Carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus leaching after site preparation at a boreal forest clear-cut area

Clear-cutting followed by mechanical site preparation is the major disturbance influencing nutrient and water fluxes in Fennoscandian boreal forests. The effects of soil harrowing on the fluxes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved nitrogen compounds (organic N, NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻) and water soluble phosphorus (PO₄³⁻) through a podzolic soil were studied in a clear-cut in eastern Finland for 5 years. The old, mixed coniferous stand was clear-cut and stem only harvested in 1996 followed by soil harrowing in 1998 and planting in June 1999. Zero-tension lysimeters were used to collect soil water from below different soil horizons in the three types of microsites that resulted from site preparation treatment: low ridges (25% of clear-cut area), shallow furrows (30%) and the undisturbed soil (45%). After soil harrowing, the leaching of DOC, N and P from below the B-horizon increased compared to pre-treatment levels. However, the increases were short-lasting; 1–2 years for inorganic N and P, and 5 years for DOC and organic N. The highest concentrations were associated with the ridges and lowest with the furrows, reflecting the differences in amount of organic matter present in each microsite type and, for N, to enhanced mineralization and nitrification. Leaching from below the B-horizon over the 5 years following soil harrowing for the whole clear-cut area was 36.5 kg ha⁻¹ for DOC, 0.88 kg ha⁻¹ for NH₄-N, 0.46 kg ha⁻¹ for NO₃-N, 1.24 kg ha⁻¹ for organic N and 0.09 kg ha⁻¹ for PO₄-P. Site preparation increased temporarily the risk for nutrient leaching into watercourses and groundwater from the clear-cut area but soil fertility was not affected since the leached amounts remained small. The main reasons for the observed low leaching values were the rapid recovery of ground vegetation and low N deposition loads.     

Umweltorientierter Pflanzenschutz

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Rundschau

Ohne ZusammenfassungPflanzenschutzorganisation für Europa und die Mittelmeerländer     

Polymorphic mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) in a coastal riverscape: size class assemblages,distribution, and habitat associations

We compared the assemblage structure, spatial distributions, and habitat associations of mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) morphotypes and size classes. We hypothesised that morphotypes would have different spatial distributions and would be associated with different habitat features based on feeding behaviour and diet. Spatially continuous sampling was conducted over a broad extent (29 km) in the Calawah River, WA (USA). Whitefish were enumerated via snorkelling in three size classes: small (10–29 cm), medium (30–49 cm), and large (≥50 cm). We identified morphotypes based on head and snout morphology: a pinocchio form that had an elongated snout and a normal form with a blunted snout. Large size classes of both morphotypes were distributed downstream of small and medium size classes, and normal whitefish were distributed downstream of pinocchio whitefish. Ordination of whitefish assemblages with nonmetric multidimensional scaling revealed that normal whitefish size classes were associated with higher gradient and depth, whereas pinocchio whitefish size classes were positively associated with pool area, distance upstream, and depth. Reach‐scale generalised additive models indicated that normal whitefish relative density was associated with larger substrate size in downstream reaches (R² = 0.64), and pinocchio whitefish were associated with greater stream depth in the reaches farther upstream (R² = 0.87). These results suggest broad‐scale spatial segregation (1–10 km), particularly between larger and more phenotypically extreme individuals. These results provide the first perspective on spatial distributions and habitat relationships of polymorphic mountain whitefish.