Understanding soil nutrients and characteristics in the Pacific Northwest through parent material origin and soil nutrient regimes

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 2001-2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.M. Littke ◽  
R.B. Harrison ◽  
D.G. Briggs ◽  
A.R. Grider

A convenient method is necessary for assessing the availability of soil nitrogen in plantation Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stands in the Pacific Northwest. The objective of this research was to use soil parent materials (SPMs) and soil nutrient regimes (SNRs) to determine the most efficient method to characterize soil nitrogen availability in Douglas-fir stands. It was hypothesized that SPMs and SNRs would effectively separate stands with distinctive climate, site, and soil characteristics and forest floor and soil carbon and nitrogen reserves. At 60 Douglas-fir stands, SPMs and SNRs were determined, and soil particle percentages, soil depth, and forest floor and soil nitrogen and carbon contents were measured to a depth of 1 m. Soils of sedimentary origin and very rich and rich SNRs contained greater nitrogen and carbon contents than those from glacial and igneous origins and medium SNRs. Sedimentary SPMs and very rich SNRs were developed from older parent materials and had significantly greater soil depths and finer textures than those from glacial SPMs and medium SNRs. SNRs and SPMs are recommended as good estimators of soil nutrient pools and soil characteristics in Douglas-fir plantation forests of the Pacific Northwest.

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 2455-2464 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Giesen ◽  
S. S. Perakis ◽  
K. Cromack

Episodic stand-replacing wildfire is a significant disturbance in mesic and moist Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forests of the Pacific Northwest. We studied 24 forest stands with known fire histories in the western Cascade Range in Oregon to evaluate long-term impacts of stand-replacing wildfire on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and dynamics within the forest floor (FF, Oe and Oa horizons) and the mineral soil (0–10 cm). Twelve of our stands burned approximately 150 years ago (“young”), and the other 12 burned approximately 550 years ago (“old”). Forest floor mean C and N pools were significantly greater in old stands than young stands (N pools: 1823 ± 132 kg·ha–1vs. 1450 ± 98 kg·ha–1; C pools: 62 980 ± 5403 kg·ha–1vs. 49 032 ± 2965 kg·ha–1, mean ± SE) as a result of significant differences in FF mass. Forest floor C and N concentrations and C/N ratios did not differ by time since fire, yet potential N mineralization rates were significantly higher in FF of old sites. Old and young mineral soils did not differ significantly in pools, concentrations, C/N ratios, or cycling rates. Our results suggest that C and N are sequestered in FF of Pacific Northwest Douglas-fir forests over long (∼400 year) intervals, but that shorter fire return intervals may prevent that accumulation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 398 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 281-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Slesak ◽  
Timothy B. Harrington ◽  
Anthony W. D’Amato

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda E Winter ◽  
Linda B Brubaker ◽  
Jerry F Franklin ◽  
Eric A Miller ◽  
Donald Q DeWitt

The history of canopy disturbances over the lifetime of an old-growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stand in the western Cascade Range of southern Washington was reconstructed using tree-ring records of cross-dated samples from a 3.3-ha mapped plot. The reconstruction detected pulses in which many western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) synchronously experienced abrupt and sustained increases in ringwidth, i.e., "growth-increases", and focused on medium-sized or larger ([Formula: see text]0.8 ha) events. The results show that the stand experienced at least three canopy disturbances that each thinned, but did not clear, the canopy over areas [Formula: see text]0.8 ha, occurring approximately in the late 1500s, the 1760s, and the 1930s. None of these promoted regeneration of the shade-intolerant Douglas-fir, all of which established 1500–1521. The disturbances may have promoted regeneration of western hemlock, but their strongest effect on tree dynamics was to elicit western hemlock growth-increases. Canopy disturbances are known to create patchiness, or horizontal heterogeneity, an important characteristic of old-growth forests. This reconstructed history provides one model for restoration strategies to create horizontal heterogeneity in young Douglas-fir stands, for example, by suggesting sizes of areas to thin in variable-density thinnings.


