots collected across three stand ages in 1981; and 9) aboveground biomass of 118 black locust trees and growth for 91 of these trees collected across a stand age gradient in 2017 and 2018. Data were collected in the southern Appalachian hardwood forests in the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and in the neighboring Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina.
Data were collected over a range of black locust ages to quantify nitrogen fixation at the scale of the tree over stand age. Ancillary data were collected to aid in scaling from the tree to the landscape and over time.
For more information about this study and these data see Wurzburger et al. (2021). These data were published on 11/23/2021. Minor metadata updates were made on 06/22/2023.