Abstract
Soil fertility is one of the most important, yet least understood aspects of forest ecosystems. Study of soil fertility in forest ecosystems is complicated by the complex relationship between soil properties and stand productivity and immense variability in properties and characteristics of soils within relatively small geographic areas. Furthermore, the deep rooting systems of trees, which are capable of exploring soil throughout the soil profile, complicates the relationship between soil properties and stand productivity (Landsberg and others 2003, Dye and others 2004). Due to these complexities, soil fertility in forest ecosystems is measured by indirect approaches namely phytocentric and geocentric. The phytocentric approach uses tree based metrics to estimate soil fertility, while the geocentric approach uses the physical site characteristics as a relative indicator of soil fertility.
Parent Publication
Citation
Subedi, Santosh; Fox, Thomas R. 2016. Soil fertility assessment in the 3 PG model using site index in the southeastern United States. In: Proceedings of the 18th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-212. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 2 p.
