Altered forest composition and soil properties of historic charcoal hearths in southeastern Pennsylvania

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J. Mikan ◽  
Marc D. Abrams

This study related age structure and composition of forests in southeastern Pennsylvania to edaphic properties caused by the activities of a local charcoal iron furnace from the late 18th to the late 19th century. Forests surrounding charcoal hearths were harvested on 20- to 30-year rotations to supply wood for charcoal production in earthmound kilns. Charcoal hearths were created by a recurring cycle of disturbance, including the removal of established vegetation, intense heat, and the deposition of charcoal. Thirty-eight hearths of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site were examined to describe differences in vegetation relative to surrounding forests that have developed since the cessation of charcoal production in 1883. Hearth forests were significantly younger than surrounding forests, with lower tree density and basal area, decreased sapling and shrub abundance, and higher herbaceous cover. Compositional differences on charcoal hearths included decreased importance of several Quercus species and ericaceous shrubs and increased importance of Liriodendrontulipifera L. Results of this study indicated that the initial effect of charcoal production was the prevention of stump sprouting and a delay in recolonization following disturbance due to extreme soil physical and chemical properties. Failure of hearth seedlings to recruit into larger size classes, age–diameter relationships of Liriodendrontulipifera L. trees, and the failure of calcifuge species to reestablish similar cover on charcoal hearths suggested that unfavorable properties of charcoal soils continue to negatively affect long-term productivity. Relative to nonhearth soils, large, significant differences in soil pH, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, and exchangeable Ca, Mg, and K indicated that continuing inhibition of woody plants on charcoal hearths may be related to alterations in soil chemistry that have persisted for 110 years.

1980 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. QUESNEL ◽  
L. M. LAVKULICH

The variability of forest floor properties over short distances and the number of samples required to achieve desired levels of precision for estimation of property means have received little attention. The importance of the forest floor for forest management is well known and increasingly forest floor characteristics are being used to classify forest sites. Highly variable forest floor properties require more intensive sampling and often have less predictive value for characterization and classification purposes. A study site at Port Hardy was used to characterize forest floors for selected physical and chemical properties. The three sites chosen represented xeric, mesic and hygric positions along a hygrotopic gradient. A stratified random sampling procedure was used to obtain 15 samples at each site. Fifteen samples were adequate to characterize the means at 10% allowable error with a 95% confidence level for total nitrogen, organic carbon, pH and cation exchange capacity. Greater than 15 samples were required for exchangeable bases and forest floor thickness for the same level of accuracy and confidence. Even at 25% allowable error and 90% confidence, 40 samples and 16 samples, respectively, were required for exchangeable Ca and Mg.


Author(s):  
Vítězslav Vlček ◽  
Miroslav Pohanka

Soil samples (n = 11) were collected in the chernozem areas of the Czech Republic (the Central Europe) from the topsoil and used as representative samples. All sampling areas have been used for agricultural purposes (arable soil) and they were selected as typical representatives of agricultural soil. These samples represented the soil with same genesis (to reduction differencies between soil types) but with different soil properties (physical and chemical). Complete chemical and physical analyses were made for confirmation of copper adsorption on solid phase: we analysed the particle size distribution, content of oxidizable carbon (Cox), the cation exchange capacity (CEC), supply of exchange calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus and potassium, soil reaction and the total supply of Fe, Al, Mn, Ca, Mg, K, P and N. The strongest simple correlation between analysed soil properties and copper concentration had content of available magnesium (r = 0.44) and available phosphorus (r = −0.51). In the case of multiple correlations (i. e. collective influence of multiple soil properties) had the strongest influence combination of clay, soil reaction, total content of phosphorus, available magnesium and available phosphorus. The main influence of phosphorus and magnesium is evident. We suppose that copper and phosphorus enter into specific complex. Influence of these five soil properties can explain 92.7 % (r = 0.927) changes in the content of copper changes in the experiment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dadi Feyisa ◽  
Endalkachew Kissi ◽  
Zerihun Kebebew

AbstractDespite their restriction, smallholder farmers have been continuing growing Eucalyptus globulus in the cultivated land in the central highland of Ethiopia. Literature has shown controversial issues against E. globulus. Therefore, the objective of the study was to investigate the compatibility of E. globulus in the smallholder farmers’ land use system. Soil samples were collected from five different land uses and analysed for selected physical and chemical properties. The socioeconomic contribution of E. globulus was collected through household surveys from 110 households. Analysis of soil showed that organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were significantly higher (P<0.05) under E. globulus compared to the cultivated land. The survey results also showed that the largest proportion (58%) of households was interested in growing E. globulus because of its multiple uses. About 83% of households responded that E. globulus help them to attain food security through increasing the purchasing power of smallholder farmers to buy agricultural inputs and food. This study has substantiated the role of E. globulus in the land use system of smallholder farmers. Most of the soil fertility indicators were better under E. globulus. The present finding reveals that E. globulus degrade the soil seemingly difficult to generalise. Growing E. globulus must be promoted under appealing land use to enhance smallholder farmers’ livelihoods. Removing E. globulus from the land use system may jeopardise the food security situation of many households.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Rockwood ◽  
Martin F. Ellis ◽  
Ruliang Liu ◽  
Fengliang Zhao ◽  
Puhui Ji ◽  
...  

