The Fall River Long-Term Site

Productivity Study in Coastal

Washington: Site Characteristics,

Methods, and Biomass and

Carbon and Nitrogen Stores

Before and After Harvest 

Adrian Ares, Thomas A. Terry, Kathryn B. Piatek, Robert B. Harrison,

Richard E. Miller, Barry L. Flaming, Christopher W. Licata, Brian D.

Strahm, Constance A. Harrington, Rodney Meade, Harry W.

Anderson, Leslie C. Brodie, and Joseph M. Kraft

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Forest Service

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

General Technical

Report

PNW-GTR-691

January 2007
Authors

Adrian Ares is a scientist, Thomas A. Terry is a senior scientist, and Rodney

Meade is a research forester, Weyerhaeuser Co., 505 N Pearl St., Centralia, 

WA 98531-4660; Robert B. Harrison is a professor, Barry L. Flaming and

Christopher W. Licata are former graduate students, and Brian D. Strahm is a

graduate student, University of Washington, Box 352100, Seattle, WA 98195-2100;

Kathryn B. Piatek is an assistant professor, West Virginia University, 322 Percival

Hall, Morgantown, WV 26506-6125; Constance A. Harrington is a research

forester, Richard E. Miller is an emeritus soil scientist, Harry W. Anderson and

Leslie C. Brodie are foresters, and Joseph M. Kraft is a chemist, U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 3625 93rd Ave.

SW, Olympia, WA 98512-9193.

Cover Photos (clockwise from top left): 47-year-old stand at Fall River study area

with oxalis understory; equipment redistributing branches after forwarding logs on

the commercial bole-only removal plot with compaction; assessing coarse woody

material left after treatment implementation; a total-tree-plus harvest treatment plot

showing the lack of woody material left on site; a commercial bole-only harvest

treatment showing the branches and nonmerchantable stem material left on site

(fresh needles were also left but had fallen off the branches by the time of the

photo); and the weather station installation at the Fall River research area.

The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of 

multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water,

forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and 

private forest owners, and management of the National Forests and national grasslands, it

strives—as directed by Congress—to provide increasingly greater service to a growing

Nation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and

activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable sex,

marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information,

political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any

public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with 

disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille,

large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice

and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400

Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) 

or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Abstract

Ares, Adrian; Terry, Thomas A.; Piatek, Kathryn B.; Harrison, Robert B.; 

Miller, Richard E.; Flaming, Barry L.; Licata, Christopher W.; Strahm,

Brian D.; Harrington, Constance A.; Meade, Rodney; Anderson, Harry W.;

Brodie, Leslie C.; Kraft, Joseph M. 2007. The Fall River Long-Term 

Site Productivity study in coastal Washington: site characteristics, methods, 

and biomass and carbon and nitrogen stores before and after harvest. Gen.

Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-691. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 85 p.

The Fall River research site in coastal Washington is an affiliate installation of the

North American Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) network, which constitutes

one of the world’s largest coordinated research programs addressing forest management impacts on sustained productivity. Overall goals of the Fall River study are 

to assess effects of biomass removals, soil compaction, tillage, and vegetation control on site properties and growth of planted Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii

(Mirb.) Franco). Biomass-removal treatments included removal of commercial bole

(BO), bole to 5-cm top diameter (BO5), total tree (TT), and total tree plus all legacy

woody debris (TT+). Vegetation control (VC) effects were tested in BO, while soil

compaction and compaction plus tillage were imposed in BO+VC treatment. All

treatments were imposed in 1999. The preharvest stand contained similar amounts

of carbon (C) above the mineral soil (292 Mg/ha) as within the mineral soil to 80-

cm depth including roots (298 Mg/ha). Carbon stores above the mineral soil ordered by size were live trees (193 Mg/ha), old-growth logs (37 Mg/ha), forest floor (27

Mg/ha), old-growth stumps and snags (17 Mg/ha), coarse woody debris (11 Mg/ha),

dead trees/snags (7 Mg/ha), and understory vegetation (0.1 Mg/ha). The mineral

soil to 80-cm depth contained 248 Mg C/ha, and roots added 41 Mg/ha. Total 

nitrogen (N) in mineral soil and roots (13 349 kg/ha) was more than 10 times the 

N store above the mineral soil (1323 kg/ha). Postharvest C above mineral soil

decreased to 129, 120, 63, and 50 Mg/ha in BO, BO5, TT, and TT+, respectively.

Total N above the mineral soil decreased to 722, 747, 414, and 353 Mg/ha in BO,

BO5, TT, and TT+, respectively. The ratio of total C above the mineral soil to total

C within the mineral soil was markedly altered by biomass removal, but proportions of total N stores were reduced only 3 to 6 percent owing to the large soil N

reservoir on site.

Keywords: Sustainable forestry, biomass, C and N stores, organic matter 

retention, soil physical properties, Andisols, vegetation, climate.
Contents

1 Study Background and Objectives

1 Sustainable Forest Management

2 Biomass Removal Impacts

4 Effects of Competing Vegetation

5 Impacts of Ground-Based Harvesting 

6 Research Objectives

7 Study Layout

7 Site Selection Criteria

8 Location and Experimental Design

8 Site Characterization

8 Climate 

10 Vegetation 

15 Geology and Geomorphology 

18 Soils 

22 Preharvest Forest Stand Characteristics

22 Stand History 

22 Stand Description

24 Biomass and C and N Stores 

44 Biomass-Removal Treatments

44 Treatment Description and Installation

48 Postharvest Biomass and C and N Stores

48 Methods

54 Results

61 Discussion

63 Biomass, C, and N Removals

63 Methods

63 Results

65 Discussion

66 Final Remarks 

66 Lessons Learned

68 Future Research Actions and Directions

70 Acknowledgments

71 English Equivalents 

71 Literature Cited 
Study Background and Objectives

Sustainable Forest Management

Private and public land managers are increasingly interested in demonstrating to 

the public that their forestry practices are sustainable. Strategies such as the “New

Forestry” approach (Franklin 1990) developed in the Pacific Northwest region of

the United States raised questions about traditional paradigms of forest management

and led to changes in the legal and regulatory framework that placed increased

emphasis on nontimber forest resources. In 1995, 10 countries including the United

States agreed to implement criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management

through an international technical working group known as the Montreal Process

(Montreal Process 1995). Within this context, a criterion is defined as a forestrelated condition or process that characterizes an element of sustainable forest management. Indicators are then developed for each criterion to quantitatively or 

qualitatively assess current conditions and monitor changes over time. Criteria and

indicators are not regulations but a framework for data collection and reporting

(McRoberts et al. 2004). Additionally, several types of third-party certification have

been developed to provide unbiased assessment of sustainable forest management

(Wingate and McFarlane 2005). Every element of sustainable forestry requires generating scientific knowledge on the long-term effects of forest practices on forest

ecosystems. This entails using well-designed, multidisciplinary experiments carried

out across soil and climatic conditions to fill knowledge gaps.

Intensive forest management practices for increasing wood production and

improving operational efficiency may affect forest sustainability, depending on initial site conditions and treatment regimes. Soil compaction caused by equipment

traffic and excessive removal of organic matter and nutrients in slash, wood, forest

floor, and topsoil have been recognized as two of the major factors potentially leading to site degradation and reduction in forest productivity (Powers 1999, Vance

2000). Practices such as vegetation control, tillage, and fertilization can potentially

increase productivity above base levels and ameliorate negative impacts on productivity caused by soil compaction or nutrient removal. Long-term studies are crucial

to evaluating management effects on forest productivity across a range of sites.

Detailed characterization of initial study conditions is an important component of

studies that test the effects of silvicultural and other management treatments on relevant site conditions and long-term site productivity (Harmon and Marks 2002). In

this paper, we detail objectives and describe the experimental design and site-characterization methodology used in the long-term site productivity study at Fall River

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

1
in coastal Washington. We also quantify biomass and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N)

stores before and after imposing various biomass-removal treatments.

Biomass Removal Impacts

Long-standing questions still exist about the consequences of increased biomass 

removals on long-term site productivity. Both harvest intensity and site preparation

can affect the amounts of removed biomass. These practices change through time

depending upon several driving factors. Traditionally, only the merchantable-bole

portion of trees was removed from harvested stands in the Pacific Northwest. The

remaining portions of the felled trees along with nonmerchantable trees were left

on the site. Residual biomass was often burned to reduce risk of wildfire and to

facilitate planting or other management activities. Gradual changes in merchantability standards and harvest technologies, and use of an increased proportion of

processed timber from managed plantations have resulted in greater biomass 

utilization from the Pacific Northwest forests than in the past.

Whole-tree harvesting removes more nutrients from the site than conventional

harvesting (Boyle 1976, Egnell and Valinger 2003, Freedman et al. 1981, Weetman

and Webber 1972). Slash reduction and site preparation treatments such as piling

and broadcast burning also affect site nutrient stores and microsite climate. Both

the potential benefits and risks of prescribing amounts and types of forest residues

need further quantification and understanding for specific sites. Sites with greater

reserves of soil organic matter and nutrients and a favorable climate for plant

growth are likely to be more resilient to biomass removals than sites lacking these

characteristics. Residue retention can conserve nutrients by reducing nutrient losses

from leaching (Blumfield and Xu 2003, Carlyle et al. 1998, Jurgensen et al. 1992).

Foliage retained on site may represent a significant source of N for newly-planted

seedlings once decomposition of this material occurs. Nitrogen mineralization rates

can increase soon after harvest but drop in subsequent years as mineralizable substrate is depleted. Microbial decomposition of woody debris with high C:N ratios,

however, can immobilize nutrients such as N making them unavailable for tree

growth early in the rotation (Mendham et al. 2003, O’Connell et al. 2004). Residue

retention in a radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) stand resulted in 43 percent more

total N mineralized over 4 years, but much of the mineralized N leached below the

rooting zone (Smethurst and Nambiar 1990). In subtropical Australia, retention of

residues resulted in reduced net N mineralization and N loss from leaching for 2

years after harvest (Blumfield and Xu 2003). Doubling the amount of harvest

residues increased nonsymbiotic N-fixation by 73 percent on conifer sites in the

northern Rocky Mountains during 2 years after harvesting (Jurgensen et al. 1992).

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
Leaching of inorganic N may increase in recent clearcuts compared to mature

stands (Sollins et al. 1980, Stevens and Hornung 1990) although in some cases 

N leaching may remain unchanged (Cole and Gessel 1965, Silkworth and Grigal

1982). Results from 11 forest types across the United States indicated that differences in nitrate losses by leaching between bole-only and whole-tree harvesting

were generally small (Mann et al. 1988). In the Pacific Northwest, leaching losses

are generally low because of large amounts of organic matter on the forest floor

and A horizon, and small populations of nitrifiers (Vitousek et al. 1982). Nevertheless, most investigations assessing the effect of harvest intensity and organic

matter removal on N leaching in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.)

Franco) stands have been performed in low- and medium-productivity forests

(Bigger 1988, Compton and Cole 1990). Increased leaching can occur in sites with

large soil N stores and low soil C:N ratios (Fenn et al. 1998), although such sites

are more resilient and negative effects on plant growth are less likely.

Residue retention usually contributes to the conservation of soil water although

effects can be short lived and restricted to the upper soil layers (Blumfield and Xu

2003, O’Connell et al. 2004). Residue retention can also significantly moderate

surface soil temperatures. During 18 months following harvest, average soil temperatures in a Pinus radiata plantation at 7.5-cm depth in areas where slash and 

litter were removed were 4 oC and 1 oC higher during the summer and winter,

respectively, than those in areas with either slash and litter, or litter only (Smethurst

and Nambiar 1990). In California, summer temperature of bare soils developed

from metabasalt at 15-cm depth was 4.5 oC warmer than that of soils with an intact

forest floor (Powers 2002). At 5-cm depth, soil temperatures at midsummer were 9

to 10 oC cooler on sites with retained logging slash compared to sites with exposed

mineral soil (Valentine 1975). Retention of harvest residues not only resulted in

cooler surface soil temperatures but also in smaller diurnal temperature variation 

in Eucalyptus globulus Labill. plantations in southwestern Australia (O’Connell et

al. 2004).

Tree growth responses after harvest-residue retention treatments have been

variable. Harvest-residue retention had no effect on average height or diameter

growth of radiata pine during 3 years following harvest (Smethurst and Nambiar

1990) or on average height of Douglas-fir at age 5 (Smith et al. 1994, Zabowski 

et al. 2000). Retaining residues significantly improved growth of E. globulus

seedlings during 7 years on a sandy, low-fertility soil when the amount of harvest

residues was doubled (Mendham et al. 2003). In another study, differences in

growth of E. globulus associated with residue treatments 3 years after harvest were

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

3
small (Jones et al. 1999), and only incorporation of residues into the soil resulted in

a significant tree growth increase. Mean annual increment in height, diameter, and

volume of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr) during 2 years was about 33

percent less with complete residue removal than with bole-only harvest (Proe and

Dutch 1994). Impacts on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) growth associated with

whole-tree harvesting did not become apparent until several years after harvest on

an N-limited site in Sweden (Egnell and Valinger 2003). Biomass removals were

most detrimental to tree growth on aspen sites in the Lake States when 10-year

study results were summarized for 26 of the oldest installations of the Long-Term

Soil Productivity (LTSP) network sites (Powers et al. 2005). Although these investigations quantified short-term effects of residue treatments, long-term consequences remain uncertain.

