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Scientia silvica extension series, no. 4

Forest Sciences Department, University of British Columbia

The forest floor represents the uppermost organic and organicenriched mineral soil horizons. They have been formed by the deposition of organic material and the subsequent biologically mediated decomposition. The forest floor influences rooting-zone temperature, aeration, moisture, and nutrient conditions, and hence, forest productivity. Considering the importance of the forest floor, and the fact that it is exposed to disturbance (being the surface layer), we need to assess the potential impacts our logging practices may have. Clearcutting, one of the contentious silvicultural practices used in British Columbia, is imputed to most adversely affect ecosystems and sustainability. We assessed the long-term impact of clearcutting on the forest floor by documenting changes in the thickness, chemical and biotic properties of the humus form across a chronosequence of forest stands. The study was located in the largest and most representative portion of the coastal rainforest the Very Wet Maritime Coastal Western Hemlock (CWHvm) subzone.

Clearcutting; West Coast hemlock; Biodiversity; Forest floor; Humification; Humus; Soil fauna; Plant succession; Forest biodiversity; Soil chronosequences; Soil nutrients; Soil microbiology

Text

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0107250

Forestry, Faculty of; Forest Sciences, Department of

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