Eucalypts can be very productive when intensively grown as short rotation woody crops (SRWC) for bioproducts. In Florida, USA, a fertilized, herbicided, and irrigated cultivar planted at 2471 trees/ha could produce over 58 green mt/ha/year in 3.7 years, and at 2071 trees/ha, its net present value (NPV) exceeded $750/ha at a 6% discount rate and stumpage price of $11.02/green mt. The same cultivar grown less intensively at three planting densities had the highest stand basal area at the highest density through 41 months, although individual tree diameter at breast height (DBH) was the smallest. In combination with an organic fertilizer, biochar improved soil properties, tree leaf nutrients, and tree growth within 11 months of application. Biochar produced from Eucalyptus and other species is a useful soil amendment that, especially in combination with an organic fertilizer, could improve soil physical and chemical properties and increase nutrient availability to enhance Eucalyptus tree nutrition and growth on sandy soils. Eucalypts produce numerous naturally occurring bioproducts and are suitable feedstocks for many other biochemically or thermochemically derived bioproducts that could enhance the value of SRWCs.


Soil Systems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Ehsan Zare ◽  
Nan Li ◽  
Tibet Khongnawang ◽  
Mohammad Farzamian ◽  
John Triantafilis

The clay alluvial plains of Namoi Valley have been intensively developed for irrigation. A condition of a license is water needs to be stored on the farm. However, the clay plain was developed from prior stream channels characterised by sandy clay loam textures that are permeable. Cheap methods of soil physical and chemical characterisations are required to map the supply channels used to move water on farms. Herein, we collect apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) from a DUALEM-421 along a 4-km section of a supply channel. We invert ECa to generate electromagnetic conductivity images (EMCI) using EM4Soil software and evaluate two-dimensional models of estimates of true electrical conductivity (σ—mS m−1) against physical (i.e., clay and sand—%) and chemical properties (i.e., electrical conductivity of saturated soil paste extract (ECe—dS m−1) and the cation exchange capacity (CEC, cmol(+) kg−1). Using a support vector machine (SVM), we predict these properties from the σ and depth. Leave-one-site-out cross-validation shows strong 1:1 agreement (Lin’s) between the σ and clay (0.85), sand (0.81), ECe (0.86) and CEC (0.83). Our interpretation of predicted properties suggests the approach can identify leakage areas (i.e., prior stream channels). We suggest that, with this calibration, the approach can be used to predict soil physical and chemical properties beneath supply channels across the rest of the valley. Future research should also explore whether similar calibrations can be developed to enable characterisations in other cotton-growing areas of Australia.


1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (70) ◽  
pp. 694 ◽  
Author(s):  
EH Mikhail ◽  
WI Walbran

Lemnos loam, a red-brown earth used for fruit production in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria, has degrees of friability in the subsoil as assessed in the field. Forty-one samples from three subsoil depths were obtained from 25 sites near Kyabram. Aggregate stability, as measured in the laboratory was found to be related to field assessments of friability. Exchangeable cations, pH, silt, clay and clay minerals were determined on the samples. By relating some of these measurements to aggregate stability it has been shown that exchangeable Ca++ contributes to a strongly aggregated soil (friable) ; and silt, exchangeable Na+ and exchangeable Mg++ to a weakly aggregated soil (less friable). The effect of silt and exchangeable Na+ is greater than that of exchangeable Ca++ and exchangeable Mg++. A multiple regression equation describing the effect of these four significant factors on stability percentage is presented. This equation accounts for 85.5 per cent of the variation in stability percentage. There is a strong relationship between field assessment of friability and exchangeable Ca++/Mg++ ratio; the higher the ratio, the more friable is the soil.


1969 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. W. Bache ◽  
R. G. Heathcote

SummaryOn a site in the Sudan Savanna, chemical properties of soils (except for phosphate) and the composition of cotton leaves were determined after fifteen annual treatments including dung, ammonium sulphate, single superphosphate and potassium chloride, in all combinations of three levels. In the soils dung increased C, N, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable Ca and Mg and pH, and decreased soluble Al and Mn; ammonium sulphate decreased pH, increased soluble Al and Mn, and decreased exchangeable Ca and Mg; potassium chloride had no obvious effects. In the plants dung increased P and reduced Mn; ammonium sulphate reduced Ca and Mg, and increased Mn; superphosphate increased P, Ca and Mg, and reduced K; potassium chloride increased K slightly. The most important results were the ability of ammonium sulphate to acidify the soil, as shown by soil properties and reflected in tissue composition, and the ability of dung to ameliorate these effects. Reduction of crop yield in the presence of adequate nutrient supply seems to have been due to excessive soil acidity.


