16A.19
S,N - Opportunities for improving forest management through classification and survey of soil resources: A case study of three ownership types.
Stephen R. Colbert, American Forest Management, Charlotte, NC; and M. Hamilton, J. Lashbrook, and S. Burns
Current practices and potential opportunities for utilizing soil classification and survey, including development of GIS coverages, to improve forest management will be examined for three ownership categories: forest industry, timber investment management organizations, and private non-industrial timberland owners.
The rational use of soil resources is a prerequisite to responsible stewardship (i.e., sustainability) of forested lands. Accomplishing this goal requires soil information across the entire spectrum of forest land management (i.e., from remote wildlands to domesticated forest) at a scale appropriate to managerial purpose, skills, and physical inputs.
A detailed inventory of soil resources improves the land manager’s ability to prioritize investments, schedule activities, evaluate alternatives, and project yields, thereby enabling site-specific silvicultural prescriptions to ensure that management activities (e.g., species/genotype selection, site preparation, regeneration, competition control, fertilization, thinning, and pest control) are applied only where potential response is acceptable. Soil classification and survey can also identify areas suitable for wet weather logging, sites with equipment limitations, and soils with high erodibility. In addition, accurate and reliable soil information is invaluable in land acquisition and appraisal, delineation of environmentally sensitive areas (e.g., wetlands, streamside management zones), and identification of areas with road-building material or potential for waste disposal.
Soil surveys are designed to describe the characteristics of soils in a given area, classify soils according to a standard system, plot soil boundaries on maps, consider alternative uses of soils, and predict behavior of soils to management Since 1899, the US Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with State agricultural experiment stations and other Federal and State agencies, has been conducting and publishing soil surveys in the United States.
Specifics of soil inventory programs vary among ownership types. All share a common objective of identifying soil and site properties to predict and classify forest site productivity, to predict response to silvicultural practices, and to predict potential environmental consequences of silvicultural activities. Some mapping programs utilize official NRCS series descriptions as the basis for land classification, while others use special purpose technical classification systems. Most systems include texture and thickness of surface horizon and mineralogy, texture, and thickness of subsoil. Other factors considered include aspect, drainage, exposure, geology, slope, and topography.
Successful application of soil survey results requires understanding the impacts of silvicultural and harvesting practices on soil properties and site productivity. The knowledge base for this information includes available research, appropriate long-term growth data, and empirical data gathered from practical experience. Based on predicted impacts, interpretation matrices are developed that couple soil classification and management prescriptions. Matrices may utilize productivity classes, management groups, or other land qualities. Technological advances have impacted soil survey greatly. Mappers today utilize satellite imagery, global positioning technology, and geographic information systems to expedite and improve accuracy of field mapping.
Session 16A, Other
Wednesday, 9 October 2002, 1:30 PM-1:30 AM
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