Effects of Soil Scarification and Previous N Fertilisation on Pools of Inorganic N in Soil after Clear-Felling of a Pinus sylvestris (L.) Stand

Previous analyses of soil water beneath mounds resulting from scarification have implied that this forestry measure increases leaching of inorganic N. However, more recent soil-water studies have not confirmed this assumption. The soil study presented here examined the pools of inorganic N in different microsites emanating from a simulated disc trenching, i. e. the mound with underlying soil, the furrow bottom and the undisturbed soil. The study was made five years after scarification. The mound itself with underlying soil had a larger pool of inorganic N than the undisturbed soil. This was mainly because of an increase in the embedded humus layer, thus implying a larger net N mineralisation and/or lower losses. However, when pools of inorganic N per hectare were calculated, taking into consideration that a scarified area comprises 25% mounds, 25% furrows and 50% undisturbed soil, there was no increase in pools of inorganic N when compared with an area not subjected to scarification. This observation supports the finding of the more recent soil-water studies mentioned, i. e., that leaching seems not to be influenced by soil scarification. The scarification was made as a split-plot treatment on main-plots in an old experiment with different N doses. Thus, the effect of the previous N fertilisation could also be evaluated. Two N doses were tested beside the unfertilised control: 720N (3 × 240 kg N ha–1 yr–1) and 1800N (3 × 600 kg N ha–1 yr–1). The last fertiliser application was made six years before the clearcutting and 13 years before the soil sampling. The previously fertilised main-plots had larger pools of inorganic N than the control plots.