Author(s):  
Juliany Barbosa de Pinho ◽  
Aloisio Bianchini ◽  
Pedro Silvério Xavier Pereira ◽  
Letycia Cunha Nunes ◽  
Rodrigo Fernandes Daros ◽  
...  

From the pyrolysis process, biochar is a carbon rich and recalcitrant organic material with potential for long term carbon sequestration because of its aromatic structure. However, the physical and chemical properties of the biochar vary due to the diversity of raw material and the conditions of production. The present study aimed to evaluate the biochar from the sugarcane bagasse at different temperatures and under two conditions of pyrolysis. The biochar was produced at two final temperatures 200°C (1 hour); 250°C (1h) and 250°C (2h), with pyrolysis of an oxidizing and non-oxidizing atmosphere for both. PH, cation exchange capacity (CTC), carbon content (C), Nitrogen (N), hydrogen (H), H:C, C:N and ash ratios were evaluated. The contents of C, H, N and the atomic ratios H:C and C:N were higher in Biochar produced in a non-oxidizing atmosphere (BNO). However, the content of ash, pH and CTC were higher in Biochar produced in oxidizing atmospheres (BO). One can conclude the direct influence of the pyrolysis condition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fajri ◽  
Pratiwi PRATIWI ◽  
Yosep Ruslim

Abstract. Fajri M, Pratiwi, Ruslim Y. 2020. The characteristics of Shorea macrophylla’s habitat in Tane’ Olen, Malinau District, North Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 3454-3462.  Shorea macrophylla is a tree species in Tane' Olen forest area. This study analyzed the soil’s physical and chemical properties, topography, and microclimate of S. macrophylla’s habitat. A purposive method was used to select a sampling plot and to place the subplots. Soil was analyzed to determine the physical properties, i.e., texture, bulk density, porosity, and water content, and the chemical properties, i.e., pH, CEC, total N, organic C, C/N ratio, P, K , and Al saturation. Importance value index was determined for each tree species to know the species composition in the study site. Only the dominant species were presented. The soil at the study site had bulk density of 0.60-1.31 gram cm³-1, porosity 50.60%-77.35%, water content 34.88%-95.37%, and soil texture sandy clay. The chemical properties of the soil were as follows: pH was 3.6-4.8, N 0.05%-0.19%, organic C 1.40%-3.65%, P 0.41-1.22 mg 100 gr-1, K 58.68-232.55 mg 100 gr-1, and Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) 5.35-10.81 meg 100gr -1. Slope ranged between 0 and 25%. The microclimate characteristics were as follows: temperature was 24-26.5°C, relative humidity 76-87%, and light intensity 145-750 Lm. Trees species with an IVI ≥ 10% were S. macrophylla, Madhuca spectabilis, Myristica villosa Warb, Scorodocarpus borneensis, Eugenia spp., Palaquium spp., Macaranga triloba, Syzygium inophyllum and Shorea sp. Positive associations were observed between S. macropylla and S. borneensis, Eugenia spp., Palaquium spp.. and M. triloba, and negative associations were observed between S. macropylla and M. spectabilis, M. villosa Warb, S. inophyllum, and Shorea sp. S. macrophylla grows on riversides with flat and gentle topography, acidic soil, and lower fertility but with suitable microclimate. This species can be recommended to be planted in degraded tropical forest areas but the microclimate and soil properties should be taken into account.


1992 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. P. Papanicolaou ◽  
C. G. Apostolakis ◽  
V. Skarlou ◽  
C. Nobeli ◽  
P. Kritidis

SummaryIn a glasshouse pot experiment in Athens, Greece in 1989, 85Sr to calcium observed ratios (OR) based on the values of exchangeable Ca instead of soil Ca (ORexCa), were determined for crops or plant parts grown in eight soils widely differing in their physical and chemical properties. Compared to the values of concentration ratio (CRs) the values of ORexCa did not show as wide variation with the soil type. They were relatively constant and usually not related to soil properties. The ORexCa values were essentially the same as OR values for the non-calcareous soils and much smaller than the OR values for calcareous soils, considering as soil Ca in the calculation of OR, the sum exchangeable, watersoluble and CaCO3 Ca.The values of 85Sr/Ca + Mg observed ratios (ORexCaMg) were just as good as the ORexCa values, while those of 85Sr/Ca + Mg + K + Na (ORex bases) showed more variation.Highly significant (P <0·01) correlations were observed between the fractions of the observed ratios ORexCa, ORexCaMg and ORex bases, for each crop or plant part tested.


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