Forest Soils & Vegetation Development

1. Forest Soils & Vegetation Development SOILS = f (?????) SOILS = f (cl, r, o, p, t, …..H) 1

2. 2

3. How would you solve this equation??? OR How would you design the research to solve this equation???? 3

4. This is called a ??? Climofunction 4

5. Eg: S1 = f(cla,pa,ra,oa,ta,..,)S2 = f(clb,pa,ra,oa,ta,..,)S3 = f(clc,pa,ra,oa,ta,..,)S4 = f(cld,pa,ra,oa,ta,..,) Quantitative research! 5

6. Can this type of research be accomplished??? 6

7. Chronosequence??? 7

8. Qualitative research!! ??? Maybe Quantitative now Eg: S1 = f(cl1.0,p1.0,r1,0,o1.0,t1,..,)S2 = f(cl1.1,p1.2,r1.2,o1.2,t2,..,)S3 = f(cl1.1,p1.3,r1.5,o1.2,t3,..,)S4 = f(cl1.2,p1.1,r1.0,o1.0,t4,..,) 8

9. Soils or some soil property may be described as ‘mature’ or in ‘equilibrium’ or ‘STEADY STATE’when: t1 9

10. The change in SOILSor soil parameters is called?? Is steady state common in ecosystems?? (pedogenesis) 10

11. Pedogenic processes involve: • additions of organic & mineral materials to the soil as solids, liquids & gases (eg, littering, cumulization) • losses of those from the soil (eg, leaching, erosion) • translocations of materials from one point to another within the soil (eg, eluviation, illuviation, podzolization) • transformations of mineral & organic substances within the soil (eg, decomposition, mineralization) 11

12. Processes affect soil development • Processes affect vegetation BUT! • Soil affects processes, AND • Vegetation affects processes SO 12

13. SOILS affect Vegetation And • Vegetation affects SOILS AND • HUMANS affect both!! 13

14. Forest Soils & Vegetation Development So with MANAGEMENT we can affect both Vegetation AND SOILS 14

15. Soil Physical Propertiesaffect tree growth • ???? 15

16. Texture Sandy soil? Clayey soil? Loams just right? Ameliorate poor texture? OM? ??? 16

17. Structure • Moderates effects of texture • Water percolation • Aeration • Bulk density • OM? • Coatings of Fe or CaCO3, salts • ??? 17

18. Bulk Density • Root penetration • Affects pore volume -water, air, ??? • Management affects BD? • negative, positive?? 18

19. Color • Depicts OM, moisture, parent material, salts, ?? • Affects temperatures • Indirectly, if OM, it affects nutrients, moisture, etc??? 19

20. Temperature • Affects soil organisms, chemistry, weathering of minerals 20

21. Water • Adhesion • Cohesion • Water potential • Matric – attraction btwn water & soil particles • Osmotic – soluble salts, important in dry soils • Gravitational – water in large pores (saturated-field capacity) • Field capacity – after saturated soil drains • Permanent wilting point - 21

22. U.S. Soil Taxonomy Soil Orders 23

23. Major Soil Types in Forest Regions Most Common Soil Orders Gelisols, Spodosols, Histosols, Inceptisols Alfisols, Inceptisols, Ultisols, Spodosols, Entisols, Mollisols Ultisols, Inceptisols, Oxisols, Andisols Major Forest Types Boreal Temp conifer, mixed, hardwood, & montane Tropical rain forests, monsoon forests, dry forest 24

25. Processes: • 1a. Eluviation Movement of material out of a portion of a soil profile as in an albic horizon (E) • 1b. Illuviation Movement of material into a portion of soil profile as in an argillic (Bt) or spodic (Bs or Bhs) horizon 26

26. Processes: • 2a. Leaching General term for washing out or eluviating soluble materials from the solum • 2b. Enrichment General term for addition of material to a soil body

27. Processes: • 3a. Erosion Removal of material from the surface layer of a soil • 3b. Cumulization Aeolian, hydrologic & human-made additions of mineral particles to the surface of a soil solum [also urbic, garbic, spolic?]