Effects of Competing Vegetation

Shrub and herbaceous vegetation can influence stand establishment and growth 

by competing with trees for limited resources. Positive effects of competition control on seedling growth have been associated with increased soil water availability

(Flint and Childs 1987, Newton and Preest 1988, Watt et al. 2003), nutrients

(Smethurst and Nambiar 1995, Zutter et al. 1999), or both (Elliott and White 1987,

Powers and Reynolds 1999). Douglas-fir seedlings responded positively to reductions in cover or biomass of competing vegetation (Dimock et al. 1983, Miller and

Obermeyer 1996, Roberts et al. 2005, Stein 1999), but few studies have correlated

growth responses to changes in resource availability or uptake. Average increases

of 16 percent in bole diameter of Douglas-fir seedlings were recorded after 2 years

of chemical release from shrub competition on a loamy-skeletal Typic Xerochrept

in a dry site in southwest Oregon (Flint and Childs 1987). Growth gains were

attributed primarily to increased moisture available to seedlings. On a moist, welldrained site in coastal Oregon, control of herbaceous vegetation induced wood volume increases from 80 to 200 percent at age 5 that correlated with decreased plant

drought stress (Newton and Preest 1988). Competing vegetation around 1-year-old

Douglas-fir seedlings in northern Idaho increased moisture stress and decreased

seedling growth (Eissenstat and Mitchell 1983), but other environmental factors

may have limited seedling growth as well. 

Nutrient limitations commonly occur in established Douglas-fir stands throughout the Pacific Northwest (Gessel et al. 1990). Competing vegetation can affect

nutrient availability in young coniferous stands. Because reduced nutrient availability often occurs in conjunction with water limitations, it can be difficult to 

4

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
separate the two effects (Ludovici and Morris 1997, Morris et al. 1993, Powers 

and Reynolds 1999). Seedling height and volume significantly increased over the

first 3 years in white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) plantations subjected to 

vegetation control (Sutton 1975). Growth increases were correlated with increased

foliar nutrient concentrations, although improved moisture conditions were also

noted. Nutrient limitations were considered more important than moisture limitations for pine seedlings growing on coastal flatwood sites of the Southeastern United

States (Neary et al. 1984), but the significance of competing vegetation effects on

nutrient availability may decrease as site nutrient availability increases (Morris 

et al. 1993).

Impacts of Ground-Based Harvesting 

Ground-based forest operations can affect soil physical (Lenhard 1986, Startsev 

and McNabb 2000), chemical (Herbauts et al. 1996, Zabowski et al. 1994), and

biological (Dick et al. 1988, Smeltzer et al. 1986, Torbet and Wood 1992) characteristics. Effects of intensive harvest and site preparation on soil properties and tree

growth can be positive, detrimental, or inconsequential (Miller et al. 2004). Soil

compaction (Hatchell et al. 1970, Steinbrenner and Gessel 1955), usually indexed

by bulk density or soil strength measurements (Greacen and Sands 1980, Powers 

et al. 1998), reduces tree growth under certain conditions (Conlin and van den

Driessche 1996, Froehlich et al. 1986, Murphy 1983, Wert and Thomas 1981). On

some sites, however, soil compaction has resulted in increased tree growth, probably because of increased water-holding capacity (Ares et al. 2005, Gomez et al.

2002b), unsaturated waterflow (Sands et al. 1979), root contact with soil (Bhadoria

1986), and N uptake (Gomez et al. 2002a). Recent studies have revealed a large

degree of site specificity both in soil and tree growth responses to soil compaction

(Brais 2001, Gomez et al. 2002b, Heninger et al. 1997, Smith 2003). 

Most studies in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and elsewhere have assessed changes in soil characteristics, tree growth, and site productivity on logged sites using the “after-the-fact” retrospective approach in which

management impacts are studied in operational stands under noncontrolled conditions (Powers 1989). This approach may not determine the original type, degree,

and extent of disturbance. In addition, tree growth could have been unknowingly

and differentially affected by plant competition, disease, herbivory, and other factors (Heninger et al. 1997). Previous research also illustrates the risk associated

with extrapolating early short-term treatment responses to rotation age. To understand the mechanisms underlying tree growth responses to treatments across a

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

5
range of sites requires replicated studies lasting until stand rotation age or even

through more than one rotation. These studies should follow sound methodological

approaches with imposed treatments representing field forest operations as closely

as possible. With these purposes in mind, the study at Fall River was initiated in

2000.

Research Objectives

The Fall River study is one of the more than 40 affiliate installations of the LTSP

program initiated in 1989 by the U.S. Forest Service and several collaborating

organizations on major soil and vegetation types of the United States and Canada

(Powers and Fiddler 1997). The main hypothesis for this research program is that

site organic matter and soil pore space are the critical site characteristics affected

by forest operations that influence long-term site productivity (Powers et al. 2005).

Although the LTSP program includes a large set of long-term site productivity 

studies, none of the main trials was located in the Pacific Northwest when the Fall

River study was initiated. Affiliate studies should have at least three treatments in

common with the main study design, one of which must be a control (i.e., no compaction, minimal organic matter removal). The Fall River study is a long-term,

replicated experiment in which imposed disturbances reflect field operational conditions as closely as possible and confounding effects of big-game browse and

unknown site history have been removed. In addition, the experimental site has

homogenous soil and topographic conditions, and relatively low levels of root-rot

diseases. 

The main goal of the Fall River study is to understand how ground-based forest

harvest, slash/wood removal, vegetation management, and fertilization influence

soil and tree processes and long-term site productivity on a highly productive site

in coastal Washington. Specific study objectives include to (1) determine the 

effects of four levels of biomass removals on soil properties and processes and on

Douglas-fir aboveground growth; (2) develop C and nutrient budgets for various

levels of biomass removals; (3) determine the impacts of soil disturbance and compaction on soil properties and aboveground tree growth and the effectiveness of

tillage in maintaining or enhancing site productivity; (4) assess the effects of vegetation control on understory plant cover, plant species composition, aboveground

tree growth, and water and nutrient status; (5) determine the need for fertilization

to ameliorate nutrient removals and its effects on nutrient supply and aboveground

tree growth; and (6) evaluate differences in microclimate and seedling physiology

across microsites within the study treatments. Study treatments include different

6

The Fall River

study is an affiliate

installation of the

U.S. Forest Service

Long-Term Soil

Productivity

research program.

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
levels of woody debris and residual biomass retention, vegetation and nutrient 

management, and soil disturbance before planting Douglas-fir seedlings. Knowledge

generated in this study will help to improve forest management prescriptions across

the range of sites found in the Pacific Northwest. This study deals with the socalled “narrow-sense” sustainability (Evans 1999) that focuses on changes induced

by planted forests on tree productivity and site conditions over time, and on silvicultural interventions needed to sustain and enhance wood production.

The main objective of this paper is to document the biomass and C and N

stores in the Douglas-fir/western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) stand

before treatment installation and after imposing the four treatments described in the

“Biomass-Removal Treatments” section. This baseline information will be useful in

comparing results from the Fall River study with those from other research projects

and should help investigators understand the mechanisms of short- and long-term

response to experimental treatments. It will also be valuable for scientists who may

wish to carry the study through repeated cycles and multiple rotations to examine

changes in the stores and in their effects on long-term site productivity. Other

objectives are to describe the research site characteristics, study design, and treatment implementation.

Study Layout

Site Selection Criteria

Several criteria were used to choose the Fall River site for this study. Selection 

criteria included (1) site representative of areas in western Washington that are

being intensively managed for Douglas-fir plantations and conducive to groundbased harvesting; (2) soils minimally disturbed by previous ground-based harvesting

operations and with volcanic parent material, which commonly occurs in western

Washington; (3) high site quality for Douglas-fir (Class II or better according to

King 1966); (4) Douglas-fir stand with known site treatment history; (5) site without any evident areas of root diseases that could cause irregular tree mortality after

planting; (6) site sufficiently large and uniform to allow the installation of fortyeight 0.25-ha treatment plots with additional space for buffers to accommodate 

logging traffic and removed woody debris; and (7) site located within reasonable

travel-time distance for the personnel of Weyerhaeuser Co., U.S. Forest Service,

and University of Washington participating in the study. Of the several tentative

sites preselected and screened, the Fall River site best met these selection criteria.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

7
Location and Experimental 

Design

The study site is located at 46° 43’ N and

123° 25’ W in the Twin Harbors-South 

operating area of Weyerhaeuser Company 

in Pacific County, Washington, within the

Fall River drainage (fig. 1). The Fall River

study will ultimately contain 12 treatments

in a randomized complete block design 

with four replicates (Terry et al. 2001) 

(table 1 and fig. 2). Seven of the treatments were implemented in 1999; treatments involving fertilization with 220 kg

N/ha will be imposed in the future.

Treatment plots are 30 by 85 m (0.25 ha)

with an internal 15- by 70-m (0.10 ha)

measurement plot. Experimental blocking was based on slope position and percentage of the stand in Douglas-fir and western hemlock. Blocks 1 and 2 were on gentle upper slopes, and blocks 3 and 4 were on gentle lower slopes. Blocks 3 and 4

were immediately below blocks 1 and 2 topographically, but separated by a buffer

large enough to accommodate harvesting equipment traffic and slash and woody

debris piles. Blocks 1 and 2 had more total wood volume in Douglas-fir (58 and 69

percent of the total volume) than blocks 3 and 4 (49 and 43 percent); the remaining

wood volume in all blocks was western hemlock.

Site Characterization

Climate

The Fall River research site is within the cool temperate moist Holdridge Life Zone

(Lugo et al. 1999) and has a maritime climate with mild wet winters and warm dry

summers. Estimated mean annual precipitation is 2260 mm, mostly as rain (Daly et

al. 1994, USDA and OSU 1999). Summers are much drier than winters with an

average rainfall of only 240 mm from June 1 to September 30. Summer dry periods

result from the combined effect of the jet stream moving rainy frontal systems to

the north, and a subtropical high-stabilizing front off the Washington coast. This

high-pressure area produces an onshore airflow that is warmer than the sea surface,

and creates vast fog banks but little rain. Mean annual air temperature at Fall River

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Figure 1—Location of the Fall River research

area in coastal Washington.
is 9.2 oC, and monthly mean temperatures are 2.6 oC in January and 16.0 oC in

August (USDA and OSU 1999). 

An automated weather station was installed in 2000 at Fall River to provide

onsite information. The station was located approximately in the middle of the Fall

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

9

Table 1—Treatment and plot assignment in the long-term site productivity study at Fall River 

Vegetation Soil Soil Plots in blocks

Treatmenta Harvest level Fertilizer control compaction tillage 1 2 3 4

1 Commercial bole only (BO) x 1 22 29 45

2 Commercial bole only (BO) x x 11 20 33 50

3 Bole only to 5-cm top (BO5) x 6 13 30 44

4 Bole only to 5-cm top (BO5) x x 7 18 25 46

5 Total tree (TT) x 2 15 28 53

6 Total tree (TT) x x 8 16 32 42

7 Total tree plus (TT+) x 3 14 34 41

8 Total tree plus (TT+) x x 5 24 36 43

9 Commercial bole only (BO) 9 23 26 47

10 Commercial bole only (BO) x 10 21 31 49

11 Commercial bole only (BO) x x x 4 17 35 51

12 Commercial bole only (BO) x x x x 12 19 27 48

a Fertilizer treatments have not been installed as of 2006, but they may be applied in the future. Biomass-removal, and soil 

compaction/tillage treatments were installed in 1999, and vegetation control treatments were first applied in 2000. See text for 

treatment descriptions.

Figure 2—Plot and treatment assignments at the Fall River research area. Plots 0, 37 to 40, and 52 were

not used in the study because of irregularities.
River research site and in a buffer area between blocks 1 and 2 that did not receive

vegetation control. The station records air temperature and relative humidity with 

a Vaisala HMP45C probe1 (Vaisala, Vaanta, Finland), precipitation with a 20.3-cm

diameter TE5252 tipping bucket rain gauge (Texas Electronics), global solar radiation with a LI-200 SZ pyranometer (LI-COR), wind direction and speed with a

Wind Sentry 03002 probe (R.M. Young, Traverse City, MI), soil temperature at 10-,

20-, and 50-cm depths with “T” thermocouples and soil water content at 10- and

50-cm depths with CS615 probes (Campbell Scientific) (tables 2 through 4). Air

temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, global solar radiation, and wind direction

and speed are recorded at 2 m above ground (tables 2 and 3). Air temperature is

also recorded at 25-cm above ground with a “T” thermocouple. Measurements are

taken at 3-second intervals and hourly averages and totals are stored in a CR-10X

data logger (Campbell Scientific). Pertinent climatic data from 2000 to 2005 are

summarized in tables 2, 3, 4 and 5. Mean maximum values for air and soil temperature, soil water content, and vapor pressure deficit are averages of the maximum

values recorded in a given day (tables 2 through 5).

In recent years, mean annual precipitation at Fall River has been consistently

below the estimated historical average. Since meteorological monitoring began in

2000 at Fall River, the greatest annual precipitation (1973 mm) was recorded in

2003, followed in decreasing order by 1794 mm in 2005, 1608 in 2001, 1522 mm

in 2004, and 1388 in 2002 (fig. 3). Relatively high precipitation for a year or even

during a whole growing season (i.e., the period between the start of shoot development and the cessation of tree stem growth, usually May to October), however,

does not always correspond to a short summer dry season. In 2003, 33 percent of

the rainfall fell during the growing season (651 mm) but only 20 mm was recorded

for July and August. In contrast, 42 percent of the annual rainfall occurred during

the growing season in 2001 (675 mm) with 103 mm recorded for July and August.

Mean maximum vapor pressure deficits were low with a maximum of 0.8 kPa June

through August of 2003 (table 5). This indicates a relatively low atmospheric evaporative demand at Fall River. 

