Soil Properties in CRUI Land Use Project at Harvard Forest 1995-1998|土壤科学数据集|土地利用数据集

Soil properties and processes were evaluated on three types of colonial agricultural land-use - plowing, pasturing, and selective tree removal in a woodlot that ceased in the mid to late 1800s. Plowing, the most intensive type of agricultural disturbance, mixes soil to a depth of approximately 15cm, homogenizing the soil resources and likely reducing diversity in microenvironments. Removing trees and replacing them with grasses for pasture decreases the organic matter amount and types of inputs to the system, decreasing resource diversity. Woodlots, altered by selective and chronic tree removal, would have more limited decreases in resources and microenvironments. This study defines forest soil legacies using data from plots located at Harvard Forest in both amounts of soil resources and spatial heterogeneity of those soil resources. We found that for several soil parameters measured on previously cultivated and preciously pastured lands at the Harvard Forest, a legacy exists in the mineral soil, but the forest floor appears to have largely recovered from the agricultural disturbance. Parameters examined included soil mass, bulk density, organic matter content, pH, C, N, nitrogen mineralization and nitrification, Ca, Mg, K, and P.