Soil disturbance rehabilitation: A desk guide to techniques and monitoring

Abstract

Soil rehabilitation is reestablishing disturbed soil back to healthy conditions to raise site productivity as quickly as possible. Soil rehabilitation is a field of interest for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and an important resource management strategy that promotes and enhances ecosystem restoration. Site productivity directly relates to soil physical, chemical, and biome health; vegetation growth rates; and the biodiversity within plant and animal community assemblages. The National Forest Management Act regulates actions that substantially or permanently impair site productivity. It directs the Forest Service to protect, improve, and maintain renewable resources of denuded or deforested lands (USDA 1976) - the focus of this guide. Principles of soil rehabilitation are complex, and solutions are not simple, but resource managers can dramatically improve soil quality by developing site-specific, cost-effective rehabilitation plans. Each site approach should specify the required equipment and operating conditions to move forward successfully. The planning approach, appropriate methodology, equipment selection, and use of trained operators are crucial. Variability within results among sites should be expected, based on the individual site conditions (soil textures, organic matter, rock fragment size, landscape, and hydrology). More information is needed on the beneficial effects of the current methods when determining future forest productivity and timber operations - specifically on the productivity gains resulting from topsoil retention, decompaction, scarification, tillage, subsoiling, soil amending, revegetation, and reforestation. This guide provides descriptions of these techniques and the essential information gaps affecting their use.

Citation

Nash, Mohammad; Foltz, Meg; Page-Dumroese, Deborah; Napper, Carolyn. 2021. Soil disturbance rehabilitation: A desk guide to techniques and monitoring. 2025-1804-NTDP. San Dimas, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Technology and Development Program. 56 p.