1. NMR Investigations of Natural Organic Matter in Forest Ecosystems Chris E. Johnson Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering Syracuse University

2. Forest Ecosystem Analysis

3. NMR Applications in Forest Ecosystem Studies 1.Plant tissues: −Wood quality −Response to environmental stress −Litter quality

4. 1.Plant tissues: −Wood quality −Response to environmental stress −Litter quality 2.Soil organic matter: −Decomposition −Accumulation and role as microbial substrate NMR Applications in Forest Ecosystem Studies

5. 1.Plant tissues: −Wood quality −Response to environmental stress −Litter quality 2.Soil organic matter: −Decomposition −Accumulation and role as microbial substrate 3.Aquatic organic matter: −Similarity to soil organic matter −Substrate for aquatic organisms NMR Applications in Forest Ecosystem Studies

7. Northern Hardwood Forest

8. Plant Tissues – Wood and Bark

9. Spectral Integration Alkyl-CO-Alkyl-CAryl C COOH/ Amide O Aryl

10. Plant Tissues – In situ Decomposition

11. Sampling with replication Replication is crucial for: Avoiding spurious conclusions Statistical hypothesis testing  (CPMAS method may be the only viable option)

12. Plant Tissues – (Fresh) Beech Bark

13. Plant Tissues – Wood & Bark

14. NMR analysis of soils

15. Soils – Humification of Organic Matter

17. Soil vs. Soil Solution SoilsSoil Solutions

18. Contrasting Soil and Solution Composition: % Aromatic C

19. Approaches to Quantification 1. Bloch Decay (i.e. Direct Polarization)

20. Oa Horizon Soil

21. Approaches to Quantification 2. Spin (Ac)counting

22. Approaches to Quantification 3. Correction Factors (from VCT Experiments) Oa Horizon Soil

23. Approaches to Quantification 4. Spectral Editing Approaches a.Proton Spin Relaxation Editing (PSRE) b.RE storation of S pectra via T CH and T O ne R ho (T1  H ) E diting (RESTORE)

24. Conclusions 1.NMR analyses provide useful information for ecological studies.  An ideal application for low-field instruments. 2.Replication is essential for most ecological applications.  Replication means high sample numbers.  High sample numbers mean CPMAS may be the only viable option. 3.Limited quantitative reliability of the CPMAS method is a problem.  Without reliable approaches to quantification, NMR will remain a supportive technology in ecosystem science