Effect of forest harvesting and slash piling on microbial biomass and respiration in Newfoundland boreal forests

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Soil Science
• Main Authors: Moroni, Martin T, Carter, Paul Q, Strickland, Dean W, Makeschin, Franz, Parkinson, Don-Roger, Kahnt, Linda
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2007
• Subjects: Soil Science; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4141/cjss06009; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.4141/CJSS06009

Clearcutting Newfoundland boreal forests significantly reduced organic layer fungal and total microbial biomass in clearcut areas with and without slash cover, compared with forested plots. However, aerobically incubated respiration rates were highest in organic layers from clearcut areas under slash, intermediate under forests, and lowest from clearcut areas without slash. Key words: Carbon, ergosterol, fumigation–extraction, fungal biomass, harvest slash, nitrogen