Soil and air temperature and biomass after residue treatment.

Abstract

Air temperature at 0.5 m and soil temperature at 0.01 m were measured during May and early June after forest harvest on four residue treatment sites and a control. Broadcast burning or burning in piles increased daily accumulation of heat in air while scattered chips and scarified and cleared treatments were equal to the control (broadcast, untreated slash). During mid-afternoon, the pile-and-burn treatment was warmest; near sunrise, the broadcast burn was consistently warmer. Soil temperature within the chipped plot was colder than in the other plots. For seeded and unseeded plots, the production of aboveground biomass showed the progression: burn pile < scarified < chipped < broadcast slash < broadcast burn.

Citation

Fowler, W.B.; Helvey, J.D. 1981. Soil and air temperature and biomass after residue treatment. Res. Note PNW-RN-383. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 6 p