Canadian Forest Service Publications
Effects of Biomass Removal Levels on Soil Carbon and Nutrient Reserves in Conifer-Dominated, Coarse-Textured Sites in Northern Ontario: 20-Year Results. 2019. Morris, D.; Hazlett, P.W.; Fleming, R.L.; Kwiaton, M.; Hawdon, L.; Leblanc, J.-D.; Primavera, M.; Weldon, T. Hydrological Processes: 10.2136/sssaj2018.08.0306.
Year: 2019
Issued by: Great Lakes Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 39780
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2018.08.0306
† This site may require a fee
Plain Language Summary
This paper reports on 20-year post-harvest soil (forest floor + upper 20 cm of mineral soil) carbon and nutrient reserves from 14 biomass removal trials established on coarse-textured, nutrient poor sites in northern Ontario as part of the North American Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) Experiment. Harvest treatments included: stem only (delimbed at the stump), b), full-tree (the entire trees with boles and branches removed), and full-tree + forest floor removal (full-tree harvest followed by blading off the forest floor and approximately the upper 5 cm of mineral soil). The results suggest there is no need for restrictions on full-tree harvesting for traditional wood products on nutrient poor sites. However, from a cautionary perspective, it seems prudent at this time to restrict more intensive bioenergy harvests to deep, finer-textured sites that have larger soil carbon and nutrient reserves.
