Jp. Mcfadden et al., FINE-TEXTURED SOIL BANDS AND OAK FOREST PRODUCTIVITY IN NORTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN, USA, Canadian journal of forest research, 24(5), 1994, pp. 928-933
The relationship between fine-textured soil bands and forest productiv
ity was studied by comparing three mixed-oak (Quercus rubra L. and Que
rcus alba L.) stands that had little or no fine-textured banding with
three stands that had bands. The degree to which soil factors could ac
count for differences in productivity between banded and unbanded stan
ds was examined using two methods, one based on field observations (ba
nding codes) and the other based on laboratory textural analysis. Beca
use stand ages were not significantly different, overstory biomass was
used as an index of productivity. Mean overstory biomass in the bande
d stands was 312 Mg/ha, significantly greater than 170 Mg/ha measured
in the unbanded stands. Mean percent clay + silt and mean banding code
also were significantly higher in banded than in unbanded stands. Lin
ear regression analysis indicated that mean percent clay + silt accoun
ted for 57% of the variation in overstory biomass, whereas mean bandin
g code accounted for 40% of the variation. In the oak stands we studie
d, variation in productivity can be explained largely by differences i
n soil texture associated with fine-textured bands. We also found a po
sitive relationship between mean banding code and mean percent clay silt (r2 = 0.90), which suggests that the field method of quantifying
banding can produce values that are highly correlated with soil textur
e and, by extension, forest productivity.