Little information is available regarding red wood ant (RWA; Formica rufa group) impacts on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in forest ecosystems. We found that RWA mound density (number per ha) was linked to forest tree species composition, slope aspect, and canopy closure. The size of RWA mounds was positively correlated with successional age of the stands. C and N concentrations of m...

water erosion causes severe soil damage in northern forests of iran which is associated with different rut depths in skid trails. the aim of this study was to assess rutting and soil displacement on skid trails to mitigate water erosion. therefore the research was carried out in eight parcels of district no 3 of shafarood forest in the north of iran. in order to evaluate the amount of erosion i...

Coarse woody debris (CWD) biomass was measured and mapped in burned, clearcut, and intact lodgepole pine forests in two areas of the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming: the Medicine Bow National Forest (MBNF) and Yellowstone National Park (YNP). In addition, the amount of CWD consumed or converted to charcoal by fire was estimated in a recently burned stand in YNP. A spatially explicit simulation model...

A new simple airborne method based on wide optics camera is developed for leaf area index (LAI) estimation in coniferous forests. The measurements are carried out in winter, when the forest floor is completely snow covered and thus acts as a light background for the hemispherical analysis of the images. The photos are taken automatically and stored on a laptop during the flights. The R value of...

The influence of Cracow's urban pollution on small forest ecosystems was studied during 1998-2000. Seven sites located at different distances from the Cracow conurbation and from busy road were selected. Two sites were situated 26 and 31 km from Cracow town along an eastern transect, the other five-3, 8, 14, 26 and 35 km respectively, from Cracow-along a southern transect. At the beginning of S...

Light is a key resource for plant growth and is of particular importance in forest ecosystems, because of the strong vertical structure leading to successive light interception from canopy to forest floor. Tree species differ in the quantity and heterogeneity of light they transmit. We expect decreases in both the quantity and spatial heterogeneity of light transmittance in mixed stands relativ...

We characterized the volume, weight and top surface area of naturally fallen logs in an oldgrowth redwood forest, and quantified conifer recruit densities on these logs and on the surrounding forest floor. We report significantly greater conifer recruit densities on log substrates as compared to the forest floor. Log substrate availability was calculated on a per hectare basis using the line-in...

We compared forest floor depth, soil organic matter, soil moisture, anaerobic mineralizable nitrogen (a measure of microbial biomass), denitrification potential, and soil/litter arthropod communities among old growth, unthinned mature stands, and thinned mature stands at nine sites (each with all three stand types) distributed among three regions of Oregon. Mineral soil measurements were restri...

Previous studies have shown that forest floors from stands dominated by trembling aspen (ASPEN; Populus tremuloides Michx.) tend to support a greater microbial biomass with a different microbial community structure than forest floors from stands dominated by white spruce (SPRUCE; Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). A reciprocal transfer experiment, in concert with coarse and fine mesh bags that allowe...

This study investigates whether different intensities of organic matter removal associated with timber harvest influence decadal-scale storage of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) in the top 1 m of mineral soil 18 years postharvest in a Pinus taeda L. forest in the Gulf Coastal Plain. We quantified forest harvest-related changes in SOC, TN, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and ni...