Leaching of cations and sulphate after mechanical site preparation at a boreal forest clear-cut area

Geoderma ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 149 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 386-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirpa Piirainen ◽  
Leena Finér ◽  
Hannu Mannerkoski ◽  
Michael Starr
Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Filicetti ◽  
Michael Cody ◽  
Scott Nielsen

Seismic lines are narrow linear (~3–8 m wide) forest clearings that are used for petroleum exploration in Alberta’s boreal forest. Many seismic lines have experienced poor tree regeneration since initial disturbance, with most failures occurring in treed peatlands that are used by the threatened woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Extensive networks of seismic lines, which often reach densities of 40 km/km2, are thought to have contributed to declines in caribou. The reforestation of seismic lines is therefore a focus of conservation. Methods to reforest seismic lines are expensive (averaging $12,500 per km) with uncertainty of which seismic lines need which treatments, if any, resulting in inefficiencies in restoration actions. Here, we monitored the effectiveness of treatments on seismic lines as compared to untreated seismic lines and adjacent undisturbed reference stands for treed peatlands in northeast Alberta, Canada. Mechanical site preparation (mounding and ripping) increased tree density when compared to untreated lines, despite averaging 3.8-years since treatment (vs. 22 years since disturbance for untreated). Specifically, treated lines had, on average, 12,290 regenerating tree stems/ha, which is 1.6-times more than untreated lines (7680 stems/ha) and 1.5-times more than the adjacent undisturbed forest (8240 stems/ha). Using only mechanical site preparation, treated seismic lines consistently have more regenerating trees across all four ecosites, although the higher amounts of stems that were observed on treated poor fens are not significant when compared to untreated or adjacent undisturbed reference stands.


2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 2072-2079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lance W. Lazaruk ◽  
S. Ellen Macdonald ◽  
Gavin Kernaghan

We characterized the ectomycorrhizae (ECM) of planted white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings as affected by mechanical site preparation (MSP) of clear-cut conifer-dominated boreal mixedwood forest. Relative abundance, richness, and composition of the ECM community were compared among untreated control, mixed, mounded, and scalped site preparation treatments. On >11 000 root tips, we observed 16 ECM morphotypes. Those common to the nursery in which the seedlings were raised were most abundant ( Thelephora americana , Wilcoxina -like (E-strain), Amphinema byssoides , Phialocephala -like (MRA)). Seedlings in the untreated controls had lower abundances of these, but higher abundances of other ECM, which were not present in the nursery of origin but were indigenous to these forest stands. In terms of ECM composition, the “mixed” treatment was most similar to the untreated control, while the “scalped” and “mound” treatments showed significantly different ECM communities than the controls. Our results suggest that MSP may facilitate continued dominance by ECM that establish on seedlings in the nursery while slowing the natural succession towards the natural forest ECM. MSP treatments that leave some surface organic matter relatively intact may impact ECM less than those that remove or bury the organic layer.


2007 ◽  
Vol 243 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirpa Piirainen ◽  
Leena Finér ◽  
Hannu Mannerkoski ◽  
Michael Starr

2019 ◽  
Vol 186 ◽  
pp. 52-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raimo Sutinen ◽  
Nils Gustavsson ◽  
Pekka Hänninen ◽  
Maarit Middleton ◽  
Marja Liisa Räisänen

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Schmidt ◽  
S. E. Macdonald ◽  
R. L. Rothwell

We examined the impacts of harvesting and mechanical site preparation (MSP) on soil chemical properties of mixed-wood boreal forest sites in west central Alberta. Treatments included: 1) disc trencher, hinge, and trench microsites; 2) ripper plow, hinge, and trench microsites; 3) blading thin (organic layer depth < 2 cm), and thick (organic layer depth > 2 cm) microsites; 4) harvested with no site preparation; and 5) unharvested. Twenty months after harvesting, the forest floor of harvested areas with no MSP (vs. unharvested) had higher carbon:nitrogen ratios lower pH, and lower concentrations of total and mineralizable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable bases Fifteen months after MSP, treated areas had either reduced or unchanged concentrations of total nitrogen and carbon, available phosphorus, and mineralizable nitrogen in the surface mineral soil, compared with harvested sites with no site preparation. The MSP-treated areas also had increased or unchanged pH, base saturation, and exchangeable base concentrations. Microsites adjacent to the displaced forest floor (hinge for disc and ripper treatments) or with a thicker organic layer (thick for blading) generally had higher concentrations of total nitrogen and carbon, and mineralizable nitrogen in the surface mineral soil as compared to trench and thin microsites. Key words: Forest soils, mechanical site preparation, harvesting, N, P, mixed-wood boreal forest


