scholarly journals Soil disturbance by cut-to-length machinery on mid-grained soils

Silva Fennica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Sirén ◽  
Jari Ala-Ilomäki ◽  
Harri Lindeman ◽  
Jori Uusitalo ◽  
Kalle Kiilo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Penetration Resistance ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Volumetric Water Content ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Measurement Point ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Cumulative Mass ◽  
Best Fit

Factors affecting soil disturbance caused by harvester and forwarder were studied on mid-grained soils in Finland. Sample plots were harvested using a one-grip harvester. The harvester operator processed the trees outside the strip roads, and the remaining residues were removed to exclude the covering effect of residues. Thereafter, a loaded forwarder made up to 5 passes over the sample plots. The average rut depth after four machine passes was positively correlated to the volumetric water content at a depth of 0–10 cm in mineral soil, as well as the thickness of the organic layer and the harvester rut depth, and negatively correlated with penetration resistance at depths of both 0–20 cm and 5–40 cm. We present 5 models to predict forwarder rut depth. Four include the cumulative mass driven over a measurement point and combinations of penetration resistance, water content and the depth of organic layer. The fifth model includes harvester rut depth and the cumulative overpassed mass and provided the best fit. Changes in the penetration resistance (PR) were highest at depths of 20–40 cm. Increase in BD and VWC decreased PR, which increased with total overdriven mass. After four to five machine passes PR values started to stabilize.

The impact of root exclusion on duff moisture and fire danger

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 978-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan K. Thompson ◽  
John Studens ◽  
Chelene Krezek-Hanes ◽  
B. Mike Wotton
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Root Water Uptake ◽  
Volumetric Water Content ◽  
Exclusion Experiment ◽  
Stand Type ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil Interface ◽  
Root Exclusion

The impact of root water uptake on duff (both fibric and humic horizons) moisture was investigated at deciduous, mixedwood, and conifer stands in Ontario, Canada. Roots were actively excluded from the duff layer using geotextiles inserted at the duff–mineral soil interface and along the plot edges; liquid and vapour water flow was otherwise not affected by the geotextiles. Root exclusion caused little difference in duff moisture content prior to early June, after which the root exclusion plots remained at 15%–20% volumetric water content, whereas root-intact plots declined to as low as 5% volumetric water content during rain-free periods. Only in the root-intact plots did the duff water content reach sufficiently low levels that duff evaporation was limited by low water content. The net effect of root exclusion was to reduce the cumulative growing season water loss in the duff by 19%–31%, depending on the stand type. Root exclusion also decreased the number of days with a high probability of duff smouldering from as many as 72 days·year−1 to as few as 0 days·year−1. This root exclusion experiment provides a model for short-term duff moisture transitions under thinned forests such as those forests under community wildfire protection.

Measuring duff moisture content in the field using a portable meter sensitive to dielectric permittivity

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Robichaud ◽  
D. S. Gasvoda ◽  
R. D. Hungerford ◽  
J. Bilskie ◽  
L. E. Ashmun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dielectric Permittivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Volumetric Water Content ◽  
Moisture Meter ◽  
Sample Chamber ◽  
Frequency Domain Reflectometry ◽  
Forest Cover Types ◽  
Gravimetric Water Content ◽  
Best Fit

Duff water content is an important consideration for fire managers when determining favourable timing for prescribed fire ignition. The duff consumption during burning depends largely on the duff water content at the time of ignition. A portable duff moisture meter was developed for real-time water content measurements of non-homogenous material such as forest duff. Using circuitry developed from time and frequency domain reflectometry (TDR and FDR) technologies, this sensor measures a change in frequency that is responsive to the dielectric permittivity of the duff material placed in a sample chamber and compressed. Duff samples from four forest cover types—Douglas fir, larch, lodgepole pine and spruce/alpine fir—were used to calibrate the frequency output to volumetric water content. A second-order polynomial (R2 = 0.97) provides the best fit of the data to volumetric water content. The accuracy of the duff moisture meter is ±1.5% at 30% volumetric water content and ±4% at 60% volumetric water content. The volumetric water content can readily be converted to gravimetric water content, which is used more frequently by fire managers and as an input to predictive models of duff consumption.

scholarly journals Laboratory measurements of nitric oxide release from forest soil with a thick organic layer under different understory types

