Download (PDF 266 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/37986.pdf
Abstract
The Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF), carved out of northern Minnesota's aspen, pine, and swamp forests in 1959, turned 50 years old in 2009. Established to investigate the role of peatlands in the northern Lake States region, its instrumented watersheds include nutrient-poor bogs and nutrient-rich fens (organic-soil wetlands) along with glacial-till moraines and deep sandy drift. Unlike most experimental watersheds in the eastern and western mountains of the United States, the MEF is flat, wet, and tied to the regional groundwater system. The establishment of the MEF and watershed research by the USDA Forest Service in Minnesota parallels the first scientific assessments of forests and water and their interaction.
Citation
Verry, Elon S.; Bay, Roger R.; Boelter, Don H. 2011. Establishing the Marcell Experimental Forest: Threads in time. In: Kolka, Randall K.; Sebestyen, Stephen D.; Verry, Elon S.; Brooks,Kenneth N., eds. Peatland biogeochemistry and watershed hydrology at the Marcell Experimental Forest. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press: 1-13.