1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Youngblood ◽  
John C. Zasada

Reforestation options for artificial regeneration of white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) were tested on three floodplain sites near Fairbanks, Alaska. Survival of containerized seedlings after outplanting was above 96%, regardless of harvest cutting method or mechanical site preparation, and declined little between the third and fifth growing seasons. Establishment and survival after direct seeding on seed spots was more variable and differed by harvest cutting method, by type of site preparation, and by the use of plastic seed shelters for seedling protection. Maximum terminal leader growth, seedling total height, and basal diameter were found on planted seedlings in clear-cut units on the better site. In clear-cut units prepared by blading on one site, basal diameter of seedlings five seasons after outplanting was almost 50% more than on similar surfaces in shelterwood units. Planted seedlings on unscarified surfaces and in small scalped patches generally had similar basal diameters. Results suggested that similar interior Alaska floodplain forests of white spruce can be successfully regenerated by using the clear-cutting harvest method and planting nursery-reared seedlings without mechanical site preparation.


1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 222-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Michael Aust ◽  
James A. Burger ◽  
William H. McKee ◽  
Gregory A. Scheerer ◽  
Mark D. Tippett

Abstract Wet-weather harvesting operations on wet pine fiats can cause soil disturbances that may reduce long-term site productivity. Site preparation and fertilization are often recommended as ameliorative practices for such disturbances, but few studies have actually quantified their effects on restoration. The purposes of this study were to quantify the effects of wet-weather harvest traffic in designated skid trails on soil properties and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) growth, and to evaluate the ameliorative effects of site preparation. Study sites were established on wet pine flats of the lower Coastal Plain within the Francis Marion National Forest (Berkeley County, SC). Treatments were arranged in a split-split plot within a randomized complete block design. Treatments were two levels of traffic (nontrafficked, trafficked), four levels of mechanical site preparation (none, disking, bedding, disking + bedding), and two levels of fertilization (none, 337 kg /ha of 10-10-10 fertilizer). initially, the trafficking increased soil bulk densities and reduced soil water movement and subsequent growth of loblolly pine (years 1 and 2). Bedding combined with fertilization restored site productivity to non trafficked levels within 4 yr, but disking or fertilization treatments alone were not effective at ameliorating the traffic effects. The effectiveness of the bedding and fertilization treatments for amelioration of traffic effects was probably facilitated by the relatively small area of disturbed skid trails (<10%) found on these sites. Areas having more severe disturbance or higher percentages of disturbance might not be ameliorated as rapidly. South. J. Appl. For. 22(4):222-226.


Silva Fennica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noé Dumas ◽  
Mathieu Dassot ◽  
Jonathan Pitaud ◽  
Jérôme Piat ◽  
Lucie Arnaudet ◽  
...  

Mechanical site preparation methods that used tools mounted on lightweight excavators and that provided localised intensive preparation were tested in eight experimental sites across France where the vegetation was dominated either by (L.) Moench or (L.) Kuhn. Two lightweight tools (Deep Scarifier: DS; Deep Scarifier followed by Multifunction Subsoiler: DS+MS) were tested in pine ( L., var. (Loudon) Hyl. or Aiton) and oak ( (Matt.) Liebl. or  L.) plantations. Regional methods commonly used locally (herbicide, disk harrow, mouldboard plow) and experimental methods (repeated herbicide application; untreated control) were used as references in the experiments. Neighbouring vegetation cover, seedling survival, height and basal diameter were assessed over three to five years after plantation. For pines growing in , seedling diameter after four years was 37% and 98% greater in DS and DS+MS, respectively, than in the untreated control. For pines growing in , it was 62% and 107% greater in the same treatments. For oak, diameter was only 4% and 15% greater in , and 13% and 25% greater in , in the same treatments. For pines, the survival rate after four years was 26% and 32% higher in and 64% and 70% higher in , in the same treatments. For oak, it was 3% and 29% higher in and 37% and 31% higher in . Herbicide, when applied for three or four years after planting, provided the best growth performances for pines growing in and and for oaks growing in . For these species and site combinations, DS+MS and DS treatments reduced the neighbouring vegetation cover for one to four years following site preparation.Molinia caeruleaPteridium aquilinumPinus sylvestrisPinus nigracorsicanaPinus pinasterQuercus petraeaQuercus roburM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caerulea P. aquilinumP. aquilinum


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