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Project summary:
At the Warra Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, soil samples were investigated for the effect of harvesting and burning was found to be most pronounced in the upper 50 mm of soil. Bulk density increased from 0.58 Mg/m3 to 0.70 Mg/m3, while there was a loss of 3850 kg C/ha and 107 kg N/ha. A total of 13 kg P/ha was added. The changes were smaller at the 50-100 mm depth, with losses of 1470 kg C/ha and 72 kg N/ha and addition of 5 kg P/ha.
Only minor changes were apparent at the 100-200 mm and 200-300 mm depths. A series of permanent sample plots was established on this coupe to assess the longer term impact of forest harvesting and burning on soil chemical and physical properties. The location of all the post-burn sampling plots has been mapped using GPS to enable researchers in the future to quickly relocate and utilise these plots. See also: WRA155 Geology and soils of the Warra LTER site.
Methodology: Soil samples from 0-50 mm, 50 – 100 mm, 100 – 200 mm and 200 – 300 mm were taken from a clearfelled coupe (WR008B) before harvesting in 1998 and again in 2000, nine months after a high intensity regeneration burn. Analyses conducted included soil bulk density, pH, total organic C and total N and P.
Datasets: None available.
Publications: Laffan, M.D. (2001). Geology and soils of the Warra LTER Site: a preliminary description. Tasforests 13: 23-30.
Pennington, P. I & Laffan, M. (2004). Evaluation of the use of pre- and post-harvest bulk density measurements in wet Eucalyptus obliqua forest in Southern Tasmania. Ecological Indicators 4: 39-54.
Pennington, P., Laffan, M., Lewis, R. & Otahal, P. (2001). Assessing the long-term impacts of forest harvesting and high intensity broadcast burning on soil properties at the Warra LTER Site. Tasforests 13: 291-302.
Pennington, P., Laffan, M., Lewis, R. & Churchill, K. (2004). Impact of major snig tracks on the productivity of wet eucalypt forest in Tasmania measured 17-23 years after harvesting. Australian Forestry 67: 17-24.
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