28. Processes: • 4a. Decalcification Reactions that remove (or move out) CaCO3 from one or more soil horizons • 4b. Calcification Processes including accumulation of CaCO3 in Ck & possibly other horizons (Bk)

29. Processes: • 5a. Salinization Accumulation of soluble salts (eg SO4’s & Cl’s of Ca, Mg, Na or K) in salic (Bz) (salty) horizons • 5b. Desalinization Removal of soluble salts from salic soil horizons

30. Processes: • 6a. Alkalization or solonization Accumulation of Na ions on the exchange sites in a soil • 6b. Dealkalization or solodization Leaching of Na ions& salts from a natric (Btn) horizon

31. Processes: • 7a. Lessivage Mechanical migration of small mineral particles from the A to the B horizon producing a clay enriched B horizon (ie, argillic = Bt) • 7b. Pedoturbation Biologic, physical (freeze-thaw & wet-dry cycles) churning & cycling of soil materials, thereby homogenizing the solum in varying degrees. Eg

32. Processes: 7b. Pedoturbation - Eg • faunal pedoturbation - animals • floral pedoturbation - plants (eg, tip overs) • congellipedoturbation - freeze-thaw • argillipedoturbation - mass wasting • movements by expansion of clays • aeropedoturbation - mix soil gases (after rain) • aquapedoturbation - mix soil H2O (upwelling • currents) • crystalpedoturbation - mix crystal growth • seismipedoturbation

33. Processes: • 8a. Podzolization Chemical migration of Al & Fe &/or OM resulting in the concentration of Si (ie, silication) in the layer eluviated (Bs, Bhs) • 8b. Desilication or ferrallitization, ferritization, allitization Chemical migration of Si out of the soil solum and thus increase the concentration of sesquioxides in the solum (goethite, gibbsite, etc), with or without formation of ironstone (laterite; hardened plinthite) and concretions [laterization]

34. Processes: • 9a. Decomposition Breakdown of mineral & organic materials • 9b. Synthesis Formation of new particles of mineral & organic species

35. Processes: • 10a. Melanization Darkening of light-colored mineral initial unconsolidated materials by admixture of OM (as in a dark A or mollic or umbric horizon) • 10b. Leucinization Paling of soil horizons by disappearance of dark organic materials either through transformation to light-colored ones or through removal from the horizons

36. Processes: • 11a. Littering Accumulation on the mineral soil surface of organic (plant & faunal) litter and associated humus to a depth of less than 30 cm(Oi & Oe) • 11b. Humification Transformation of raw organic material into humus (Oe & Oa) • 11c. Mineralization Release of oxide solids through decomposition of OM

37. Processes: (cont’d) • 11d. Ripening Chemical, biological & physical changes in organic soil after air penetrates previously waterlogged material (eg, polder construction) • 11e. Paludization Processes regarded by some workers as geogenic rather than pedogenic, including the accumulation of deep (> 30cm) deposits of OM as in mucks & peats - Histosols

38. Processes: • 12a. Braunification, rubification, ferrugination Release of iron from primary minerals and the dispersion of particles of iron oxide in increasing amounts; their progressive oxidation or hydration, giving the soil mass brownish, reddish brown, and red colors, respectively • 12b. Gleization Reduction of iron (Fe+3Fe+2) under anaerobic “waterlogged” soil conditions, with the production of bluish to greenish gray matrix colors, with or without yellowish brown, brown, and black mottles, and ferric and manganiferous concretions

39. Processes: • 13a. Loosening Increase in volume of voids by activity of plants, animals, & humans and by freeze-thaw or other physical processes and by removal of material by leaching • 13b. Hardening Decrease in volume of voids by collapse & compaction & by filling of some voids with fine earth, carbonates, silica & other materials