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1425-1441 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bargsten ◽  
E. Falge ◽  
K. Pritsch ◽  
B. Huwe ◽  
F. X. Meixner
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
No Emission ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
No Fluxes

Abstract. Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the photochemistry of the troposphere. NO from soil contributes up to 40% to the global budget of atmospheric NO. Soil NO emissions are primarily caused by biological activity (nitrification and denitrification), that occurs in the uppermost centimeter of the soil, a soil region often characterized by high contents of organic material. Most studies of NO emission potentials to date have investigated mineral soil layers. In our study we sampled soil organic matter under different understories (moss, grass, spruce and blueberries) in a humid mountainous Norway spruce forest plantation in the Fichtelgebirge (Germany). We performed laboratory incubation and flushing experiments using a customized chamber technique to determine the response of net potential NO flux to physical and chemical soil conditions (water content and temperature, bulk density, particle density, pH, C/N ratio, organic C, soil ammonium, soil nitrate). Net potential NO fluxes (in terms of mass of N) from soil samples taken under different understories ranged from 1.7–9.8 ng m−2 s−1 (soil sampled under grass and moss cover), 55.4–59.3 ng m−2 s−1 (soil sampled under spruce cover), and 43.7–114.6 ng m−2 s−1 (soil sampled under blueberry cover) at optimum water content and a soil temperature of 10 °C. The water content for optimum net potential NO flux ranged between 0.76 and 0.8 gravimetric soil moisture for moss covered soils, between 1.0 and 1.1 for grass covered soils, 1.1 and 1.2 for spruce covered soils, and 1.3 and 1.9 for blueberry covered soils. Effects of soil physical and chemical characteristics on net potential NO flux were statistically significant (0.01 probability level) only for NH4+. Therefore, as an alternative explanation for the differences in soil biogenic NO emission we consider more biological factors like understory vegetation type, amount of roots, and degree of mycorrhization; they have the potential to explain the observed differences of net potential NO fluxes.

scholarly journals Laboratory measurements of nitric oxide release from forest soil with a thick organic layer under different understory types

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bargsten ◽  
E. Falge ◽  
B. Huwe ◽  
F. X. Meixner
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
No Emission ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
No Fluxes ◽  
No Emissions

Abstract. Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the photochemistry of the troposphere. NO from soil contributes up to 40% to the global budget of atmospheric NO. Soil NO emissions are primarily caused by biological activity (nitrification and denitrification), that occurs in the uppermost centimetres of the soil, a soil region often characterized by high contents of organic material. Most studies of NO emission potentials to date have investigated mineral soil layers. In our study we sampled soil organic matter under different understories (moss, grass, spruce and blueberries) in a humid mountainous Norway spruce forest plantation in the Fichtelgebirge (Germany). We performed laboratory incubation and fumigation experiments using a customized chamber technique to determine the response of net potential NO flux to physical and chemical soil conditions (water content and temperature, bulk density, particle density, pH, C/N ratio, organic C, soil ammonium, soil nitrate). Net potential NO fluxes (in terms of mass of N) from soils of different understories ranged from 1.7–9.8 ng m−2 s−1 (grass and moss), 55.4–59.3 ng m−2 s−1 (spruce), and 43.7–114.6 ng m−2 s−1 (blueberry) at optimum water content and a soil temperature of 10°C. The water content for optimum net potential NO flux ranged between 0.76 and 0.8 gravimetric soil moisture for moss, between 1.0 and 1.1 for grass, 1.1 and 1.2 for spruce, and 1.3 and 1.9 for blueberries. Effects of soil physical and chemical characteristics on net potential NO flux were statistically significant (0.01 probability level) only for NH4+. Therefore, the effects of biogenic factors like understory type, amount of roots, and degree of mycorrhization on soil biogenic NO emission are discussed; they have the potential to explain the observed different of net potential NO fluxes. Quantification of NO emissions from the upmost soil layer is therefore an important step to quantify soil NO emissions in ecosystems with substantial organic soil horizons.

