Predicting the effects of different harvesting regimes on forest floor dynamics in northern hardwoods

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Aber ◽  
Daniel B. Botkin ◽  
Jerry M. Melillo
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Computer Model ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Nitrogen Availability ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Northern Hardwoods ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Harvesting Intensity

The effects of different intensities of forest management on forest floor organic matter and nitrogen dynamics in northern hardwoods were simulated with a computer model built from the extensive data base of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study. Three cutting intensities and three rotation lengths were tested. In all cases, both nitrogen availability and forest floor organic matter declined for 15–30 years following cutting and required 60–80 years to recover to precut levels. Rotation length had a much greater effect on the forest floor than harvesting intensity with short-rotation (30-year) complete forest harvesting causing the greatest reduction in both biomass and nitrogen availability. Average forest floor biomass under this treatment was reduced to roughly one-half of that under clear-cutting (90-year rotation).

scholarly journals Impact of forest harvesting on water quality and fluorescence characteristics of dissolved organic matter in eastern Canadian Boreal Shield lakes in summer

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 6999-7011 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Glaz ◽  
J.-P. Gagné ◽  
P. Archambault ◽  
P. Sirois ◽  
C. Nozais
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dissolved Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Spectroscopic Techniques ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Fluorescence Measurements ◽  
Fluorescence Characteristics ◽  
Boreal Shield ◽  
Shield Lakes

Abstract. Forestry activities in the Canadian Boreal region have increased in the last decades, raising concerns about their potential impact on aquatic ecosystems. Water quality and fluorescence characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were measured over a 3-year period in eight eastern Boreal Shield lakes: four lakes were studied before, 1 and 2 years after forest harvesting (perturbed lakes) and compared with four undisturbed reference lakes (unperturbed lakes) sampled at the same time. ANOVAs showed a significant increase in total phosphorus (TP) in perturbed lakes when the three sampling dates were considered and in DOC concentrations when considering 1 year before and 1 year after the perturbation only. At 1 year post-clear cutting DOC concentrations were about 15 % greater in the perturbed lakes at ~ 15 mgC L−1 compared to 12.5 mgC L−1 in the unperturbed lakes. In contrast, absorbance and fluorescence measurements showed that all metrics remained within narrow ranges compared to the range observed in natural waters, indicating that forest harvesting did not affect the nature of DOM characterized with spectroscopic techniques. These results confirm an impact of forestry activities 1 year after the perturbation. However, this effect seems to be mitigated 2 years after, indicating that the system shows high resilience and may be able to return to its original condition in terms of water quality parameters assessed in this study.

scholarly journals Humic fractions as indicators of soil organic matter responses to clear-cutting in the mountain and lowland conditions of south-western Poland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elzbieta Jamroz ◽  
Maria Jerzykiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Semiquinone Radical ◽  
Mountain Regions ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Humic Fractions

Clear-cutting means forest removing (stem only) and is the most common type of forest harvesting but undoubtedly has a negative impact on the C budget in soils. This work aimed to describe responses of soil organic matter in the forest soils to forest removing under temperate climate conditions of lowland and mountain regions in south-western Poland. Using advanced instrumental analysis, like EPR, 1H NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy it has been found that clear-cutting, alters C cycling and accelerates decomposition in the forest floor leading to loss of humic fractions in the investigated soils. In the mountain forests the more labile, low-molecular fulvic fraction decreased as the effect of harvesting practice. The transformation of organic matter after clear-cutting resulted in the loss of less humified organic matter containing humic substances of less polymerised molecules. Analysis of the semiquinone radical structures and concentrations showed a decrease in radical concentration observed for HA from mountain clear-cut areas compare to the undisturbed forest. Results presented in this paper have proved less aliphatic character of humic acid molecules from the lowlands, compared to the mountain forest as the effect of clear-cutting. Harvesting practices in mountain regions should be approached with particular care due to the risk of erosion of exposed surfaces and soils containing less humified and less stable organic matter than in the lowlands. Humic fractions of higher solubility, less stability and tendency to migrate through the soil profile may favour the leaching of nutrients and consequently cause the eutrophication of waters.