Vegetation

The Fall River site is within the western hemlock vegetation zone (Franklin and 

Dyrness 1973). Understory vegetation communities at Fall River were first assessed

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

1 The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply

endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service.
Table 2—Air temperatures (measured at 25-cm height) and soil temperatures (measured at 10-cm depth) 

from March 2000 to December 2005 at the Fall River weather station 

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Year

Mean daily air temperature (°C)

2000 5.9 10.0 9.6 12.5 16.0 16.1 14.5 10.7 4.9 4.1

2001 4.8 3.7 6.0 6.6 11.1 10.8 13.1 14.6 12.9 7.8 5.6 2.5 8.3

2002 2.1 3.2 2.5 6.3 8.2 12.9 15.1 14.7 12.8 8.6 6.6 3.5 8.0

2003 5.9 2.9 5.0 5.8 9.1 13.9 16.1 15.1 14.3 9.8 3.0 2.7 8.6

2004 3.5 4.2 6.0 9.2 10.3 14.1 17.0 16.5 12.3 8.8 4.3 3.4 9.1

2005 3.7 4.0 6.6 7.1 11.7 12.1 15.4 15.9 11.4 8.8 2.9 2.3 8.5

Mean daily maximum air temperature (°C)

2000 13.7 19.5 18.7 21.9 27.4 27.3 23.6 17.5 10.2 8.4

2001 9.3 10.2 13.0 14.6 20.6 19.7 23.7 25.8 23.4 14.5 10.6 6.4 16.0

2002 5.3 8.6 8.6 14.2 17.4 23.6 27.8 27.5 24.0 17.2 13.5 7.5 16.3

2003 10.8 10.0 11.1 14.3 21.2 26.6 32.5 31.8 28.5 20.0 10.4 7.7 18.8

2004 7.4 12.9 16.2 23.0 22.8 27.2 32.8 31.7 26.4 19.3 12.5 9.1 20.1

2005 10.2 16.6 18.3 18.5 24.0 26.3 30.5 32.4 28.2 19.1 11.1 8.5 20.3

Mean daily minimum air temperature (°C)

2000 1.0 4.1 4.4 6.6 8.6 9.6 8.8 5.5 1.3 1.2

2001 1.0 -0.5 1.1 1.9 3.9 4.6 7.1 8.0 6.3 3.1 2.1 -0.4 3.2

2002 -1.0 -0.9 -1.5 1.1 2.2 5.8 7.4 6.8 5.4 2.9 2.1 0.4 2.6

2003 2.3 -1.3 1.2 0.9 2.3 6.3 6.8 5.7 6.6 5.1 -1.2 -0.8 2.8

2004 .5 0.0 0.2 1.0 3.4 6.1 8.2 9.6 5.9 3.5 0.0 -0.6 3.1

2005 .1 -2.2 0.5 1.5 5.7 5.8 6.8 7.4 4.0 3.8 -1.3 -1.0 2.6

Mean daily soil temperature (°C)

2000 15.0 18.1 18.8 16.4 11.6 6.1 4.6

2001 4.7 4.3 6.8 8.4 12.8 13.6 16.1 15.6 13.7 9.5 6.8 3.0 9.6

2002 3.6 3.2 3.5 7.5 9.6 13.9 15.8 15.5 13.6 9.9 6.8 4.5 9.0

2003 5.6 4.1 6.0 7.7 10.9 15.0 18.0 17.1 14.8 11.3 4.4 3.2 9.8

2004 3.4 4.3 6.8 9.7 12.3 15.0 18.1 17.8 13.9 10.6 6.1 4.6 10.2

2005 3.6 4.3 7.4 8.6 12.8 13.1 15.2 15.8 12.7 10.5 5.0 3.4 9.5

Mean daily maximum soil temperature (°C)

2000 19.7 21.4 21.4 19.7 15.3 10.4 6.7

2001 5.4 5.4 8.3 10.1 15.3 15.8 18.1 17.0 14.9 10.3 7.4 3.6 11.0

2002 4.1 4.0 4.5 9.1 11.1 15.8 17.5 16.9 14.9 10.8 7.5 5.1 10.1

2003 6.3 5.0 7.1 9.2 13.0 17.4 21.3 20.2 17.5 12.9 5.5 4.0 11.6

2004 4.2 5.7 8.6 12.4 14.4 17.8 21.0 20.3 16.0 12.3 7.3 5.5 12.1

2005 4.3 6.1 9.3 10.6 15.0 14.9 16.9 17.4 14.2 11.4 5.8 4.0 11.0

Mean daily minimum soil temperature (°C)

2000 10.9 14.8 16.6 14.0 8.7 3.7 2.1

2001 4.0 3.3 5.7 6.9 10.8 11.8 14.4 14.3 12.6 8.8 6.2 2.5 8.4

2002 3.1 2.4 2.7 6.3 8.3 12.4 14.4 14.2 12.3 9.1 6.0 4.0 7.9

2003 4.8 3.2 5.1 6.5 9.3 13.1 15.5 14.7 12.7 9.9 3.5 2.6 8.4

2004 2.6 3.2 5.2 7.4 10.5 12.9 16.1 15.8 12.2 9.2 5.0 3.8 8.7

2005 3.0 3.0 5.9 7.0 11.2 11.8 13.9 14.6 11.5 9.7 4.4 3.0 8.4

Note: Weather station probes are over or under herbaceous vegetation in areas that were harvested in 1999 and planted in 2000.

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Table 3—Windspeed and solar radiation measured at 2 m above ground at the Fall River weather station 

from March 2000 to December 2005

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Year

Mean daily maximum windspeed (m/s)

2000 6.8 7.6 8.5 7.9 7.3 6.9 6.8 6.8 7.0 9.1

2001 8.5 8.0 8.1 8.0 8.0 7.4 6.7 6.2 6.1 7.8 8.5 10.5 7.8

2002 8.5 8.9 8.4 8.3 7.3 7.2 6.7 6.8 6.7 6.0 6.7 9.1 7.6

2003 8.6 6.5 9.1 7.6 7.1 7.1 6.7 6.0 6.3 7.6 7.8 8.1 7.4

2004 7.4 8.2 7.7 7.0 6.5 6.1 5.9 5.5 5.7 5.7 5.4 6.3 6.4

2005 6.7 6.1 7.2 6.5 5.8 5.4 4.8 4.6 4.3 4.3 4.9 5.7 5.5

Highest maximum windspeed (m/s)

2000 13.2 10.5 13.7 11.0 9.5 10.0 11.0 14.0 13.7 20.2

2001 14.0 12.7 15.5 13.0 13.7 10.7 8.7 9.0 10.7 15.2 16.0 19.0 13.2

2002 16.7 15.7 17.0 18.2 10.0 12.2 10.0 10.0 9.5 10.5 12.7 19.7 13.5

2003 20.0 11.5 17.0 12.2 10.5 11.0 13.2 9.0 9.7 15.0 15.2 16.2 13.4

2004 15.0 14.2 13.0 11.7 8.7 9.2 8.0 8.7 10.0 9.5 10.5 11.5 10.8

2005 10.7 11.0 15.0 11.4 10.0 9.0 7.0 6.4 6.2 7.7 11.0 11.0 15.0

Lowest maximum windspeed (m/s)

2000 0.2 4.5 5.5 5.0 5.0 4.7 5.0 3.7 3.2 3.7

2001 4.2 4.7 4.2 5.2 5.0 5.5 3.2 4.2 3.2 4.0 4.2 4.7 4.3

2002 3.2 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 5.5 4.7 3.5 4.0 3.0 3.7 3.7 4.1

2003 3.7 3.5 4.7 4.0 4.7 4.5 5.2 4.2 3.7 2.7 3.2 3.7 4.0

2004 3.7 3.5 4.0 5.0 4.0 3.2 4.7 3.7 2.7 2.7 2.2 2.7 3.5

2005 2.7 3.0 3.7 3.4 3.0 3.0 3.4 3.2 2.7 2.4 2.2 2.0 2.0

Mean daily solar radiation (MJ/m2 per day)

2000 10.1 15.8 16.1 18.5 21.8 19.0 13.5 9.1 5.0 3.2

2001 4.1 8.0 10.0 13.8 21.2 18.4 19.9 17.5 14.5 7.5 3.9 2.9 11.8

2002 2.2 7.0 8.3 13.6 15.9 20.1 21.4 19.8 15.1 9.4 5.4 2.8 11.8

2003 4.0 7.5 8.3 13.1 18.0 21.6 24.8 19.9 14.8 7.4 4.6 2.9 12.2

2004 3.2 6.7 10.7 17.9 15.9 21.8 22.6 17.5 13.3 8.5 5.0 3.2 12.5

2005 3.8 10.0 11.1 13.6 17.2 17.5 21.9 20.3 14.9 7.0 4.4 3.3 12.2

Highest daily solar radiation (MJ/m2 per day)

2000 21.5 24.6 27.5 32.6 32.7 29.5 24.7 19.7 9.6 6.5

2001 9.1 14.9 20.3 25.4 30.9 31.5 31.8 27.9 21.9 16.6 9.8 6.8 20.6

2002 4.9 14.8 16.3 26.9 28.9 30.9 30.5 27.3 22.5 15.2 11.2 6.4 19.7

2003 8.2 14.8 17.8 25.7 29.7 32.5 31.2 28.0 23.7 14.6 10.7 6.7 20.3

2004 6.4 12.5 20.5 28.0 30.3 32.9 30.3 28.0 22.4 16.9 9.8 6.3 20.3

2005 7.2 14.4 20.2 26.1 31.6 31.7 30.4 28.1 21.9 13.4 7.7 6.3 31.7

Lowest daily solar radiation (MJ/m2 per day)

2000 2.5 6.6 7.1 8.5 7.8 4.9 1.9 1.1 .6

2001 1.0 2.3 2.3 5.4 5.5 8.4 5.7 3.3 2.9 1.8 .6 .3 3.3

2002 .2 1.5 2.3 4.1 5.1 5.3 8.4 6.5 4.7 2.5 .9 .7 3.5

2003 .8 2.5 1.8 3.6 6.8 6.3 13.5 6.6 3.0 .9 .5 .7 3.9

2004 .9 1.8 4.1 7.0 7.2 6.2 11.3 6.1 5.6 2.0 1.0 .7 4.5

2005 .6 2.6 1.8 5.5 3.6 6.5 5.6 6.3 2.1 2.5 1.2 .5 3.2

Note: The weather station is in a clearing surrounded by Douglas-fir planted in 2000.
Table 4—Soil water content at 10- and 50-cm depths (vegetated soil condition) from June 2001 to December

2005 at the Fall River weather station 

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Year

10-cm depth Mean daily volumetric soil water content (m

3

/m3)

2001 0.40 0.35 0.35 0.36 0.41 0.45 0.46

2002 0.47 0.47 0.46 0.45 0.43 .39 .35 .31 .31 .33 .40 .46 0.40

2003 .47 .46 .49 .47 .44 .37 .31 .30 .33 .43 .47 .47 .42

2004 .48 .47 .46 .43 .43 .42 .32 .34 .41 .44 .45 .47 .43

2005 .48 .46 .47 .48 .45 .43 .40 .31 .31 .40 .46 .47 .43

Mean daily maximum soil water content (m

3

/m3)

2001 .41 .35 .35 .36 .42 .46 .48

2002 .48 .48 .47 .46 .44 .40 .35 .31 .31 .33 .40 .47 .41

2003 .48 .47 .51 .49 .45 .37 .31 .30 .33 .44 .49 .49 .43

2004 .50 .48 .47 .44 .44 .42 .32 .34 .42 .45 .46 .49 .44

2005 .50 .47 .48 .49 .47 .44 .40 .31 .32 .41 .47 .48 .44

Mean daily minimum soil water content (m

3

/m3)

2001 .39 .35 .34 .36 .40 .44 .46

2002 .46 .46 .45 .44 .43 .39 .35 .31 .31 .33 .39 .45 .40

2003 .45 .45 .47 .46 .43 .36 .31 .30 .33 .41 .46 .46 .41

2004 .47 .46 .45 .43 .42 .41 .32 .33 .41 .43 .44 .47 .42

2005 .48 .45 .46 .47 .44 .43 .39 .31 .31 .40 .45 .46 .42

50-cm depth Mean daily volumetric soil water content (m

3

/m3)

2001 .39 .39 .40 .42 .48 .50

2002 .50 .50 .49 .48 .45 .42 .38 .34 .34 .36 .42 .47 .43

2003 .47 .47 .49 .47 .44 .40 .35 .33 .34 .42 .47 .47 .43

2004 .48 .47 .46 .44 .43 .43 .36 .36 .43 .44 .45 .46 .43

2005 .47 .45 .46 .46 .45 .42 .41 .35 .34 .43 .46 .47 .43

Mean daily maximum soil water content (m

3

/m3)

2001 .39 .39 .40 .42 .49 .51

2002 .51 .51 .50 .48 .45 .42 .39 .34 .34 .36 .42 .48 .43

2003 .49 .47 .51 .48 .44 .40 .35 .33 .35 .44 .48 .48 .43

2004 .50 .48 .47 .44 .43 .43 .36 .36 .43 .45 .46 .47 .44

2005 .48 .45 .46 .47 .45 .42 .41 .35 .35 .43 .47 .48 .43

Mean daily minimum soil water content (m

3

/m3)

2001 .38 .38 .40 .42 .47 .49

2002 .49 .49 .48 .47 .45 .42 .38 .34 .34 .36 .41 .46 .42

2003 .47 .46 .48 .47 .44 .40 .35 .33 .34 .41 .45 .46 .42

2004 .47 .46 .46 .44 .42 .42 .36 .36 .42 .44 .44 .46 .43

2005 .46 .44 .45 .46 .44 .41 .41 .35 .34 .42 .46 .46 .42

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Table 5—Mean maximum vapor pressure deficit from March 2000 to December 2005 at Fall River 

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Year

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Kilopascals - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2000 0.36 0.48 0.38 0.48 0.75 0.63 0.52 0.52 .26 .20

2001 0.25 0.26 .28 .29 .65 .47 .55 .64 .61 .33 .24 .18 0.40

2002 .12 .25 .20 .34 .41 .63 .76 .78 .68 .44 .37 .17 .43

2003 .26 .24 .19 .28 .42 .79 .79 .79 .75 .26 .17 .14 .42

2004 .09 .24 .28 .61 .37 .67 .80 .59 .38 .29 .16 .13 .38

2005 .16 .38 .34 .30 .47 .39 .65 .75 .51 .21 .13 .13 .37

Figure 3—Total monthly precipitation recorded at a weather station at the Fall River research area

from 2001 to 2005, and historical monthly means estimated with the PRISM program (USDA OSU

1999).

in late summer of 1998 within the 48-plot area before harvest.2 The objectives of

that vegetation analysis were to determine the most representative plant associations and to identify the most common understory species present at the study site.

