Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Understanding Ecosystems for a Sustainable Future

Visitors: The SERC campus is open Monday-Saturday, 8:00am-5:30pm. We're closed Sundays and federal holidays. Please do a health self-check before arriving, and stay home if feeling sick. Read Plan Your Visit for information on where to park, updated maps and hours, safety, and more.

SERC will be closed to the public on Saturdays from Nov. 26, 2022 through Jan. 7, 2023 for our annual forest management. The Woodlawn History Center will only be open on Fridays during this time.

Quantitative Ecology

Principal Investigator

Sean McMahon

mcmahons@si.edu

443-482-2262

Curriculum Vitae

Forest Dynamics: from Tissues to Biomes

This project maps the spatial distribution of more than 33,000 live and dead woody stems with diameters of at least 1.0 cm in the SERC Forest Dynamics Plot.

Spatial Dimensions of Forest Dynamics
Tree growth can be difficult to measure, but it is imperative to understanding forest stability and function. We measure trees in a variety of ways to better understand forest function and stability.

Tree Growth
We are working to model rare mortality events to better understand this aspect of forest dynamics

Tree Mortality
We are studying the timing of growth to understand the importance of seasonal patterns and how they are adjusting to a changing climate

Tree Phenology

Forest Dynamics: from Tissues to Biomes

Spatial Dimensions of Forest Dynamics

Tree Growth

Tree Mortality

Tree Phenology