Influence of Mixed Conifer Forest Thinning and Prescribed Fire on Soil Temperature and Moisture Dynamics in Proximity to Forest Logs: A Case Study in New Mexico, USA

Abstract

Forest management activities often include fuels reduction through mechanized thinning followed by prescribed fire to remove slash. Management prescriptions may include the retention of logs for wildlife habitat and microsites for enhanced tree regeneration. We examined aboveground microclimate and belowground soil temperature and volumetric water content (VWC) dynamics beneath and adjacent to logs at 10, 20, and 30 cm depths in a mixed conifer forest. We assessed the soil variables over 7 years during pre-treatment, post-thinning, and post-fire using a Before–After/Control–Impact experimental design. We found that thinning and burning caused large increases in solar radiation and mean and maximum wind speeds, but only small changes in air temperature and humidity. The treatments increased the soil temperatures beneath the logs by up to 2.7 °C during spring, summer, and fall; the soil VWC increased from 0.05 to 0.08 m3/m3 year-round at 20 and 30 cm depths. Microsites 1–2 m away from the logs also showed soil temperature increases of up to 3.6 °C in spring, summer, and fall, while the measurements of the soil VWC produced variable results (moderate increases and decreases). The increased VWC in late winter/spring likely resulted from reduced plant transpiration and greater snow amounts reaching the ground without being intercepted by the forest canopy. Log retention on thinned and burned sites provided microsites with increased soil temperature and moisture in the top 30 cm, which can enhance soil ecosystem processes and provide refugia for invertebrate and vertebrate wildlife.

Heavy Logging Machinery Impacts Soil Physical Properties More than Nematode Communities

“…The machine's total weight was approximately 30,086 kg, distributed as 54.4 kPa (for comparison, a ~90 kg person produces surface compression forces of 75-151 kPa while walking). Trees surrounding the transects were left intact to isolate the effects of soil disturbance from those of light and temperature changes that occur following tree removal [24]. Three replicate treated and untreated sample pairs were collected the following July at evenly spaced points along the one, three, and nine pass sections of the three feller buncher transects, respectively.…”