A01 Contract SOW Sayer FHP.docx

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Statement of Work

Contents

Project Patchy pine plantation failure- do brown spot needle blight and microsite interact to create a C shortfall?

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

The purpose of this contract is to procure lab services to analyze and record foliar samples for macro- and micro-nutrients.

2.0 Background

We will investigate relationships between juvenile tree growth, brown spot needle blight infection, foliar nutrition, and microsite factors to better understand poor juvenile loblolly pine growth in localized areas across a commercial plantation. Specific objectives are to characterize the role of soil structure and root system architecture in brown spot needle blight severity, advise practitioners about sub-soiling (i.e., ripping) during site preparation on fine texture soils where prolonged water deficit is likely, and develop a conceptual model of how annual nutrition dynamics and pathogen spread interact to affect young loblolly pine tree growth.

The study consists of destructive and monitoring phases. Both phases require foliage by tree, crown class, and cohort to be sampled and analyzed for macro- and micro-nutrients. Analyses include nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), boron (B), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu). A subset of samples will be analyzed for silicon (Si). The destructive phase will be conducted on 20 trees harvested in July 2024 with an estimate of 80 mineral nutrient and Si analyses. The monitoring phase of the study will be conducted among 20 trees between July 2024 and January 2027. At a 2-month interval, upper and lower crown foliage of one or two cohorts will be sampled and analyzed for macro- and micro-nutrients for an estimate of 760 and Si for an estimate of 740 analyses.

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

Between October 2024 and February 2027, samples will be mailed to the contractor in packages of 80 to 400 numbered oven-dried samples. Once received, the contractor will store samples under desiccation conditions. The contractor will prepare the dried samples for foliar tissue analyses by grinding them to an appropriate particle size. Subsequently, ground samples will be analyzed for N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Zn, B, Mn, Cu, and Si by standard methods. Results will be expressed by concentration in dry tissue and recorded in electronic spreadsheets compatible with MS Excel.

Spreadsheets will contain sample numbers, concentrations, and units of expression for each element analyzed and will be mailed electronically to Dr. Mary Anne Sayer at mary.sword@usda.gov in a timely manner. The contractor may discard samples after they have been analyzed.

4.0 Government Furnished None

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

Deliverables are electronic files of foliar mineral nutrient and Si concentration results after receiving approximately five subsets of dried foliage samples over a 28-month period between October 2024 and January 2027. Results should be received as soon as possible but not later than 6 weeks after samples are received.

6.0 Travel None

7.0 Contractor’s Key Personnel

The contractor is a reputable analytical service laboratory with staff that are educated and trained in the performance of this work. The contractor maintains established quality control and assurance measures for all tests performed and equipment utilized.

8.0 Security Requirements None

9.0 Data Rights

Data will be disclosed to Dr. Mary Anne Sayer (mary.sword@usda.gov) who is an employee of the United States Government. Since samples were collected on official time and federal funds support the analyses, these data and any subsequent reports are in the public domain and not subject to copyright protection.

10.0 Section 508 – Electronic and Information Technology Standards NA

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