1990 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Kubiske ◽  
Marc D. Abrams ◽  
James C. Finley

Abstract Cut Douglas-fir Christmas trees grown in Pennsylvania from Rocky Mountain seed sources and coastal trees grown in the Pacific Northwest and shipped into Pennsylvania were compared for keepability. Following various cold treatments, the cut ends of trees were placed in water in an indoor display area. Coastal trees placed in a freezer at - 29°C for 24 h had 89 ± 5.1% (mean ± standard error) needle loss after one day of display, while Rocky Mountain origin trees exhibited only 3 ± 2.0% needle loss after 1 day and 50 ± 5.6% needle loss after 18 days. Coastal produced trees exposed to temperatures > - 12°C had 50 ± 9.8% needle loss at the end of the experiment, while Rocky Mountain trees ended with 22 ± 3.2% needle loss. Four additional treatments consisted of trees placed on an outdoor lot and periodically moved indoors to simulate Christmas tree market activity. Again, there was a significant difference between trees from coastal and Rocky Mountain sources, with 57.2 ± 4.3% and 11.8 ± 1.2% needle loss after 3 days, respectively. By the end of the 23 day experiment, the coastal trees were essentially devoid of needles, whereas Rocky Mountain trees had an average of only 20% needle loss. Coastal trees also exhibited a very noticeable loss of color and lustre. North. J. Appl. For. 7:86-89, June 1990.


2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1127-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Butterbach-Bahl ◽  
U. Berger ◽  
N. Brüggemann ◽  
J. Duyzer

Abstract. This study provides for the first time data on the stratification of NO and N2O production with soil depth under aerobic and anaerobic incubation conditions for different temperate forest sites in Germany (spruce, beech, clear-cut) and the Netherlands (Douglas fir). Results show that the NO and N2O production activity is highest in the forest floor and decreases exponentially with increasing soil depth. Under anaerobic incubation conditions NO and N2O production was in all soil layers up to 2-3 orders of magnitude higher then under aerobic incubation conditions. Furthermore, significant differences between sites could be demonstrated with respect to the magnitude or predominance of NO and N2O production. These were driven by stand properties (beech or spruce) or management (clear-cut versus control). With regard to CH4 the most striking result was the lack of CH4 uptake activity in soil samples taken from the Dutch Douglas fir site at Speulderbos, which is most likely a consequence of chronically high rates of atmospheric N deposition. In addition, we could also demonstrate that CH4 fluxes at the soil surface are obviously the result of simultaneously occurring uptake and production processes, since even under aerobic conditions a net production of CH4 in forest floor samples was found. The provided dataset will be very useful for the development and testing of process oriented models, since for the first time activity data stratified for several soil layers for N2O, NO, and CH4 production/oxidation activity for forest soils are provided.


Geoderma ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 350 ◽  
pp. 73-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. DeBruler ◽  
Stephen H. Schoenholtz ◽  
Robert A. Slesak ◽  
Brian D. Strahm ◽  
Timothy B. Harrington

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1240-1241
Author(s):  
M. Apple ◽  
A. Soeldner ◽  
R. Hamill ◽  
K. Tiekotfer

Old-growth Douglas-fir trees in the Pacific Northwest are venerable giants that often live for 500 years and reach heights of over 75 meters. Their needles are relatively ephemeral and small but have the important role of interacting with the atmosphere in order to transpire and photosynthesize. Within the photosynthetic mesophyll tissue of Douglas-fir needles, there are large, non-living cells with lignified secondary cell walls that are known as astrosclereids. Apparent channels in the secondary wall may provide a route for exchange or transport of materials between the astrosclereid lumen and mesophyll cells or the vascular cylinder. Astrosclereids may be involvev d in storage of secondary metabolites such as tannin and may develop in response to fungi, mistletoe, or other pathogens. More knowledge is needed about the development, structure and function of astrosclereids.Needles were collected from sapling and old-growth Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, (Mirb.) Franco, trees at the Wind River Canopy Crane in Carson, Washington and from three sites in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon in 1997 and 1998.


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