Pedological Effects of Forest Changes in the Ouachita Mountains Region

The goals of this project are twofold. First is to investigate the relationship between coarse woody debris (CWD) and soil properties in mixed pine-hardwood forests of the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas/Oklahoma. This will support decisions on CWD management relative to maintenance and improvement of soil quality, and carbon sequestration. The second goal is to determine the impacts of restoration of pine/bluestem forest communities on soil quality, with emphasis on persistent effects on soil morphology (as opposed to more transient biochemical impacts), effects on soil carbon storage, and the pedologic signatures of vegetation and CWD regimes. Specific objectives are to: 1. Investigate the role of coarse woody debris in site-scale carbon budgets and the partioning of carbon among the living biomass, CWD, fine litter, and soil compartments. 2. Establish the relationship of woody debris to soil morphology and concentrations of soil nutrients and carbon. 3. Examine relationships between woody debris and soil bulk density, moisture storage capacity, and pH. 4. Compare and contrast soil morphology and pedologic processes and trends in a biosequence of forest stands at various seral stages between endmembers of a pinebluestem community and a mixed pine-hardwood forest. 5. Examine the relationship between pedologic changes in the biosequence and soil carbon storage dynamics. 6. Determine whether there are pedologic signatures of vegetation and CWD regimes