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Objectives The MMSF-Ameriflux project is highly successful example of a synergetic collaboration among Indiana University (IU), who provides the research team, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IN-DNR), who provides the site, and the US Department of Energy (DOE), who provides most of the funding. The AmeriFlux site in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest (MMSF) has been operational since 1998 and regularly contributes data on carbon dynamics of this deciduous forest ecosystem and other variables relevant for the biosphere- atmosphere exchange of CO2 to national (AmeriFlux) and international (Fluxnet) research networks. The core of the project is an assessment of the carbon sequestration of this forest ecosystem using the micrometeorological and biometric approaches, two independent but highly complementary methodologies. The primary long-term research questions are: (1) what is the magnitude of carbon sequestration at MMSF? (2) What are the long-term trends in forest productivity? (3) How will the carbon dynamics be affected in the future under climate change? The MMSF-AmeriFlux site, which recently was included as a part of the IU-Research and Teaching Preserve, has been used for many research projects of several faculty members, post-doctoral associates, graduate students and undergraduate students, mostly from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Geography. These research activities have resulted in 52 scientific publications and about 100 presentations to-date.
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