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TIMBER HARVESTING AND LONG-TERM PRODUCTIVITY: WEATHERING PROCESSES AND SOIL DISTURBANCE
Citation:
Zabowski, D., M. Skinner, AND P. Rygiewicz. TIMBER HARVESTING AND LONG-TERM PRODUCTIVITY: WEATHERING PROCESSES AND SOIL DISTURBANCE. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-94/557.
Description:
Both timber harvesting and amelioration practices can cause chemical and physical changes in soil. hese changes can affect factors which alter soil mineral stability and weathering rates, potentially changing inputs to the nutrient cycle. his paper discusses possible effects of harvesting and ameliorative practices on soil mineral stability and weathering. t also presents data from a case study of harvesting impacts in New Zealand. oil disturbance study established in 1981 was examined in 1990 for potential effects of soil disturbance on weathering and soil nutrient availability. ost-harvesting site treatments included 0 horizon preserved, 0 horizon removed, and 0 and A horizons removed followed by compaction. esults showed that removal of the 0 horizon greatly reduced the available nutrient pool. hanges in concentrations of solution Si also indicated that mineral equilibrium has been affected in the surface soil horizons of the two disturbance treatments. ine-root and mycorrhiza biomass was reduced with both disturbance treatments. omparison of soil nutrient inputs and outputs suggests that weathering inputs must provide most of the available nutrients with the disturbance treatments.