Loss of hemlocks will affect water dynamics in southern Appalachian forests

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Hemlock woolly adelgids attach at the base of the needles. Credit: Chris Evans River to River CWMA Bugwood.org
Hemlock woolly adelgids attach at the base of the needles. Credit: Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org

Forest Service (FS) research has provided the first estimates on the impact the loss of eastern hemlock will have on the water dynamics of the southern Appalachian mountains. In the June 2007 issue of Ecological Applications, researchers Chelcy Ford and Jim Vose from the FS Southern Research Station (SRS) Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory present findings on eastern hemlock rates of transpiration (the amount of soil water taken up by trees) from a 2-year study in western North Carolina.


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