Remotely sensed imagery provides a useful tool for land managers to assess the extent and severity of post-wildfire salvage logging disturbance. This investigation uses high resolution QuickBird and National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery to map soil exposure after ground-based salvage operations. Three wildfires with varying post-fire salvage activities and variable ground truth d...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS We sought to explore the interactions between roots and soil without disturbance and in four dimensions (i.e. 3-D plus time) using X-ray micro-computed tomography. METHODS The roots of tomato Solanum lycopersicum 'Ailsa Craig' plants were visualized in undisturbed soil columns for 10 consecutive days to measure the effect of soil compaction on selected root traits includin...

Soil respiration (Rs) is a major pathway for carbon cycling and is a complex process involving abiotic and biotic factors. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are a key biotic component of desert ecosystems worldwide. In desert ecosystems, soils are protected from surface disturbance by BSCs, but it is unknown whether Rs is affected by disturbance of this crust layer. We measured Rs in three types of...

We have limited understanding of how tropical canopy foliage varies along environmental gradients, and how this may in turn affect forest processes and functions. Here, we analyse the relationships between canopy leaf area index (LAI) and above ground herbaceous biomass (AGBH) along environmental gradients in a moist forest and miombo woodland in Tanzania. We recorded canopy structure and herba...

Visual estimates of soil and site disturbances are used by foresters, soil scientists, logging supervisors . and machinery operators to minimize harvest dis turbances to forest s i tes , to evaIuate compliance with forestry Best Management Pract ices (BMPs), and to determine the need for ameliorative pract ices such as tnechanical s i te preparat ion. Al though visual est imates are commonly us...

Interest in reduced tillage methods is expanding in response to concerns for soil quality in vegetable systems. Reduced tillage (RT) refers to systems that minimize soil disturbance and maintain at least 30% residue cover. These systems can reduce soil and wind erosion, overcome compaction challenges typical of vegetable soils, conserve organic matter and improve overall soil health. In additio...

1. The high Arctic is the world’s fasting warming biome, allowing access to sections of previously inaccessible land for resource extraction. Starting in 2011, exploration of one of the Earth’s largest undeveloped coal seams was initiated in a relatively pristine, polar desert environment in the Canadian high Arctic. Due to the relative lack of historic anthropogenic disturbance, significant ga...