Organic matter and nitrogen content of the forest floor in even-aged northern hardwoods

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 763-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Anthony Federer
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Content ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Organic Content ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Mature Forest ◽  
Forest Floors

Organic content of the forest floor decreases for several years after clear-cutting, and then slowly recovers. Thickness, bulk density, organic matter, and nitrogen content of forest floors were measured for 13 northern hardwood stands in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Stands ranged from 1 to about 100 years in age. Forest-floor thickness varied significantly with stand age, but bulk density, organic fraction, and nitrogen fraction were independent of age. Total organic content of the forest floor agreed very well with data from Covington's (W. W. Covington 1981. Ecology, 62: 41–48) study of the same area. Both studies indicated that mature forest floors have about 80 Mg organic matter•ha−1 and 1.9 Mg nitrogen•ha−1. Within 10 or 15 years after cutting, the organic matter content of the floor decreases to 50 Mg•ha−1, and its nitrogen content to 1.1 Mg•ha−1. The question whether the decrease is rapid and the minimum broad and flat, or if the decrease is gradual and the minimum sharp, cannot be answered. The subsequent increase to levels reached in mature forest requires about 50 years. Some of the initial decrease in organic matter and nitrogen content of the forest floor may be caused by organic decomposition and nitrogen leaching, but mechanical and chemical mixing of floor into mineral soil, during and after the harvest operation, may also be important. The difference is vital with respect to maintenance of long-term productivity.

Predicting the effects of different harvesting regimes on productivity and yield in northern hardwoods

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Aber ◽  
Danield B. Botkin ◽  
Jerry M. Melillo
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Availability ◽  
Total Yield ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Northern Hardwoods ◽  
Net Production ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Litter Input ◽  
Forest Growth Model ◽  
Whole Tree ◽  
Forest Cutting

Projected levels of nitrogen availability resulting from seven different harvesting regimes in northern hardwoods were used as inputs to a forest growth model. Results were analysed in terms of differences in net production and total yield by treatment. Production was highest under long (90-year) rotations and was reduced under short (45- and 30-year) rotations. Intensive harvesting (whole tree and complete forest cutting) removed a greater percentage of net production than clear-cutting. Complete forest utilization on a 90-year rotation produced the greatest total yield assuming that all harvesting treatments had the same effect on rates of regeneration and successional changes in litter input to the forest floor.

scholarly journals Impacts of Clear Cutting on Diversity of Ground Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Pine Plantation Forest in Sukabumi Forest Management Unit, West Java

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-49
Author(s):  
A Budiaman ◽  
◽  
N F Haneda ◽  
A I Nugraha ◽  
F Haikal
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
Pitfall Trap ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Pine Plantation ◽  
Plantation Forest ◽  
West Java ◽  
Ant Community ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Harvesting Systems

Clear cutting is the main source of timber production of plantation forest management in Indonesia, but this activity disrupts the lives of ground ants. It is rarely known how clear cutting affects the ground ant community in the Indonesian plantation forest. The study aimed to analyze the impacts of clear cutting on the diversity of ground ants in the pine plantation forest of Sukabumi, West Java. The study compared the community structure of ground ants before clear cutting and after clear cutting. Ground ants were collected using a pitfall trap. Trapping of ground ants was carried out six days before the clear cutting and six days after the clear cutting. The ground ants were identified to the morphospecies level and classified into their functional role. The results showed that clear cutting alters the community indices of ground ants. Abundance, morphospecies composition, diversity index, richness index, and evenness index of ground ants after clear cutting was lower compared with those before clear cutting. The clear-felled area due to clear cutting provided favorable habitat for the generalist groups of ground ants, but negatively affected the predator and forager groups of ground ants. These findings can be used as an important factor in the development of environmenllyt-friendly forest harvesting systems in Indonesian plantation forests.

