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Long-Term Soil Fertility and Site Productivity in Stem-Only and Whole-Tree Harvested Stands in Boreal Forest of Quebec (Canada)

Summary

Published in Forests 12(5): 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12050583

Using residual biomass from forest harvesting to produce energy is viewed increasingly as a means to reduce fossil fuel consumption. However, the impact such practices on soil and future site productivity remains a major concern. We revisited 196 forest plots that were subject to either whole-tree (WTH) or stem-only (SOH) harvesting 30 years ago in the boreal forest in Quebec, Canada. Plots were stratified by four soil regions grouped by so-called ‘soil provinces’. Soil analyses indicated that after 30 years, the forest floor of WTH sites had smaller pools of N (−8%), exchangeable Ca (−6%) and exchangeable Mn (−21%) and a higher C/N ratio (+12%) than that of SOH sites. Mineral soil responses to the two harvesting intensities differed among soil provinces. In the two coarse-textured granitic soil provinces, organic matter, organic carbon, and nitrogen pools over the whole solum (0–60 cm soil depth) were at least 28% smaller after WTH than after SOH. Site productivity indicators followed differences between soils and were lower after WTH than after SOH in the two granitic soil provinces. The study shows that soil characteristics greatly influence a soil’s sensitivity to increased forest biomass harvesting in the long term.

Sector(s): 

Forests

Categorie(s): 

Scientific Article

Theme(s): 

Ecosystems and Environment, Forestry Research, Forests, Silviculture

Author(s)

OUIMET, Rock, Louis DUCHESNE et Stéphane TREMBLAY

Year of publication :

2021

Format :

PDF

ISSN

1999-4907

Keywords :

biomasse forestière, récolte par arbre entier, productivité des sols, carbone du sol, qualité de station, régions pédologiques, écologie forestière, sylviculture et rendement des forêts naturelles - peuplements résineux, article scientifique de la recherche forestière, forest biomass, whole-tree harvesting, soil productivity, soil carbon, site quality index, soil regions, forestry research scientific article, forest ecology, silviculture and yield of natural forests - softwood stands

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