The low-intensity vegetation survey used standard methods (Bonham 1989).

Vegetation was assessed in one randomly chosen sampling plot per each of the 48

treatment plots along an arbitrary 315° bearing. The bearing was randomly changed

when it placed the sampling point outside the plot, or if it was obstructed by a tree,

2 E. Beach. 2001. Unpublished data, on file with Thomas Terry, Weyerhaeuser Company, 

Centralia, WA 98531
old-growth stump, or large woody debris. Ground vegetation data recorded for each

sampling plot consisted of a visual cover estimate for each vascular plant species

present within a 1-m2 quadrat. Cover was defined as the vertically projected area of

all aboveground plant parts. Forest plant associations present on the site were determined by using the Forested Plant Associations of the Olympic National Forest

(Henderson et al. 1989) as a source document.

Cover values within plots ranged from 0 to 90 percent with a mean cover of 

48 percent. Species richness ranged from one to four vascular plant species per 

plot (mean = 1.9). A total of 15 understory species were tallied during the survey,

excluding tree seedlings (table 6). Vine maple (Acer circinatum Pursh) was not

found in the sample plots, but does occur in scattered clumps within the study area.

At least 17 other species of shrubs, ferns, and herbs are also present in the area

(table 6). The predominant plant association before logging was western hemlock/

western sword fern (Polystichum munitum (Kaulf.) K. Presl.)/oxalis (Oxalis 

oregana) Nutt. (Henderson et al. 1989). Mean cover of O. oregana and P. munitum

was 39 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Based on a chi-square distance measure, species and samples were ordinated simultaneously and five species assemblages were determined by correspondence analysis (table 7). 

Geology and Geomorphology

The study site is on gentle slopes (averaging 10 to 15 percent) facing west within 

the Willapa Hills physiographical province in the Coast Range of Washington (fig.

4). The site is about 56 km from the Pacific Ocean and elevations range between

305 and 362 m. This coastal uplifted province is situated between the Olympic

Mountains to the north, the Columbia River to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the

west, and the Cascade Mountains to the east. The Willapa Hills province includes

the Black Hills, the Doty Hills, and the adjacent broad valleys that open up to the

Pacific Ocean. The Willapa Hills have rounded topography and rise to 945 m 

elevation.

Thick sequences of sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Eocene through

Miocene age are present (Lasmanis 1991) (fig. 5). The Crescent Formation basalts

from the middle and late Eocene (35 to 50 million years ago) underlie McIntosh

marine sandstones from the same geological period (Christiansen and Yeats 1992).

On top of McIntosh sandstones, there are Lincoln Creek marine sandstones from

the late Eocene and Oligocene (25 to 54 million years ago). The early and middle

Miocene periods (7 to 15 million years ago) are represented by Astoria and

Montesano marine sandstones, and Pomona and Grande Ronde basalts that flowed

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Table 6—Cover and frequency estimatesa of plant species at Fall River in 1998 

Common name Scientific name Cover Range Frequencyb

- - - - -Percent - - - - - 

Oxalis Oxalis oregana Nutt. 38.7 (29.4) 0-90 0.88

Swordfern Polystichum munitum 6.8 (15.5) 0-85 .33

(Kalfuss) K. Presl

Spiny woodfern Dryopteris expansa .9 (3.4) 0-20 .08

(K. Presl) Fraser-Jenkins 

& Jeremy

Deer fern Blechnum spicant .5 (2.2) 0-14 .11

(L.) Sm.

Ladyfern Athyrium filix-femina .3 (1.4) 0-8 .04

(L.) Roth

Oregon grape Mahonia nervosa .3 (1.5) 0-10 .04

(Pursh) Nutt.

Blackberry Rubus ursinus .2 (1.5) 0-10 .02

Cham. & Schlecht.

Inside-out flower Vancouveria hexandra .2 (0.8) 0-5 .06

(Hook.) Morr. & Dcne.

Trailing yellow violet Viola sempervirens Greene .2 (0.5) 0-2 .15

Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis Pursh .1 (0.5) 0-3 .02

Western starflower Trientalis borealis Raf. .1 (0.3) 0-2 .04

Cascara buckthorn Frangula purshiana DC. < .1 0-1 .02

Smith’s fairybells Disporum smithii < .1 0-1 .02

(Hook.) Piper

Vanilla leaf Achlys triphylla (Sm.) DC. < .1 0-1 .02

Sweet-scented bedstraw Galium triflorum Michx. < .1 0-0.5 .02

Values for cover are means ± one standard deviation in parentheses (n = 48 plots).

a Based on a survey with a small sample size.

b Frequency = proportion of plots in which a species occurred.

The following species were also present in the preharvest stand in an additional survey carried out in 2001:

vine maple (Acer circinatum Pursh), angelica (Angelica genuflexa Nutt.), Dewey sedge (Carex deweyana

Schwein.), Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa (Haw.) Walp.), western fescue (Festuca occidentalis

Hook.), crinkleawn fescue (Festuca subuliflora Scribn.), white hawkweed (Hieracium albiflorum Hook.), 

smallflowered woodrush (Luzula parviflora (Ehrh.) Desv.), false lily (Maianthemum dilatatum (Wood) A. 

Nels. & J.F. Macbr.), false azalea (Menziesia ferruginea Sm.), candy flower (Claytonia sibirica L.), devil’s 

club (Oplopanax horridus Miq.), wood rose (Rosa gymnocarpa Nutt.), red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa

L.), western brackenfern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn), Pacific trillium (Trillium ovatum Prush), Alaska 

blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium Sm.), and red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium Sm.) (D. Peter, 2005,

personal communication, Ecologist, PNW Research Station).

Table 7—Dominant plant species in five assemblies determined with TWINSPANa

at the Fall River pretreatment survey 

Assembly code Common species

OXOR-POMU-BLSP Oxalis oregana, Polystichum munitum, Blechnum spicant

OXOR-VAHE Oxalis oregana, Vancouveria hexandra

OXOR-POMU Oxalis oregana, Polystichum munitum

OXOR-DRAU Oxalis oregana, Dryopteris austriaca

VISE-BLSP Viola sempervirens, Blechnum spicant

a TWINSPAN is a program for classifying species and samples. It is available from the Centre 

for Ecology and Hydrology, United Kingdom. www.ceh.ac.uk/products/software/ 

CEHsoftware-DECORANATWINSPAN.htm, (July 19, 2006).
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Figure 4—Geological formations around the Fall River research area in coastal Washington.

Figure 5—Geological profile in coastal Washington showing the location of the Fall River research area.
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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

into Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. Along the

way, these basalt flows entered depositional

basins containing semiconsolidated sediments.

Instead of flowing along the surface, the socalled invasive flows tended to burrow into 

the sediments. The sedimentary sequences are

deformed by faulting and folding. The Fall 

River research site is located on a plateau of 

the Pomona basalt flow (fig. 5), which is the

longest lava flow in the world encompassing 

600 km from its origin in west-central Idaho.

Unlike the Olympic Mountains to the north, 

the rocks of the Willapa Hills are not intensely

deformed because they were not subjected to 

subduction tectonism or the associated metamorphism. The subducting oceanic plate under

the Willapa Hills extends deep under the 

Earth’s crust.

Soils

The soil at the Fall River study site has been 

classified as medial over clayey, ferrihydritic

over parasesquic, mesic Typic Fulvudand 

(USDA NRCS 1999) of the Boistfort series

developed from weathered Miocene basalt, 

and influenced by volcanic ash in the upper

horizons (Steinbrenner and Gehrke 1973). Some of the volcanic ash is possibly

from the eruption of Mount Mazama approximately 6,850 years ago. The modal

sequence of horizons is A/AB/B/C (table 8). The Boistfort soil (fig. 6) is deep,

well-drained, and mostly stone-free, and has low bulk density (BD), high organic 

C content, and high water-holding capacity (table 9). 

To characterize local soil conditions with more detail, soil pits were excavated

to about 1.5 m depth in August-September 2001 in the harvested buffer areas

immediately adjacent to each of the four blocks of the experiment. Details of the

experimental design are in “Treatments” section. Soil characteristics were similar

in the four pits (table 10) except for greater organic C concentration (on a weight

basis) in the A horizon of the pit adjacent to block 1. The C/N ratio was also greatest in that horizon suggesting a larger proportion of decomposing organic materials. 

Figure 6—Typical soil profile of the

Boistfort series at the Fall River research

area. Every division of the measuring

device is 10 cm.

The Boistfort 

soil has low bulk

density, high

organic matter 

content, and high

water-holding

capacity.
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Bulk density increased with depth, whereas total porosity and macropore volume had the opposite trend (table 9). Available water capacity (i.e., volumetric

water content at -10 kPa minus that at -1500 kPa) at the 0- to 150-cm depth ranged

from 33 to 37 cm, or 22 to 24 percent of total profile depth to 150-cm depth.

Volumetric water content at -10 kPa (approximately field capacity) was much

greater for the surface horizon than for subsurface horizons. Analysis of composite

samples from the four blocks indicated a narrow range of both particle density

(PD) measured by the pycnometer method, and particle-size distribution among the

major horizons (table 11). As expected, PD was highest in the B horizon. The A

horizon was a clay loam, and the other horizons were silty clay loam. Among-block

differences appear largely related to spatial variation in organic matter rather than

in soil texture or horizon thickness. These differences in organic matter likely

induce variation in PD, volumetric soil water content at saturation, and soil water

release curves. Blocking was also important to group plots along similar slope

positions with blocks 1 and 2 on upper to mid slopes, and blocks 3 and 4 on lower

slopes.

Mineralogical analysis of the clay fraction of the Boistfort soil by x-ray diffraction revealed the presence of hydroxyl aluminum-interlayered vermiculite and

Table 8—Field description of the Boistfort soil at the Fall River experimental site in coastal Washington 

Horizon Depth Description

Centimeters

Oi 1 - 0 Discontinuous coniferous litter consisting of needles, twigs, and branches, in some spots 

mixed into mineral soil (0 to 1.5 cm thick) 

A 0 - 17 Dark brown (7.5 YR 3/3); silt loam; moderate, medium subangular blocky structure breaking to weak, fine to moderate, crumb structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic;

common very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; many fine and medium interstitial

pores; some shot-like concretions evident; charcoal and fire-oxidized soil (5 YR 5/8) 

present; abrupt wavy boundary (12-17 cm thick) 

AB 17 - 40 Dark brown (7.5 YR 3/4); silt loam; moderate, medium prismatic breaking to moderate 

fine/medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few very

fine, fine, and common medium and coarse roots, many very fine and fine interstitial pores

and common fine tubular pores; charcoal and fire-oxidized soil (5 YR 5/8) present; abrupt

wavy boundary (19-24 cm thick)

2Bwl 40 - 85 Brown (7.5 YR 4/4); silty clay loam; moderate medium prismatic structure; firm, sticky, 

plastic; few very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots, common very fine interstitial and

fine tubular pores; gradual smooth boundary (40-48 cm thick)

2Bw2 85 - 140+ Strong brown (7.5 YR 4/6); silty clay loam; moderate medium prismatic structure; firm, 

slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few very fine, fine, and medium roots, common very fine

interstitial and few fine tubular pores; charcoal and fire-oxidized soil (5 YR 5/8) present

Note: Soil description by D. Zabowski, University of Washington, 1999.
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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691 Table 9—Soil physical characteristics at four sampling locations within the Fall River experimental area Macroporesc as

percentage of

Bulk Total Volumetric water at tensions (Pa) of Core Total

Block Depth Horizon density porositya 0 -10 -33b -80 -200 -1500 volume porosity AWC1d AWC2e AWC3f

cm Mg/m3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Percent - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1 0-17 A1 0.48 73.8 73.8 40.6 39.0 35.9 30.6 5.6 33.2 45.0 35.0 33.4 10.0

17-40 AB .80 73.0 73.0 50.6 49.1 46.1 42.5 13.6 22.4 30.7 37.0 35.5 8.140-85 2Bw1 .90 64.4 64.4 42.0 40.9 38.8 36.9 16.2 22.4 34.8 25.8 24.7 5.1

85-150+ 2Bw2 1.14 58.2 58.2 45.8 45.0 43.5 43.6 30.4 12.4 21.3 15.4 14.6 2.2

2 0-12 A .60 78.9 78.9 40.3 38.9 36.2 33.3 7.4 38.6 48.9 32.9 31.5 7.0

12-50 AB .70 72.7 72.7 42.3 40.8 37.8 35.8 9.8 30.4 41.8 32.5 31.0 6.550-83 2Bw1 .92 60.4 60.4 36.2 35.5 34.0 32.3 18.2 24.2 40.1 18.0 17.3 3.9

