CAPITALIZING ON THE 'EARLY LIFE EXPERIENCES' OF TREE SEEDLINGS TO ENHANCE RESTORATION SUCCESS IN CHANGING CLIMATES

Large scale reforestation is a promising climate change mitigation strategy, and governments have set ambitious targets for tree planting in coming decades. However, the reforestation pipeline in the US is not sufficient to meet these targets. Major bottlenecks are the production of sufficient, high quality tree seedlings from nurseries, and the survival and growth of transplanted seedlings, especially in post-agricultural settings. In this project, our major goal is to investigate whether the biotic and abiotic environmental conditions at tree nurseries in the Midwest US can be used to produce seedlings with enhanced tolerance to environmental challenges in reforestation sites.To achieve this broad goal, we have the following specific objectives:Objective 1: Assess the effect of nursery management and location on rhizosphere microbial communities on bare-root seedling stock for a diversity of species.Objective 2: Assess the effect of nursery management, including targeted drought stress, on seedling health, microbial communities, and outplanting success in forested and post-agricultural conditions.Objective 3: Assess the relative importance of nursery geography, and the resulting microbial associations, versus seed source on seedling establishment and growth in forested and post-agricultural conditions.