Chapter 3 - Sustaining forest soil quality and productivity

Abstract

Soil sustainability is key to maintaining forest growth and ecosystem services around the world. Determining how to maintain soil functions and knowing when soils are degraded can be difficult. Complicating our understanding of the relationship between soil functions and soil sustainability is the inherent heterogeneity of forest soils. However, maintaining or improving soil organic matter (OM) contents is essential to soil health, quality, and sustainability, and both OM quantity and quality have key roles in soil porosity, water infiltration, gas exchange, nutrient cycling, aggregate stability, trafficability, and flood control. Forest management practices, such as harvesting and site preparation, have a major impact on soil properties, which can vary widely across different soil types and climatic regimes. We also examine how compaction, fertilization, and herbicide use can influence forest sustainability. This chapter is structured to give an overview of management-related changes on soil properties, and how these practices may be refined to sustain or improve forest soil quality and productivity. In addition, a synthesis of soil monitoring practices is provided to show the importance of this information for adaptive management.