83-155+ 2Bw2 1.12 58.0 58.0 45.1 44.5 43.2 36.8 25.0 13.8 23.8 20.1 19.5 8.3

3 0-18 A .69 72.8 72.8 47.7 46.2 43.1 40.6 10.1 25.1 34.5 37.6 36.1 7.1

18-46 AB .72 69.4 69.4 42.1 40.8 38.2 36.2 11.0 27.3 39.3 31.1 29.8 5.9

46-95 2Bw1 1.13 57.6 57.6 45.6 44.7 42.8 41.3 24.9 12.0 20.8 20.7 19.8 4.3

95-155+ 2Bw2 1.18 56.7 56.7 46.2 45.6 44.4 41.8 32.6 10.5 18.5 13.6 13.0 4.4

4 0-18 A .60 73.2 73.2 39.8 38.2 35.1 32.7 7.7 33.4 45.6 32.1 30.5 7.1

18-42 AB .64 72.2 72.2 40.0 38.3 34.8 32.5 8.4 32.2 44.6 31.6 29.9 7.542-90 2Bw1 1.02 60.9 60.9 40.6 39.6 37.7 36.1 21.7 20.3 33.3 18.9 17.9 4.5

90-150+ 2Bw2 1.10 58.7 58.7 44.7 44.1 42.9 41.3 27.8 14.0 23.8 16.9 16.3 3.4

a Total porosity estimated from measured bulk density in volumetric core samples in each horizon of the four pits and from particle density in every horizon

from the four pits determined from a composite sample by horizon from the four pits (determinations made at Oregon State University Soils Laboratory).

b Based on linear interpolation between -10 and -80 kPa.c Macropores = difference in volumetric moisture percentage between 0 kPa (saturation) and -10 kPa.d AWC1 = volumetric water percentage at -10 kPa minus that at -1500 kPa.e AWC2 = volumetric water percentage at -33 kPa minus that at -1500 kPa.f AWC3 = volumetric water percentage at -10 kPa minus that at -200 kPa.
some kaolin. The hydroxyl-interlayered vermiculite has properties that are intermediate between those of vermiculite (a 2:1 clay) and chlorite (a 2:1:1 clay). The

interlayering is extensive enough to prevent complete collapse of the mineral upon

saturation with potassium (K) and heating (as with vermiculite) but not extensive

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

21

Table 10—Carbon, soil nutrients, and pH by horizon in four soil pits at the Fall River 

experimental area 

Block Depth Horizon C N P K Ca Mg C/N pH

cm % by weight - - - - - - - - mg/kg - - - - - - - 

1 0-17 A1 13.2 0.46 17.8 110 552 78.1 28.7 5.2

17-40 AB 4.7 .26 7.3 83 56 10.7 18.2 5.2

40-85 2Bw1 1.0 .07 2.8 70 80 19.9 13.6 5.2

85-150+ 2Bw2 .7 .05 2.9 51 120 66.7 13.6 5.1

2 0-12 A 7.4 .40 12.5 159 162 42.6 18.4 5.2

12-50 AB 4.0 .24 6.4 41 13 4.0 16.5 5.1

50-83 2Bw1 1.4 .09 2.9 86 65 16.7 15.9 5.0

83-155+ 2Bw2 .5 .04 3.7 37 89 75.8 11.8 5.0

3 0-18 A 9.1 .42 10.4 103 189 39.4 21.8 5.0

18-46 AB 4.3 .24 5.2 35 22 6.6 17.9 5.1

46-95 2Bw1 .7 .06 2.0 44 165 94.4 12.5 5.1

95-155+ 2Bw2 .5 .05 2.1 38 129 111.0 9.8 5.1

4 0-18 A 8.7 .39 9.5 73 71 23.0 22.3 4.8

18-42 AB 4.4 .26 5.2 45 13 8.6 17.0 5.1

42-90 2Bw1 .9 .09 2.2 45 37 24.2 9.4 4.9

90-150+ 2Bw2 .8 .07 2.1 39 60 68.4 11.1 5.0

Analyses were performed at the Pedology Laboratory, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 

University of Idaho, Moscow, ID.

Table 11—Soil particle density and size distribution in composite samples 

by horizon from four soil pits at the Fall River experimental area 

Particle

Horizon densitya Gravelb Sand Silt Clay Textural class

g/cm3 - - - - - - - - - Percent - - - - - - - - - -

A 2.36 3.6 29.0 35.0 32.3 Clay loam

AB 2.67 2.0 12.2 46.0 39.9 Silty clay loam

2Bw1 2.77 2.5 11.2 46.9 39.3 Silty clay loam

2Bw2 2.79 3.0 11.3 46.1 39.7 Silty clay loam

a Determined by the pycnometer method at the Pedology Laboratory, College of Agriculture 

and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID.

Textural fractions were determined at the Soil Laboratory, College of Forest Resources, 

University of Washington.

b Coarse fragments between 2 and 75 mm in diameter.
enough to maintain the 14-Å spacing when heated (as with chlorite).3 Selective dissolutions of iron, aluminum, and silica in Fall River soil samples showed that allophane and imogolite concentrations were low compared to other Andisols, and

increased slightly with soil depth.4

Preharvest Forest Stand Characteristics 

Stand History

The original old-growth Douglas-fir/western hemlock stand was harvested in 1952-

53 by cable yarding. The clearcut area was broadcast burned in 1953 and planted 

in winter 1953-54 with 2+0 Douglas-fir seedlings at 2,188 trees per ha. Naturally

regenerated western hemlock also became a significant component of the plantation. In 1971, the stand was precommercially thinned from 2,235 to 1,220 trees per

ha. The stand was fertilized four times with urea in 1970 (370 kg N/ha), 1979 and

1984 (493 kg N/ha in each year), and 1995 (448 kg N/ha). The Fall River site has 

a site index of 41 to 43 m at breast-height age 50 years that corresponds to a site

class of II+ to I (King 1966). Before harvest in 1999, there was no evidence of significant compaction or disturbance within the stand. Any area with obvious yarding-related disturbance was dropped from the study. A view of the preharvest stand

is presented in figure 7.

Stand Description

Methods—

Before the installation of the treatments, all 48 study plots within the 47-year-old

stand planted in 1953-54 were assessed to determine overstory and understory 

vegetation composition, and biomass and wood volume in live and dead trees.

Frequency of live and dead trees and snags, bole diameter, total tree height, and

species compositions were recorded in the 0.1-ha internal measurement plot. Bole

diameter at breast height (d.b.h.; 1.3 m above ground) was measured for all trees,

and height was measured for 1,440 trees (30 trees per plot) across the d.b.h. range

within each plot. Snags were rated following a five-stage system (Neitro et al.

1985) in which a stage-1 snag is a recently dead tree with an intact top. Data were

summarized by species and survivor code (live or dead tree). Volume of each tree

was calculated based on d.b.h. and actual or estimated height. Coefficients of

22

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

3 Fallen, A.L. 2005. Personal communication. Research associate, University of Idaho.

4 Strahm, B.D. 2006. Personal observation. Doctoral candidate, University of Washington.
height-diameter relationships and estimated height for each tree were determined 

in Proc NLIN (SAS Institute 1999). Separate volume equations were used for

Douglas-fir (Bruce and De Mars 1974) and western hemlock (Wiley 1975). 

Height and d.b.h. of all partially decomposed snags (stage 2 through 5) within

the internal measurement plots were also recorded. Total height of snags was measured to the broken top, and the equation developed by Bruce and De Mars (1974)

was used to estimate the standing volume of the snag.

Results—

Forty-eight percent of the trees in the stand were Douglas-fir and contributed

approximately 55 percent of the total stand volume (table 12). Total basal area 

was 70 m2

/ha, reflecting both the high stand density and site index. Mean d.b.h.

and total tree height were 14 percent and 9 percent greater, respectively, in

Douglas-fir than in western hemlock. 

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

23

Figure 7—View of the preharvest forest stand at the Fall River research area.

Table 12—Stand density, mean tree size, stand basal area, and wood 

volume for live Douglas-fir and western hemlock trees in the stand before

harvest at Fall River 

Stand Mean Mean Basal Total wood 

density diametera height area volume 

Trees/ha cm m m2/ha m

3

/ha 

Douglas-fir 303 38.0 32.9 37.6 500

Western hemlock 324 33.3 30.2 32.5 414

Total 627 70.1 914

a Diameter measured at breast height, 1.3 m.
Biomass and C and N Stores

Forest Stand—

Methods

Tree diameters at 1.3 m above ground were measured in spring 1998 on 7,532 trees

within the study area with a diameter tape. Total height was measured with a Vertex

II laser device (Haglof, Inc.) on a subset of 30 trees within each of the 48 treatment

plots, including trees with the smallest and largest d.b.h. Height-diameter curves

based on the sample trees were developed for each species and used to estimate

heights for all trees in the stand. A stand table of d.b.h. and total heights was generated for all stems within the treatment area. 

To select trees for biomass sampling, the stand d.b.h. and height data were

divided into five diameter and total-height classes, and the percentage of basal area

in each diameter class was calculated. The number of trees selected within each

diameter class was based on the proportion of basal area represented within that

diameter class for each species. When an even number of trees were required for a

given diameter class, half of the trees were selected from the top half of the height

distribution within the class and half from the bottom half of the height frequency

distribution. When an odd number was required, the remaining tree was selected

from across the entire height distribution within a class. A total of 31 Douglas-fir

trees ranging in d.b.h. from 15.0 to 80.1 cm and 24 to 40 m in height, and 11 western hemlock trees ranging in d.b.h. from 20.0 to 61.7 cm and 27 to 37 m in height

were selected for detailed characterization. The original plan was to select approximately 30 trees of each species, but time and budget constraints resulted in fewer

hemlock trees being sampled.

Each tree was inspected to make sure that it had no obvious abnormalities such

as forked, crooked, or hollow stems, or damaged crowns. If abnormalities were

found, another tree was randomly selected from the appropriate class. A plastic tarp

was placed on the ground so that the full tree when cut would land on the tarp.

Stump heights, felled-tree heights, and height-to-live-crown were measured from

the uphill side of the tree. Dead branches were removed, collected, and weighed,

and representative subsamples were taken up the bole for fresh and dry-weight

determinations. All subsampled biomass material was placed in plastic bags and

later oven-dried at 65 °C to constant weight at the Laboratory of the College of

Forest Resources, University of Washington. Dry biomass was estimated by multiplying the original biomass by a factor that adjusted for moisture loss. 

24

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Local aboveground biomass

equations were

developed for

Douglas-fir and

western hemlock.
Live branches were removed and weighed. A representative subsample was

taken along the live crown. Branches were placed in plastic bags and later dried to

constant weight at 65 °C. After oven-drying, needles were removed and the ratio of

needles to live branches was used to calculate total dry live branches and foliage

weights. Any small, broken log sections and all tree top sections above 5 cm diameter were measured and weighed in the field. A 10-cm-thick disk was taken from

the middle of each broken log segment and from the top section above 5-cm diameter for a density determination pertaining to that particular log section. 

Outside-bark diameters of Douglas-fir logs were measured at 61-cm intervals

along the length of each log. Stems were then cut into eight equal-length log sections and outside-bark diameters were measured at the small- and large-end diameter of each log section. Outside-bark diameters of western hemlock logs were only

measured at the small- and large-end diameter of each of the eight log sections.

Five-cm-thick wood disks were cut from the midpoint of each log section,

weighed, and transported to the laboratory of the College of Forest Resources,

University of Washington for detailed measurements and oven drying. For each

disk, two inside-bark diameter measurements were taken at right angles to each

other on both sides of the disk and then averaged. The average bark thickness to

0.5 mm was measured from four locations equally spaced around the wood disk

circumference. Disk thickness was measured with calipers every 60°, and disk 

volume was estimated as a cylinder. Disks were oven-dried at 65 °C until constant

weight, and bole bark and bolewood were separated and weighed. The dry-weight

density for the green volume of each disk was used to calculate the dry weight of

bolewood and bark for each respective log section. 

Outside bark volumes (wet) of the eight log sections per tree were calculated

based on the diameter measurements recorded in the field for each respective log

section. Volumes were calculated for each 61-cm length section along the eight

Douglas-fir log bolts per tree, whereas for western hemlock, volumes were calculated for each of the eight log bolts. Volume for each measured log section was calculated according to the two-end conic formula: 

V = [1/3 length ((A1+A2+(A1A2)

0.5) ] 0.000001 [1]

where V = outside bark log volume (m3

) for the log section, length = log-section 

length (cm), A1 = area (cm2) of large end of log section, and A2 = area (cm2) of

small end of log section. 

For each log section, bolewood biomass (kg) was calculated by first multiplying the log section wet volume by the percentage of bolewood volume from the

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

25
corresponding disk section, then by bolewood density. The same procedure was

used to calculate bark biomass.

Stump volume was estimated with the sub-neiloid formula (Briggs 1994): 

V = 0.00007854 ((d + D)/2)2 stump height [2]

Where V = volume (m3

), d = stump top diameter outside bark (cm), and D =

ground-line diameter outside bark measured at the top of apparent basal lateral root

protrusions (cm). The wood density of the first log-section disk was used for the

density of the stump-volume section. 

Total stem biomass was then calculated by summing the biomass of bolewood

and bark for each log section and then adding stump biomass and any broken top

biomass for each tree.

Biomass equations were developed for bole wood, bole bark, dead branches, live 

branches, and foliage as:

Y = a DBHb [3]

where 

Y = component biomass (kg), DBH = outside-bark diameter at 1.3 m height (cm), 

and a and b = equation coefficients. The equations were transformed to natural 

logarithms to be fitted by linear regression.

