Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Soil Nitrogen Dynamics Following Harvesting And Conversion Of Red Alder And Douglas-Fir Stands, H. Van Miegroet, P. S. Homann, D. W. Cole

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Drastic reductions in NO3- leaching have been observed after harvesting of mature red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) stands. Our objective was to examine whether these reduction were linked to changes in soil N dynamics. Adjacent alder and Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziessii (Mirbel.) Franco] stands on young glacial soils (Alderwood; a loamy-skeletal, mixed, mesic, ortstein Aquic Haplorthod) in western Washington were harvested and replanted with either alder or Douglas fir seedlings; reference plots were established in nearby undisturbed stands. Three years after site conversion, when NO3- leaching declined most drastically in the harvested alder plots, net N mineralization and net nitrification …