A regional paleolimnological assessment of the impact of clear-cutting on lakes from the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 479-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Laird ◽  
Brian Cumming ◽  
Rick Nordin
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Diatom Species ◽  
The West ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Reference Lakes

The impact of forest harvesting on lakes within the temperate rainforest on the west coast of Vancouver Island was examined in a paleolimnological study of four lakes that had 35–92% of their watersheds progressively clear-cut over a period of 15–30 years (impact lakes) and four lakes that had experienced little or no known anthropogenic disturbance in their watersheds (reference lakes). Changes in diatom species composition and percent organic matter in the 210Pb-dated sediment cores were compared over the last 100 years in each of the impact lakes before and after the onset of forest harvesting, which began in 1950, and before and after 1950 in the four reference lakes. Only one impact lake showed significant changes in percent organic matter. Significant changes (p < 0.05) in species composition following forest harvesting were detected in all four impact lakes and in one of the four reference lakes. However, the changes in diatom species composition following clear-cutting in the impact lakes were small, with changes in the relative abundance of the most common species being maximally 20%, but more typically 3–10%.

Forest floor characteristics and soil nitrogen availability on slash-burned sites in coastal British Columbia

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1516-1522 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Fyles ◽  
I. H. Fyles ◽  
W. J. Beese ◽  
M. C. Feller
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
N Mineralization ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Nitrogen Availability ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
N Availability ◽  
Order Kinetic ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
First Order ◽  
Morphological Criteria

Organic forest floor materials were surveyed on spring and fall slash-burned sites in the Sproat Lake region of Vancouver Island 2 years after burning. Dominant organic matter types, distinguished according to morphological criteria, were sampled and incubated in the laboratory for 26 weeks with periodic leaching and measurement of mineral N. Mineralization data closely fit a first-order kinetic model. Field mineralization, estimated using mass of each organic matter type in the field and first-order model parameters corrected for local temperature, ranged from 2 to 6 g N•m−2•year−1, depending on burn severity, suggesting that slash burning did not reduce N availability below levels required to support early plantation growth, except in situations of severe burns on coarse-textured soils. Differential consumption of forest floor organic matter types increased spatial variability in N mineralization and resulted, at the most severely burned site, in 50% of mineralizable N being derived from materials covering only 5% of the site. Significant correlation between N mineralization and codes and indices of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System indicated that predictions of slash-burn impacts on site fertility may be made from weather conditions prior to and during burning.

The relationship between forest management and amphibian ecology: a review of the North American literature

1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 230-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip G. deMaynadier ◽  
Malcolm L. Hunter Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Forest Practices ◽  
Logging Roads

Questions about the compatibility of forest harvesting practices and conservation of biological diversity are largely driven by concerns that habitat quality for many species may be degraded in intensively managed forest landscapes. We review the literature on relationships between common forest harvesting practices and the distribution and abundance of amphibians, a group that has attracted considerable attention in recent years because of their potential ecological importance in forest ecosystems and because of reports of widespread population declines. Clear-cut harvesting generally has negative short-term impacts on local amphibian populations, especially salamanders. An analysis of the results of 18 studies that examined the effects of clear-cutting on amphibians yielded a 3.5-fold median difference in abundance of amphibians on controls over clear-cuts. However, research on the influence of forest age suggests that the long-term effects of forest harvesting on amphibians are variable, and for many species these effects can be mitigated if regeneration practices leave adequate microhabitat structure intact. In contrast, long-term effects can be significant in forest plantations, which are often associated with intensive site preparations and stand management practices that modify levels of coarse woody debris and other microhabitats. Other forest practices reviewed for their effect on amphibians include prescribed fire, logging roads, and streamside harvesting. We discuss problems commonly encountered in the experimental design and measurement of forest amphibian populations, including a notable lack of pretreatment data, and outline several aspects of amphibian–forestry relationships in need of further research. Management recommendations relevant to conserving upland and riparian zone amphibian habitat during forest harvesting are offered.Key words: amphibians, clear-cutting, coarse woody debris, forest management, logging roads, plantations, prescribed fire, riparian, succession.

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