Carbon and N concentrations were determined in samples of bark, bole wood, 

live branches, dead branches, and foliage for a subset of biomass trees. Samples

were from one tree in each of the d.b.h. classes with the exception of d.b.h. classes

45.1-50.0 cm, and 50.1-55.0 cm, which had samples from two trees because of the

high tree frequency and basal area in these classes. All sample lots were made by

proportionately sampling the component up and down the tree based on either biomass or volume within the section sampled. Ground and oven-dried samples were

thoroughly mixed, and subsamples were ground again in a Wiley mill to pass a 60-

mesh sieve, oven-dried at 65 °C, grouped by component type, and stored in airtight 

bags until analysis. Carbon and N concentrations were analyzed by following the

dry combustion method with a CHN 2400 analyzer (Perkin Elmer Corp.) at the

Laboratory of the College of Forest Resources, University of Washington. In addition, upon completion of the analyses, C and N concentrations for each component

of Douglas-fir were regressed against tree d.b.h. No correlations were found

between concentration and diameter, so an average C and N concentration was 

calculated for each biomass component.

26

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
Results

Regression equations fit the data well for tree biomass components for both

Douglas-fir and western-hemlock (table 13). Explained variance ranged between 

77 and 99 percent. Equations for bole wood and total biomass for both species had

higher r2 (0.94 to 0.99) than equations for branches and foliage (0.77 and 0.94).

Average C concentrations ranged from 48.8 percent in bole wood to 53.1 percent in foliage in Douglas-fir, and from 48.3 percent in bole wood to 51.7 percent

in foliage in western hemlock (table 14). Foliage N concentration was markedly

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

27

Table 13—Coefficients of biomass equations developed for 

Douglas-fir and western hemlock at Fall River

Equation coefficients

Tree component b1 b2 r

2

Douglas-fir:

Foliage -6.5110 2.4826 0.86

Live branches -6.0845 2.7364 .91

Dead branches -4.9085 2.2536 .81

Bole wood -.9388 1.9941 .94

Bole bark -3.9923 2.2250 .97

Total aboveground biomass -.9950 2.0765 .99

Western hemlock:

Foliage -3.3835 1.7563 .83

Live branches -3.3125 1.9622 .77

Dead branches -5.4125 2.2290 .94

Bole wood -2.0149 2.2641 .95

Bole bark -5.2355 2.5040 .92

Total aboveground biomass -1.6612 2.2321 .96

Note: Equations are of the form: ln(biomass [total or component in kg]) 

= b1 + b2 ln(d.b.h. [in cm]). Range in d.b.h. was 15.0 to 80.1 cm for 

Douglas-fir and 20.0 to 61.7 cm for western hemlock.

Table 14—Carbon and nitrogen concentrations in aboveground 

tree biomass components in Douglas-fir and western hemlock at 

Fall River

Douglas-fir Western hemlock

Tree component C N C N

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Percent - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bole wood 48.8 (0.16) 0.08 (0.01) 48.3 (0.05) 0.07 (0.01)

Live branches 49.7 (.12) .26 (.04) 48.8 (.07) .15 (.03)

Dead branches 48.5 (.09) .20 (.04) 49.4 (.06) .08 (.02)

Bark 51.9 (.32) .40 (.05) 50.1 (.77) .35 (.02)

Foliage 53.1 (.20) 2.02 (.07) 51.7 (.14) 1.43 (.05)

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 15 samples for Douglasfir and 12 samples for western hemlock, except for live branches in Douglas-fir where 

n = 14).
greater in Douglas-fir (2.0 percent) than in western hemlock (1.4 percent). Douglasfir also had markedly higher N concentrations in live and dead branches than western hemlock.

The aboveground portions of the trees in the 47-year-old stand contained 193

Mg/ha of C and 604 kg/ha of N (table 15). Douglas-fir and western hemlock had

similar relative proportions of aboveground C in boles (77 percent and 78 percent,

respectively), but western hemlock had proportionately more C and N partitioned to

foliage (3 percent versus 2 percent for C, and 32 percent versus 24 percent for N).

Total aboveground biomass in bole, bark, branches, and foliage was 393 Mg/ha

(table 15). That value was markedly greater than biomass estimates for eight 22- 

to 52-year-old stands in the Pacific Northwest (table 16). Older stands (90 to 110

years old), however, had more than 60 percent greater total aboveground biomass

than the stand at Fall River.

Understory vegetation biomass—

Methods

We collected aboveground biomass of understory vegetation from five subplots

within each treatment plot. To systematically locate each subplot, the longest side

28

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Table 15—Biomass and carbon and nitrogen stores in the preharvest Douglas-fir/western hemlock stand at Fall River

Biomass Carbon Nitrogen

Tree component Mg/ha % Mg/ha % kg/ha %

Douglas-fir:

Foliage 4.4 1.9 2.3 2.0 88.7 23.6

Live branches 17.8 7.6 8.8 7.6 45.7 12.2

Dead branches 9.2 3.9 4.5 3.9 18.0 4.8

Bole wood 182.2 77.8 88.9 77.2 140.3 37.3

Bole bark 20.6 8.8 10.7 9.3 83.2 22.1

Total aboveground 234.2 115.2 375.9

Western hemlock:

Foliage 5.1 3.2 2.6 3.3 73.0 31.9

Live branches 11.5 7.3 5.6 7.2 17.2 7.5

Dead branches 3.7 2.3 1.8 2.3 2.9 1.3

Bole wood 126.2 79.6 61.0 78.6 93.4 40.9

Bole bark 12.1 7.6 6.7 8.6 42.1 18.4

Total aboveground 158.6 77.7 228.6

Stand total:

Foliage 9.5 2.4 4.9 2.5 161.7 26.8

Live branches 29.3 7.5 14.4 7.5 62.9 10.4

Dead branches 12.9 3.3 6.3 3.3 20.9 3.4

Bole wood 308.4 78.5 149.9 77.7 233.7 38.7

Bole bark 32.7 8.3 17.4 9.0 125.3 20.7

Total aboveground 392.8 192.9 604.5

The aboveground

portions of the

trees in the 47-

year-old stand 

contained 193

Mg/ha of C and 

604 kg/ha of N.
The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

29

Ta

ble 16

—

E

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Total

Stan

d

Stan

d

Bole Bole Branches aboveSource age Con

dition

density

wood

bark

Live Dead

Foliage grou

n

d

Years Trees/ha - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mg/ha - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bancalari an

d

Perry (1987) 22 Slow

growth 1030 62.4 11.7 15.7

a 8.9 98.7

Mediu

m

growth 770 100.5 16.9 20.6

a 10.7 148.7

Fast growth 690 140.7 25.6 22.9

a 14.5 203.7

Dice (1970) 36 2223 134.4 18.5 5.5 5.7 7.8 176.1

b

Swan

k (1960) 37 1370 121.2 20.4 17.6 6.8 11.1 177.1

Heilman (1961) 38 6125 51.6 18.1 8.5 10.1 8.0 96.3

38 N-fertilized 4940 63.8 21.4 17.0 13.3 14.2 129.7

Barclay et al. (1986) 43 N

A 100.4 17.0 13.1 7.2 11.7 151.1

b

Heilman (1961) 52 6125 147.4 27.2 17.9 11.2 11.9 215.6

52 N-fertilized 5335 142.4 30.8 21.2 9.0 13.8 217.2

F

ujimori et al. (1976)

c 90-110 478 510.2 69.2 46.3

a 10.5 636.2

a Dead branches included in estimates of live branches. b Sums as reported in publication. c Stands with Douglas-fir and western hemlock.
of the plot was divided into five equal lengths of 17 m each (0-17, >17-34, >34-51,

>51-68, and >68-85 m), and one 2-m radius circular plot was randomly located

within each of the five rectangles (17 by 30 m) based on x, y coordinates from the

NE plot corner.5 If the sample point was on a log, stump, or a tree location, it was

moved 1 m in a random direction (0 to 360° bearing). If the sample point was also

a soil sampling point, it was moved away from large stump roots at 1-m increments

in a random direction until clear of obstructions. 

Oxalis occurred as an extensive plant cover and was sampled separately from

other understory plant species. At each of the five subplots per plot, a 0.25-m2

metal square was placed on the ground. All aboveground oxalis, including roots in

the litter, but not in the mineral soil, were manually removed and put into labeled

plastic bags. Samples of other plant species were collected within 2-m-radius circular areas (12.6-m2

) centered at each of the five sample points. Aboveground biomass of all understory vegetation that originated in the subplot was clipped with

hand shears at ground line, collected in paper bags, and oven-dried at 65 °C in the

laboratory to constant weight. Concentrations of total C and N of the samples (48

samples for oxalis, and 48 samples for other vegetation) were determined by the

dry combustion method at the University of Washington Analytical Services

Laboratory. 

Results

Understory vegetation included forbs, ferns, and shrubs. Collectively, stores of 

biomass, C, and N in understory vegetation were small (< 95 kg/ha of C, and < 5

kg/ha of N; table 17), and a very small proportion of the C and N stores at the site.

Given its high foliage N concentration (2.8 percent) and extensive plant cover,

oxalis with 3.3 kg N/ha contributed 67 percent of the understory N store.

Forest floor, coarse woody debris, and old-growth stumps and snags—

Methods

The primary objective of sampling forest floor, woody debris, and old-growth

stumps was to obtain good estimates of those components by block rather than by

plot. We defined coarse woody debris (CWD) as detrital wood from 5 to 60 cm

diameter (in the preharvest sampling) and later as 0.6 to 60 cm diameter (in the

postharvest sampling). Biomass, C, and N stores in old-growth logs, old-growth

30

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

5 The same quintile subplots were used to facilitate other sampling protocols as well. Sampling 

locations were randomly assigned to quintile subplots without replacement so that samples would 

be distributed uniformly across the treatment plots. 
stumps, and snags were reported separately from CWD although, strictly, they are

woody debris of coarse size. 

From each of two randomly chosen subplots within each study plot, one forest

floor sample was collected in summer 1998. Sample points within a subplot were

determined by randomly picked x, y coordinates. Samples of the forest floor material were then collected within a 0.25-m2 square frame. The frame was offset to the

nearest acceptable sampling point if the point landed on a log, stump, or clump of

vine maple. The forest floor sample included limbs and woody debris less than 5

cm in diameter that could be cut with shears, moss, litter, partially decomposed

organic material, and rot down to the mineral soil. Obvious roots in the forest floor

were discarded. Amorphous (i.e., lacking the integrity of an intact log) material in

woody debris decay classes 4 and 5 was included in the forest floor samples. A

small garden scoop was used to excavate red rot material down to the mineral soil.

The forest floor components were not separated. The entire sample was placed in a

labeled plastic bag and stored in cold storage until oven-drying at 70 °C and subsequent weighing. Dry weights of the two forest floor biomass samples per plot were

averaged, and then biomass per hectare was computed.

Coarse woody debris > 5 cm in diameter from the 47-year-old stand (excluding

large old-growth logs, stumps, and snags) was assessed from September to

December 1998. Each treatment plot, which includes the internal measurement plot

and the treatment buffer, was first divided into five equal sections (quintiles). A 30-

cm-wide by 15-m-long transect was randomly located within each of three quintile

subplots within each plot. Transect lengths were not adjusted for slope because the

slopes were gentle and relatively short. Sampling was without replacement so that

no subplot would have more than one transect. Starting points for transects were

chosen based on random x, y coordinates within the subplot. The transect line was

then oriented in a randomly chosen bearing direction from 1° to 360°. If a transect

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

31

Table 17—Average biomass and carbon and nitrogen concentrations and stores in

understory vegetation before forest harvest at Fall River

Biomass C N C N

kg/ha - - - - - - - Percent- - - - - - - - - - - - kg/ha- - - - - -

Understory vegetation

(except oxalis) 102.3 (6.8) 48.2 (0.36) 1.8 (0.15) 42.7 (3.0) 1.6 (0.4)

Oxalis 118.2 (30.0) 43.7 (.70) 3.0 (.20) 52.1 (12.0) 3.3 (.7)

Total understory 

vegetation 220.5 94.8 4.9

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 45 and 47 samples for understory vegetation 

and oxalis, respectively).
would have extended off the treatment plot, it was directed back into the plot by

following the reverse bearing. In a few cases, transects were located near a plot

corner so that the entire transect could not be located within the plot. In these situations, an additional transect was placed within the same plot by using similar location procedures such that the total length of the two transects was equal to 15 m.

Any CWD crossed by a transect was categorized by cross-sectional diameter and

decay class (table 18). Debris materials that could be weighed directly were

weighed in the field. Because rainfall would affect CWD wet weights, a subsample

of logs within each decay class was collected daily to develop a dry-weight adjustment for that class of material based on the moisture content for the specific survey

period. Large logs that could not be efficiently weighed in the field were sampled

by the following method: a 30-cm-wide cross-section sample was collected and the

weights subsequently adjusted to reflect the actual volume of the material that was

intersected by the transect. Log measurements needed for the intersected log volume calculation are demonstrated in figure 8. Biomass was then calculated by multiplying the sample volume by the corresponding wood density determined for each

decay class. This method was only used for larger logs up to 60 cm in diameter.

Larger old-growth logs were assessed during the more intensive postharvest survey

described in the section “Postharvest Biomass and C and N Stores.” 

From 6 to 15 random subsamples of each woody debris decay class were 

taken from samples collected for moisture determination and underwent C and N

analysis at the Analytical Services Laboratory of the College of Forest Resources,

University of Washington, as previously described. A subset of samples was also

32

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Table 18—Description of decay classes (Maser et al. 1979) used in the pre- and

postharvest assessments of coarse woody debris, old-growth logs, and oldgrowth stumps at Fall River

Class Description

1 Fresh logs with foliage, bark, and small limbs intact. These logs were generally

western hemlock with Annosus root rot blown down within the stand. No

Douglas-fir root-rot disease mortality was observed on the site.

