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Forest, Range & Wildland Soils

Soil Physical Disturbance and Logging Residue Effects on Changes in Soil Productivity in Five-Year-Old Pine Plantations

^a Dep. of Forestry, 228 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060
^b MeadWestvaco Corp., P.O. Box 1950, Summerville, SC 29484

^* Corresponding author (meisenbi{at}vt.edu)

There has been much concern that traffic associated with the harvesting of intensively managed pine plantations reduces long-term soil-site productivity. Trafficking, especially during wet periods, can cause severe soil physical disturbance and redistribution of woody residues. Although the negative effects of soil compaction and rutting on root growth and the importance of organic matter for maintaining site productivity are well known, the connection between these factors and actual changes in soil and site productivity has been difficult to evaluate. Three productive, 20-ha loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations located on fertile "wet pine flats" on the coastal plain of South Carolina were subjected to wet- and dry-weather harvesting and mechanical site preparation. A factorial design was used to evaluate changes in soil-site quality after 5 yr based on postharvest classifications of soil physical disturbance, harvest residue removal, and the type of site preparation using a recently developed rank diagnostic approach. Trees on disturbed sites performed as well or better than trees on minimally disturbed sites with average levels of harvest residues. Bedding restored relative soil-site productivity (based on the rank diagnostic) on all but heavily disturbed sites with >25% bare soil; however, these heavily disturbed sites comprised about 5% of the total area harvested. Moderate levels of disturbance may increase relative soil-site productivity, perhaps by controlling competition or increasing nitrogen mineralization rates. Sites such as these may be good alternatives to more sensitive sites for wet-weather harvesting.

Abbreviations: ANCOVA, analysis of covariance • BMPs, best management practices • dbh, diameter breast height • HRI, harvest residue index • NPP, net primary productivity • PDI, physical disturbance index • RCSB, rank change based on stand biomass • RCSI, rank change based on site index

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