Effect of harvest method on nutrient resources in sand pine scrub

摘要

Ocala sand pine, Pinus clausa var. clausa D.B. Ward, scrub grows on relatively poor sandy soils with low nutrient reserves. A windrow tree-length harvest system with limbing spread across the site and a full-tree harvest system using limbing gates atstrategic locations were compared. With the limbing gate system 66 percent of the crown material is concentrated in a few large piles with nutrients unavailable to most of the area. Nitrogen reserves and inputs are sufficient to sustain both harvest systems for some time. Phosphorus losses however, could decrease site productivity with the full-tree limbing gate system because of the losses from removal of crown material.