2 Logs with bark sloughing, some limbs present, foliage not evident, and wood 

discolored but firm.

3 Logs with trace of bark, limbs absent, wood texture firm in the center, and center 

wood faded/stained. Outside of the log may display blocky brown cubicle rot,

for instance, in large remnant old-growth logs.

4 Logs with bark absent, texture soft to firm, and with mostly blocky brown 

cubical rot. Logs may have very small portion of class 3 in the heart of the log.

5 Logs with bark and twigs absent, considerable amount of moss present, softgranular texture, textured, and brown decomposed wood as part of the forest

floor.
analyzed by using the same methods at the Weyerhaeuser Analytical Laboratory,

Federal Way, Washington, for cross-checking. These C and N concentrations were

used to calculate C and N stores in CWD in the preharvest assessment survey.

Frequency and volume of old-growth stumps and snags were estimated in April

2002 to February 2004 after harvest and treatment installation. When a stump or

snag was located, the closest tagged tree number was recorded for reference, and

then the stump or snag height, diameter, and decay class were recorded. Tree

species was identified based on bark characteristics, if feasible. Stumps and snags

of unidentifiable species were recorded as “unknown conifer species,” as any hardwoods present in the old-growth stand would have decayed beyond recognition as 

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

33

Figure 8—Measures taken to determine volume of logs in transects at the Fall River research area. Examples are for situations

when the transect crosses over the log (top) or ends on the log

(bottom).
a snag or stump. The standard five-class decay system (Maser et al. 1979) was used

to characterize decay class; however, only codes 3, 4, and 5 were used because

stumps and snags were from trees that had died at least 50 years before the survey.

Many stumps and snags were more decayed on the exterior than in the center. To

better represent these situations, intermediate codes of 3.5 (equal amounts of class

3 and 4 present), 3.8 (mostly class 4 but some class 3 material still visible), and 4.5

(equal amounts of class 4 and class 5 material) were also used. Stump and snag

heights were measured with a tape for short individuals, and with an Impulse

instrument (Laser Technology) for tall individuals. Because height measurements

were to be used in volume calculations, a mean height to the top of the full cross

section of a stump or a snag was recorded rather than the maximum height for a

portion of the individual. Diameter for short stumps and snags was determined 

by measuring across the top (usually two values were measured and the average

recorded). For taller individuals, diameter was measured with a diameter tape

around the outside of the individual. Both basal diameter taken approximately at

ground line, and a high diameter were measured. Height of the “high diameter”

measurement was recorded. The high diameter was the diameter at the tallest

height that represented the mass of the stump or snag and was reachable from the

ground. To account for the substantial loss of material in the center of some

stumps and snags, the approximate diameter of a hollow center area was also

recorded and substracted. Each individual was also assigned a shape code (cylindrical, conical, or amorphous) to aid in estimating volume. Carbon and N stores

were calculated by multiplying biomass by C and N concentrations for the corresponding old-growth log decay classes as described in sections to follow “Oldgrowth legacy wood” and “Stumps.” We interpolated concentration values when

classes were described as intermediate between defined classes (e.g., class 3.5).

Results

Under the Douglas-fir/western hemlock stand prior to harvest, the forest floor

accounted for 71 Mg/ha. Carbon concentration in the forest floor averaged 37 

percent, and N concentration averaged 0.9 percent. Stores of C and N in the forest

floor amounted to 27 ± 4 (standard error) Mg/ha and 453 ± 51 (standard error)

kg/ha, respectively. Coarse woody debris, excluding old-growth logs, stumps, and

snags, in the Douglas-fir/western hemlock stand averaged 22 Mg/ha with 72 percent of this amount in decay classes 3 and 4 (table 19). Carbon concentrations were

approximately similar for all CWD decay classes ranging from 47 percent for class

2 to 51 percent for class 4 (fig. 9). Nitrogen concentrations, however, differed

34

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

35

Table 19—Biomass and carbon and nitrogen 

stores in coarse woody debris by decay 

class before harvest at Fall River

Decay class Biomass Carbon Nitrogen

- - - - - -Mg/ha - - - - - kg/ha

1 2.2 (0.8) 1.0 (0.4) 1.4 (0.5)

2 2.8 (.4) 1.3 (.2) 5.1 (.9)

3 7.9 (1.2) 3.9 (.7) 24.8 (4.3)

4 8.2 (1.1) 4.1 (.5) 36.9 (4.8)

5 1.2 (.5) .6 (.3) 6.1 (2.9)

Total 22.3 10.9 74.3

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses 

(n = 48 plots).

Figure 9—Carbon and nitrogen concentrations in coarse woody

debris by decay class at the Fall River research area. Values are

means ± one standard error.
markedly among decay classes (e.g., 0.06 percent for class 2 to 0.49 percent for

class 5). There was less C and N stored in CWD (11 Mg/ha and 74 kg/ha, respectively) than in the forest floor (27 Mg/ha and 453 kg/ha, respectively). 

The survey identified 443 legacy stumps and 19 legacy snags in 48 plots, a

total survey area of 12.2 ha. Legacy stumps and snags amounted to 37 per ha with

a total biomass of 29 Mg/ha (table 20), containing 17 Mg C/ha and 26 kg N/ha.

Douglas-fir was the most common species identified (64 percent), followed by

western hemlock (22 percent) and 14 percent unknown conifer species. One individual was classified as Sitka spruce. Over half (55 percent) of the individuals were

classified as decay class 3.5 or 3.8, 22 percent as class 4, and the remaining individuals as classes 3, 4.5, or 5. Heights of the individuals ranged from 0.1 to 16.5 m

with a mean of 1.4 m. In addition to one very tall snag (16.5 m), there were 11

snags and 1 stump between 3 and 7 m; the rest were less than 3 m tall. Basal diameters ranged from 20 to 430 cm with a mean of 188 cm. Individuals were distributed by basal diameter class as follows: 4 > 400 cm, 33 between 300 and 400 cm,

165 between 200 and 300 cm, 194 between 100 and 200, and 66 < 100 cm. 

Soil—

Methods

Because of the size of the study, preharvest assessment of soil properties across the

study area was undertaken to generally describe the preharvest soil properties within blocks, rather than to perform a detailed assessment at the plot level. We first

sampled soils in summer 1998 by using a 31.2-mm diameter punch-tube volumetric

sampler (Clements Associates) after collecting forest floor material. This soil sampling was independent of the sampling in four soil pits used to characterize the soil

in the study area. From a 0.25-m2 area at two random locations in each plot, two

soil cores were taken by depth (0-10 cm, 11-30 cm, 31-50 cm, and 51-80 cm).

Sample integrity was maintained for bulk density determination. Sample depth for

each of the two separate cores was recorded, along with an estimate of A-horizon

36

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Table 20—Density, biomass, and carbon and nitrogen stores in 

old-growth stumps and snags at Fall River

Species Density Biomass Carbon Nitrogen

No. per ha Mg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha 

Douglas-fir 23.5 (3.9) 25.4 (4.5) 15.2 (2.2) 21.3 (4.2)

Western hemlock 8.4 (2.0) 2.8 (.5) 1.4 (.5) 2.9 (1.2)

Unknown 5.2 (1.3) 1.3 (.6) 0.7 (.3) 1.4 (0.6)

Total 37.1 29.5 17.3 25.6

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 48 samples).

There were 12.2

legacy stumps and

snags per hectare.
compression caused by the probe. For the preharvest sampling, 384 soil samples

were collected (48 plots x 2 samples per plot x 4 depths). To test for possible differences between this method and procedures using larger core samplers, nine

paired samples were also taken from the A horizon by using the small soil core

sampler and a 137-cm3 hammer-driven sampler (a cylinder with 5.4-cm diameter

and 6-cm length). A small-diameter soil probe may compact the soil and render

inaccurate bulk density values if the sampler edge is not sharp, sampling pressure is

not applied correctly, and sampling depth is not monitored carefully. Our results,

however, indicated that mean bulk density did not differ between the two sampling

methods (P = 0.65). 

Soil samples were taken to the Laboratory of the College of Forest Resources,

University of Washington and air-dried to constant weight. Soil bulk density

(g/cm3

) was calculated as total oven-dry weight divided by the soil volume calculated from the soil sampler dimensions. After drying, the two samples from each

plot were composited to produce a single sample for each depth per plot for determinations of pH (1:2 soil-water ratio), moisture content, percentage coarse fraction

(> 2 mm), C, N, and other elements. For water content determinations, a field sample was weighed; then, 10 to 20 g of air-dried soil was oven-dried at 105 °C for 24

to 48 hours to estimate total oven-dried weight. Soil nutrient analyses were performed on the < 2 mm fraction. Content of larger fractions (mostly roots) was < 5

percent of bulk volume. A representative subsample was selected and ground to

powder in a mortar and pestle. Samples were stored in plastic bags until C, N, and

acid digest/inductively coupled plasma spectrometry analyses for total elements

were performed (Kalra and Maynard 1991). Element contents per ha (Q) were 

calculated from element concentration as: 

Q (kg/ha) = Depth (cm) x bulk density (g/cm3) x concentration x 

108cm

2

/ha x 0.001 kg/g. [3]

Results over all depths were summed to estimate a total nutrient pool 

estimate per hectare.

Results

Observations from the four pits indicated that C concentration within the soil profile followed an irregular distribution with lower C values in the 12.3- to 23.3-cm

sampling depth (mostly in the AB horizon) than in the sample depths immediately

above and below this depth (table 21). The upper 42 cm of the profile contained, on

average, 73 percent of the 248 Mg C/ha in the 0-80-cm depth. Within the experimental site, relative differences of 21 percent in soil C for the 0-80-cm depth were

Total N in the 

mineral soil and

roots was more

than 10-fold 

the N store above 

the mineral soil.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

37
Table 22—Soil nitrogen to 80-cm depth in the preharvest forest stand at Fall River

Soil Mean ± SE 

horizon Depth Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4 (n =16 samples)

cm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - kg/ha - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A 0-12.3 2,668 3,112 2,185 3,288 2,813 ± 247

AB >12.3-22.3 2,138 2,419 2,303 2,103 2,241 ± 73

AB >22.3-42.3 3,887 3,860 3,480 3,545 3,693 ± 105

B >42.3-62.3 2,060 3,138 2,758 2,714 2,668 ± 224

B >62.3-80.0 1,585 2,186 1,578 1,564 1,728 ± 152

Total 0-80 12,338 14,715 12,304 13,214 13,143 ± 565

SE = standard error.

observed between the soil pits with the most and the least C (soil pits near blocks 1

and 3, respectively).

The N store in the mineral soil down to 80-cm depth amounted to 13 143 kg/ha

(table 22). Nitrogen distribution was similar to that for C with 66 percent of the N

in the 0-42-cm depth. Differences in N stores were 20 percent between the blocks

with the most and the least N (blocks 2 and 3, respectively). The C:N ratio varied

from 24 in the A horizon to 14 in the lower B horizon, i.e., the 62.3- to 80.0-cm

depth.

Total C and N Stores—

The mineral soil down to 80-cm depth was the largest store of C and N on the site

accounting for 43 percent of the total C and 90 percent of the total N (table 23).

The next largest store of C and N was the aboveground live-tree biomass, which

composed 33 percent of the total C but only 4 percent of the total N. All biomass

38

The mineral soil

down to 80-cm

depth was the

largest store 

of C and N on 

the site. 

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Table 21—Soil carbon to 80-cm depth in the preharvest forest stand at Fall River

Soil Mean ± SE 

horizon Depth Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4 (n =16 samples)

cm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Mg/ha- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

A 0-12.3 76.1 71.6 50.6 71.8 67.5 ± 5.7

AB >12.3-22.3 45.6 45.4 47.5 41.1 44.9 ± 1.3

AB >22.3-42.3 82.7 65.7 64.7 64.2 69.4 ± 4.5

B >42.3-62.3 37.3 44.4 44.3 42.9 42.2 ± 1.7

B >62.3-80.0 31.8 27.7 17.9 20.7 24.5 ± 3.2

Total 0-80 273.5 254.8 225.0 240.7 248.5 ± 10.4

SE = standard error.
stores above the mineral soil, including live and dead trees, understory vegetation,

old-growth stumps and snags, CWD, old-growth logs, and forest floor, made up 

50 percent of the C and 9 percent of the N. The old-growth logs, stumps, and snags

that were remnants of the old-growth stand harvested five decades earlier contributed about 18 percent and 11 percent of the C and N stores above the mineral

soil. We recognize we did not estimate insects, arthropods, birds, or other animals,

but any of them would represent relatively small amounts of biomass, C, and N.

Within the mineral soil, estimated fine, small, and coarse roots composed 14

percent of the C and 1.4 percent of the N to 80-cm depth. Carbon stores were about

equally divided between those above the mineral soil and those within the mineral

soil whereas the bulk of the N store was predominantly located in the mineral soil.

There were similar

C stores above 

and within the 

mineral soil 

(0- to 80-cm depth)

including roots 

(~ 290 Mg/ha).

