Changes in soil properties, tree growth, and nutrition over a period of 10 years after stump removal and scarification on moderately coarse soils in interior British Columbia

• Published in: Forest ecology and management Vol. 242; no. 2; pp. 625 - 635
• Main Author: Hope, Graeme D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 30-04-2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Bulk density; coniferous forests; Foliar nutrients; foliar uptake; forest litter; forest soils; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; hybrids; nutrients; Picea engelmannii; Picea glauca; Pinus contorta; Scarification; silvicultural practices; site preparation; soil chemical properties; Soil chemistry; Soil disturbance; soil physical properties; soil productivity; Stump removal; stump removal treatments; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; Tree growth; tree nutrition; British Columbia; Canada; North America; America; Soil chemistry; Bulk density; Scarification; Tree growth; Stump removal; Soil disturbance; Foliar nutrients; Nutrition; Growth; Perturbation; Soils; Tree; Nutrient; Stump(tree)
• ISSN: 0378-1127; 1872-7042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2007.01.072

Silvicultural site preparation treatments that involve severe soil and forest floor disturbance may, in the long-term, reduce soil productivity and negate the initial increased forest productivity obtained by controlling root diseases or vegetation. The effect of a range of stump removal treatments on selected soil chemical and physical properties, and growth of planted lodgepole pine (
Pinus contorta) and hybrid spruce (
Picea glauca (Moench) Voss
×
Picea engelmanii Parry), was examined at three sites in the Interior Cedar–Hemlock (ICH) zone of British Columbia. Changes in forest floor and mineral soil chemistry and bulk density were measured 1 year after treatment and again 9 years later. Tree growth and foliar nutrient status of planted seedlings were measured 3, 5 and 10 years after planting. Forest floor mass and depth were altered by treatment, and decreased significantly between years 1 and 10. Mineral soil bulk density was greater in all stump-removal treatments than in the non-stumped treatment in year 1; however, 10 years after treatment, bulk densities had decreased and no treatment effects were apparent. Changes in forest floor chemistry that were measured in year 1 had largely disappeared by year 10. Mineral soil chemical concentrations were not affected by treatment at any time, except for a significant increase in carbon (C) concentration between years 1 and 10. Lodgepole pine height and diameter were increased over the measurement period by the most intense, scarified treatment, whereas spruce growth was largely unaffected by stump removal treatment. Both tree growth and soil measurements suggest that, on the moderately coarse soils within the climatic regime of the present study, soil limits to tree growth have not been exceeded.