Land Response Units — An Aid to Forest Land Management

Abstract

AbstractLand Response Units offer a means of grouping broad areas of land that have similar capabilities to produce biomass, and have similar sensitivities to man's uses. The capability of the land to produce flora and fauna is estimated by evaluating the soil ecofactors that sustain the environment, i.e., moisture, temperature, and nutrients. Moisture and temperature factors can be evaluated by classifying the soils using the Soil Taxonomy of the National Cooperative Soil Survey. Soil moisture regimes indicate plant available moisture, and soil temperature regimes indicate temperature conditions for plant growth. Nutrient regimes can be estimated by evaluating soil depth, color, texture, and pH. Sensitivity to man's uses is estimated by evaluating the erosion hazard, runoff potential, and slope gradient of the land. These three factors are used to estimate the ability of the land to accept man's activities without serious loss of productivity or stability.The Land Response Unit concept is adaptable for use on intensively managed agricultural lands as well as less intensively managed lands.