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FOREST ECOSYSTEM RECOVERY IN THE SOUTHEAST US: SOIL ECOLOGY AS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT
Citation:
Johnston, J M. AND D. A. Crossley Jr. FOREST ECOSYSTEM RECOVERY IN THE SOUTHEAST US: SOIL ECOLOGY AS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT 155(1-3):187-203, (2002).
Impact/Purpose:
This research project sets out to design and conduct an assessment of the long-term ecological consequences of alternative management choices. As the first project to be done at this scale using predictive ecological endpoints, we will seek to identify the appropriate components of such an analysis. We will use experience gained in the conduct of this BASE analysis to identify key research and data needs for address, to estimate timing, resource needs, etc., for future analyses. We will extend this analysis beyond previous and ongoing studies in two ways: by incorporating biological endpoints, primarily properties of fish communities, and by introducing the concept of sustainability of ecological state under future scenarios contrasted with the present state of those same ecological resources. Requirements that are identified during the course of this study will permit the recommendation of specific capabilities that should be incorporated in a general modeling system currently under development to support BASE and other environmental assessments. Finally, the analysis is intended to be of value for establishing environmental management choices that will be beneficial and those that would be detrimental to the sustainability of ecological resources of the Albemarle-Pamlico Basin.
Description:
The forestry industry in the southeastern United States relies upon soils that are highly eroded and depleted of their original organic matter and nutrient content. Pro-active land management can ensure continued and possibly increased production and revenue through the management and recovery of the soil resource. With an emphasis on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) forests, this review integrates land-use history, pine ecology, silviculture, soil ecological research and the implications for forest management into a single discussion. Promoting soil recovery involves knowledge of ecosystem history and disturbance as well as nutrient cycling mechanisms, pools, fluxes and soil forming factors. Research on the rhizosphere is an area that is needed. Recovery of regional soils may confer benefits of drought and disease resistance. The goal of sustainable forestry is compatible with soil recovery; however, the technology and practices of modern forestry deserve thorough evaluation. Emphasis on the continued production of commodities, the agricultural model, is much different from managing for the functioning of healthy forest ecosystems. Many of the practices and outcomes of intensive forest management, including short rotations, harrowing, subsoiling, and burning or removal of logging slash, seem to be at odds with the goal of soil recovery. Best management practices that foster soil recovery include less intensive stand utilization and reduced soil disturbance. Stem-only harvest and longer rotations permit a recovery of soil biodiversity and an accrual of detritus and soil organic matter. Windrowing and similar techniques have dramatic and lasting effects on soil development. No-tillage agriculture as a model for pine plantations is discussed.