Among the most essential questions in the era of global climate change is how the forest carbon (C) cycle will respond to an increase in the extent of biotic disturbances from insects and pathogens. While considerable research has focused on stand-replacing disturbance regimes, less is known about C cycling stability following partial disturbances that produce gradients of
disturbance severity (Cohen et al. 2016, Sommerfeld et al. 2018, Edgar and Westfall 2022). Belowground C cycling responses to disturbance are especially poorly understood, even though temperate forest soils and roots contain up to 50% of total ecosystem C (Pan et al. 2011). In particular, soil respiration (Rs) accounts for more than half of temperate forest C loss (BondLamberty et al. 2018, Lei et al. 2021) and even small shifts in this globally important flux from rising disturbance could tip the C balance from net sink to source (Schlesinger and Andrews 2000; Janssens et al. 2001; Curtis et al. 2005). Interpreting trends and mechanisms of C cycling disturbance response requires the integration of cross-scaled experiments and refined ecological theory. The overarching goal of my dissertation is to lay a foundation for the use of a multidimensional stability framework for the C cycling community, and through manipulative ecosystem experiments, assess patterns and advance mechanistic understanding of how partial disturbances impact forest C cycling.