Effect of inter-row cultivation on soil carbon dioxide emission in a peach plantation

2010 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Tóth ◽  
Cs. Farkas
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Content ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emission ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Favourable Effect ◽  
Volumetric Soil Water Content

Soil biological properties and CO2emission were compared in undisturbed grass and regularly disked rows of a peach plantation. Higher nutrient content and biological activity were found in the undisturbed, grass-covered rows. Significantly higher CO2fluxes were measured in this treatment at almost all the measurement times, in all the soil water content ranges, except the one in which the volumetric soil water content was higher than 45%. The obtained results indicated that in addition to the favourable effect of soil tillage on soil aeration, regular soil disturbance reduces soil microbial activity and soil CO2emission.

scholarly journals Germination, Establishment, and Mortality of Naturally Seeded Southwestern Ponderosa Pine

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Stein ◽  
Diana N. Kimberling
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Mortality Factors ◽  
Seedling Mortality ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Northern Arizona ◽  
Lepidopteran Larvae

Abstract Information on the mortality factors affecting naturally seeded conifer seedlings is becoming increasingly important to forest managers for both economic and ecological reasons. Mortality factors affecting ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) seedlings immediately following natural germination and through the following year were monitored in Northern Arizona. The four major mortality factors in temporal order included the failure of roots to establish in the soil (27%), herbivory by lepidopteran larvae (28%), desiccation (30%), and winterkill (10%). These mortality factors were compared among seedlings germinating in three different overstory densities and an experimental water treatment. Seedlings that were experimentally watered experienced greater mortality than natural seedlings due to herbivory (40%), nearly as much mortality due to the failure of roots to establish in the soil (20%), less mortality due to winterkill (5%), and no mortality due to desiccation. The seedling mortality data through time were summarized using survivorship curves and life tables. Our results suggest that managers should consider using prescribed burns to decrease the percentage of seedlings that die from failure of their roots to reach mineral soil and from attack by lepidopteran larvae. West. J. Appl. For. 18(2):109–114.

Laboratory Tests on Engineering Properties of Wind-Blown Sand

2012 ◽  
Vol 170-173 ◽  
pp. 706-709
Author(s):  
Zhao Lin Jia ◽  
Shu Wang Yan ◽  
Zhi Liang Huo
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Fine Sand ◽  
Engineering Properties ◽  
Grain Composition ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Compaction Curve ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Dry And Wet Conditions ◽  
Compaction Properties

By means of laboratory tests and theoretical calculation, the physical, mechanical properties and compaction mechanism of the wind-blown sand are studied to deal with the problem of how to use the wind-blown sand as roadbed materials. It is revealed that water content doesn’t affect the compressibility and the shear strength of the wind-blown sand obviously and the wind-blown sand can be compacted both in dry and wet conditions. The compaction curve of the ordinary fine sand is consistent with that of wind-blown sand and the main factors affecting the compaction properties are the grain composition, water content and compaction work.

Silvicultural treatments, microclimatic conditions and seedling response in Southern Interior clearcuts

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Fleming ◽  
T. A. Black ◽  
R. S. Adams ◽  
R. J. Stathers
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Seedling Establishment ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Organic Horizons ◽  
Soil Temperatures ◽  
Microclimatic Conditions

Post-harvest levels of soil disturbance and vegetation regrowth strongly influence microclimate conditions, and this has important implications for seedling establishment. We examined the effects of blading (scalping), soil loosening (ripping) and vegetation control (herbicide), as well as no soil disturbance, on growing season microclimates and 3-yr seedling response on two grass-dominated clearcuts at different elevations in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. Warmer soil temperatures were obtained by removing surface organic horizons. Ripping produced somewhat higher soil temperatures than scalping at the drier, lower-elevation site, but slightly reduced soil temperatures at the wetter, higher-elevation site. Near-surface air temperatures were more extreme (higher daily maximums and lower daily minimums) over the control than over exposed mineral soil. Root zone soil moisture deficits largely reflected transpiration by competing vegetation; vegetation removal was effective in improving soil moisture availability at the lower elevation site, but unnecessary from this perspective at the higher elevation site. The exposed mineral surfaces self-mulched and conserved soil moisture after an initial period of high evaporation. Ripping and scalping resulted in somewhat lower near-surface available soil water storage capacities. Seedling establishment on both clearcuts was better following treatments which removed vegetation and surface organic horizons and thus enhanced microclimatic conditions, despite reducing nutrient supply. Such treatments may, however, compromise subsequent stand development through negative impacts on site nutrition. Temporal changes in the relative importance of different physical (microclimate) and chemical (soil nutrition) properties to soil processes and plant growth need to be considered when evaluating site productivity. Key words: Microclimate, soil temperature, air temperature, soil moisture, clearcut, seedling establishment

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