<p>At UMBS we are combining long-term (&gt; 12 yrs) C cycling measurements and a novel large-scale experimental manipulation with modeling studies in an effort to improve regional projections of forest C storage. Our goal is to explain the physical, biological and ecological mechanisms by which forest C storage will change in response to disturbance and succession, and to current and long-term climate variation. The Forest Accelerated Succession ExperimenT (FASET), in which all aspen and birch trees (~35 % LAI) within a 39 ha study area were stem girdled, is testing the hypothesis that forest C storage across much of the upper Midwest will increase due to increasing structural and biological complexity of the emerging plant communities and because of a redistribution of nitrogen from senescing aspen and birch to the developing canopy.</p>