Ten thousand years ago the global climate was highly dynamic and the vegetation of North America was undergoing the most rapid reorganization of the post-glacial period. Spruce forests that once dominated much of interior North America were decreasing in extent as the climate rapidly warmed. One such forest was recently exposed by a mining company in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Gribben forest was buried in-place by glacial sediment and remains intact, with completely preserved plant material, litter, humus layers, and soil profiles. Wood from this site was recently radiocarbon dated at approximately 10,000 years old. The site is part of an active mining operation and will be destroyed in the summer of 1995. The objectives of this exploratory research are to (1) sample the buried trees, litter and soil, (2) answer fundamental questions about paleo-forest composition, structure, growth and dynamics, and (3) archive samples and distribute data to the broader scientific community so that this unique opportunity to understand a 10,000 year old forest and its environment is not lost to science. This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will provide a unique opportunity to learn about the composition, structure, and dynamics of forest vegetation immediately after the glaciers receded from this area. The data will allow a direct test of assumptions of much of the conceptual framework underlying forest ecology and paleoecology.
