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Long-Term Soil Productivity in Christmas Tree Farms of Oregon and Washington: A Comparative Analysis between First- and Multi-Rotation Plantations

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Title Long-Term Soil Productivity in Christmas Tree Farms of Oregon and Washington: A Comparative Analysis between First- and Multi-Rotation Plantations
Names Hatten, Jeff (creator)
Landgren, Chal (creator)
Hart, John (creator)
Date Issued 2014-10-23 (iso8601)
Note This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by MDPI. The published article can be found at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests.
Abstract Christmas tree production removes organic matter and associated nutrients from a
site and can change soil physical properties, reduce mycorrhizal populations, and result in
pesticide over-use/accumulation. These impacts have been implicated in potential field
productivity declines. Assessing Christmas tree productivity is complicated by genetics,
management, and market forces. We approached the perceived or possible productivity
decline by examining soil properties on 22 pairs of sites. Each pair was comprised of an early
rotation and late rotation plot with 1 and 3 or more rotations of Christmas trees, respectively.
All sites were located on commercial Christmas tree plantations from the major production
areas in Washington and Oregon. Chemical properties assessed to 45 cm included pH, total C
and N, and extractable P, K, Ca, and Mg. Soil physical properties assessed included
aggregate stability and soil resistance. In general, we found little impact on soil resources
that would impact long term production of Christmas trees. These impacts may have been
mitigated by farmers following extension service recommendations. Nitrogen, K, and Ca
appeared to be primarily affected by harvesting, but replacement by fertilizer application was
probably adequate.
Genre Article
Access Condition http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
Topic Soil carbon
Identifier Hatten, J., Landgren, C., & Hart, J. (2014). Long-Term Soil Productivity in Christmas Tree Farms of Oregon and Washington: A Comparative Analysis between First-and Multi-Rotation Plantations. Forests, 5(10), 2581-2593. doi:10.3390/f5102581

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