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

39

Table 23—Summary of biomass and carbon and nitrogen stores in the preharvest 

forest stand at Fall River

Biomass Carbon Nitrogen

Mg/ha % Mg/ha % kg/ha %

Live trees 392.8 34.2 192.9 33.2 604.5 4.1

Dead trees 4.5 .4 2.1 .4 8.4 0

Snags 9.7 .8 4.8 .8 30.4 .2

Understory vegetation .2 0 .1 0 4.9 0

Coarse woody debrisa 22.3 2.0 11.4 1.9 74.3 .5

Old-growth stumps or snags 29.5 2.6 17.3 3.0 25.6 .2

Old-growth logs 73.2 6.4 36.9 6.3 122.3 .8

Forest floor 70.6 6.1 27.1 4.6 452.8 3.1

Coarse roots (> 5 mm) 82.2b 7.2 39.6c 6.8 180.8d 1.2

Small roots (2-5 mm) 0-45 cm 1.5 .1 .5e .1 9.7f .1

Fine roots (< 2mm) 0-45 cm 2.3g .2 .8e .1 14.9f .1

Mineral soil 0-80 cm 458.7h 40.0 248.5 42.8 13 143.0 89.8

Total 1147.5 582.0 14 671.6

a Excluding old-growth stumps, snags, and logs.

b Estimates of coarse root biomass (CRB) are the sum of the CRB values of individual trees; ln (CRB) 

(per tree in kg) = -3.55 + 2.33 ln (d.b.h.) (n = 80, r2 = 0.86) (Thies and Cunningham 1996). c A carbon (C) concentration of 48 percent (McDowell et al. 2001) was used to estimate the C store in 

coarse roots.

d A nitrogen (N) concentration of 0.22 percent (McDowell et al. 2001) was used to estimate the N store in 

coarse roots.

e A C concentration of 35 percent determined from root samplings at Fall River was used to estimate C 

stores in fine and small roots.

f

A N concentration of 0.65 percent (McDowell et al. 2001) was used to estimate N stores in small and fine 

roots.

g Calculated from data in Keyes and Grier (1981).

h Organic matter.
Discussion—

Allometric equations generated at Fall River for Douglas-fir and western hemlock6

provided a reliable way to estimate biomass of aboveground tree components, a 

better alternative for our site than equations by Gholtz et al. (1979), which have

been extensively used in the Pacific Northwest. Allometric equations for young

Douglas-fir were available but they had been developed from low-site quality (site

quality IV) stands (Redlin 1988). When used for the pretreatment stand at Fall

River, the equations by Gholz et al. (1979) estimated 14 percent more biomass than

did the allometric equations generated specifically for Fall River. Most of this difference occurred for Douglas-fir where biomass was overpredicted by 21 percent

when using Gholz et al. (1979) equations. These differences were likely explained

by the fact that Fall River equations were developed from an even-aged stand, but

the equations by Gholz et al. (1979) used data from both even and uneven-aged

stands, and from stands ranging in age from 22 to 110 years.

Aboveground biomass of the 47-year-old Douglas-fir/western hemlock stand at

Fall River, i.e., 407 Mg/ha in live trees, dead trees, and snags, greatly exceeded the

average biomass reported from other studies in the Pacific Northwest (Bancalari

and Perry 1987, Barclay et al. 1986, Dice 1970, Heilman 1961, Swank 1960) for

stands 22 to 52 years old. This result is consistent with the stand age, large stand

basal area, and high site index at Fall River. Estimated total aboveground biomass

of 90- to 110-year-old stands in the Northwestern United States (Fujimori et al.

1976) were, on average, 50 percent greater than that at Fall River, indicating that 

the stand at Fall River had not yet reached its maximum aboveground biomass

accumulation potential. In this study, we neither measured nor estimated epiphyte

biomass. This biomass store is usually very small, accounting for less than 0.1 

percent of aboveground tree biomass (Smithwick et al. 2002). 

Biomass of dead trees and snags from the 47-year-old stand at Fall River constituted small pools, i.e., 14 Mg/ha, composing 2.6 percent of the total aboveground

biomass. Coarse woody debris, including old-growth logs, dead trees, and snags

but excluding old-growth stumps, amounted to 110 Mg/ha. In a chronosequence

study in the Washington Cascade Range, mass of CWD (logs > 10 cm in diameter)

was estimated to be 92 Mg/ha in Douglas-fir stands less than 80 years old (Spies et

al. 1988). Mature coastal Douglas-fir/western hemlock forests accumulated 42 to

40

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

6 Harrison, R.B.; Terry, T.A.; Licata, C.W.; Flaming, B.L; Meade, R.; Guerrini, I.A.; Strahm, 

B.D.; Xue, D.; Adams, M.R.; Lolley, M.R.; Sidell, A.; Wagoner, G.L.; Briggs, D.; Turnblom, E.C.;

Carpenter, P. Predicting biomass of Douglas-fir and western hemlock in the coastal hemlock zone 

of Washington: accounting for bias. Paper in preparation. University of Washington.
500 Mg/ha of log CWD and 25 to 105 Mg/ha of snags (Edmonds 1991). In oldgrowth stands, CWD mass can be quite high, i.e., 420 to 550 Mg/ha (Agee and

Huff 1986, Keenan et al. 1993). The N store in CWD at Fall River, including standing dead trees, snags, CWD, old-growth logs, and old-growth stumps/snags, was

261 kg/ha, which was within the range found in northern coniferous forests up to

450 years old (Laiho and Prescott 2004), i.e., 20 to 450 kg N/ha with most stands

having less than 170 kg N/ha in CWD. In a 450-year-old Douglas-fir stand in the

H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon, the N store in downed logs alone

was 183 kg/ha (Means et al. 1992). 

Given its slow decay rate, the role of CWD in nutrient cycling and supply may

not be as critical as for other organic matter sources (Laiho and Prescott 2004).

Coarse woody debris in natural stands adds fewer nutrients to the forest floor per

kilogram of biomass than does fine litter because of the lower N concentration and

higher C:N ratio of CWD. These nutrients in CWD are released slowly, and, therefore, CWD conserves nutrients during major disturbances (Harmon and Hua 1991).

The inner bark (phloem) of recently downed wood may release nutrients at rates

comparable to foliage litter, thus providing a relatively fast pulse of nutrients followed by a slow release from the inner parts of the wood, although more decay was

found in the central portion of Douglas-fir logs with brown cubical rot than on the

outside of the logs (Edmonds and Eglitis 1989). Significant nutrient export from

CWD can take place through leaching, absorption by mycorrhizae and roots, fragmentation, insects, and fungal sporocarp production (Harmon et al. 1994). 

Although N-fixation occurs in decaying logs and the forest floor in Douglas-fir

forests of the Pacific Northwest (Jurgensen et al. 1992, Silvester et al. 1982, Sollins

et al. 1987), rates of N-fixation are low, i.e., < 1 kg N/ha per year. These inputs are

less than the N input from precipitation and dry deposition, estimated at 2 to 3

kg/ha per year at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon (Sollins et al.

1987), and at 1.7 kg/ha per year in a 42-year-old Douglas-fir stand (Edmonds et al.

1989). 

Dead wood provides critical habitat for birds, mammals, amphibians, invertebrates, and other organisms (Aubry and Hall 1991, Bull and Heater 2000, Bull et

al. 1992, Carey and Johnson 1995). Dead wood can also reduce erosion, facilitate

plant regeneration, and provide habitats for decomposer and heterotrophic organisms (Harmon et al. 1986). These aspects of CWD are important and need to be

placed into context when broad-sense forest sustainability (Evans 1999) is considered.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

41
At Fall River, coarse root biomass was not determined directly by excavation

but estimated from an allometric equation relating Douglas-fir coarse root biomass

and d.b.h. (Thies and Cunningham 1996). Using this function, we estimated 82

Mg/ha of coarse roots. This value is close to the upper limit reported for Douglasfir by Santantonio et al. (1977) (range: 47 to 84 Mg/ha), although old-growth

Douglas-fir forests in western Oregon were found to contain 97 to 193 Mg/ha of

live coarse roots (Grier and Logan 1977). 

Fine-root (< 2 mm in diameter) biomass in forests varies during the year but

the degree of this variation seems site-specific. In western Washington, total fine

root biomass (conifer plus angiosperm) ranged between 1.0 and 2.8 Mg/ha in highproductivity sites (Class II), and between 2.9 and 7.3 Mg/ha in low-productivity

sites (Class IV) (Vogt et al. 1987). In a high-productivity site in Coastal Washington

comparable to Fall River, biomass of live fine roots in a 40-year-old stand did not

change appreciably among seasons, although fine root necromass increased significantly in the fall (Keyes and Grier 1981). In a low-productivity stand, both live

and dead roots showed marked seasonal fluctuations, with live roots peaking in

June at 8.3 Mg/ha. Estimates made by using minirhizotrons of standing fine-root

biomass of mature (>100 years old) closed-canopy Douglas-fir stands in the

Oregon Cascades varied significantly throughout the growing season and peaked in

summer at about 20 Mg/ha in a low-resource site and at about 12 Mg/ha in a highresource site (Tingey et al. 2005). Annual fine root production measured during two

consecutive years averaged 23.1 Mg/ha in the low-resource site and 7.3 Mg/ha in

the high-resource site. In that study, estimates of standing fine-root biomass made

by using soil coring were 14.8 Mg/ha in the low-resource site and 5.3 Mg/ha in the

high-resource site suggesting that core sampling during a few occasions per year

led to underestimation of root biomass. For the summary of estimated biomass, C,

and N stores before and after harvest at Fall River, we used fine-root data extrapolated from Keyes and Grier (1981).

Forest floor mass at Fall River (71 Mg/ha) was greater than the 27, 34, and 

39 Mg/ha of forest floor (litter and humus) reported for 42-, 49- and 73-year-old

Douglas-fir stands in the Cedar River watershed (Turner and Long 1975), and the

16 to 57 Mg/ha for mature coastal Douglas-fir/western hemlock stands (Edmonds

1991). An average of 45 Mg/ha was reported for 74 studies in cold temperate coniferous forests (Vogt et al. 1986). In addition to the fact that Fall River is a highly

productive site and had received N-fertilization, the large values for forest floor

mass at Fall River may be explained by the sampling method, which included any

decomposed class 5 wood (red rot) within and under the litter layer down to the

42

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
mineral soil. It was important to include this material as part of the forest floor

sample, as there was considerable red-rot material incorporated into the forest floor

at the site and it would not have been accounted for in any of the other biomass

pool sampled. Unfortunately, the mass of red rot in the preharvest sampling was

not estimated.

The intact forest floor had a C concentration of 38.5 percent, within the range

of 35.8 percent (for the Oi layer) and 47.7 percent (for the Oa and Oe layers) found

in a 40-year-old Douglas-fir in south-central Washington (Klopatek 2002). The 

forest floor N concentration at Fall River was 0.66 percent versus 1.20 percent in

the previous study, but the stand in south-central Washington was composed of 33

percent N-fixing red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.). Forest floor C and N stores at Fall

River, i.e., 27 Mg N/ha and 453 kg C/ha, surpassed the upper limits found in 13

second-growth (45- to 72-year-old) Douglas-fir stands (Homann et al. 2001), and 

in 154 Douglas-fir and western hemlock stands (Edmonds and Chappell 1993) in

western Washington and Oregon, although a survey of 65 cold temperate coniferous stands found an average of 504 kg N/ha in the forest floor (Vogt et al. 1986).

In the 13 second-growth stands, C stores ranged between 5 and 18 Mg/ha, and N

stores ranged between 130 and 360 kg/ha. Most of these stands, however, were not

on Andisols, and all of the sites but one had site indices lower than that at Fall

River. In addition, red rot may not have been fully sampled in these other studies.

Forest floor C at Fall River was also markedly higher than C stores in two 20- 

and 40-year-old Douglas-fir stands growing on Entic Vitrands in south-central

Washington (Klopatek 2002), but the N store at Fall River was similar to that in 

the 40-year-old stand (approximately 450 kg/ha). Forest floor C and N stores averaged 9.7 Mg/ha and 244 kg/ha, respectively, in 19 Douglas-fir stands in coastal

Washington (Edmonds and Chappell 1993). 

The upper 80 cm of the soil profile at Fall River contained 248 Mg C/ha, i.e.,

42 percent of the site total, and 13 Mg N/ha, i.e., 89 percent of the site total. The 

N store in the upper 80 cm of the soil profile is particularly noteworthy and relates

to the Boistfort soil's capacity to retain organic matter. At Fall River, C in live biomass and mineral soil to 80-cm depth were similar fractions of total stand C, i.e.,

34 and 40 percent, respectively. Carbon stores in other Douglas-fir/western hemlock forests averaged approximately 60 percent for live biomass, 20 percent for

woody detritus, 5 percent for forest floor, and 15 percent for mineral soil to 1-m

depth, according to field estimates (Grier and Logan 1977, Harmon et al. 1998,

Smithwick et al. 2002) or modeling (Harmon and Marks 2002). The total site C

store at Fall River was 582 Mg C/ha, lower than the average of 820 Mg C/ha 

The upper 80 cm of

the soil profile at Fall

River contained 42

percent of the site 

C and 89 percent 

of the site N.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

43
estimated for seven 230- to 280-year-old coniferous forests in the Olympic

Peninsula (Smithwick et al. 2002), although soil C was measured to 1 m-depth 

in these studies.

Biomass-Removal Treatments

Treatment Description and Installation

Biomass-removal treatments were implemented from May to July of 1999. Trees 

were directionally hand-felled so that all treetops remained within the plot. The

four biomass-removal treatments (fig. 10) were as follows: 

44

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Figure 10—View of biomass-removal treatments at the Fall River research area: commercial bole-only removal (top left), commercial

bole up to 5-cm top removal (top right), total-tree removal (bottom left), and total-tree-plus removal (bottom right).
(1) Bole-only harvesting (BO): Tree boles down to a merchantable limit of 8 to 13 

cm in top diameter and 3 m in length were removed. Remaining tops, broken

logs < 3 m in length, butt cuts, and all remnant CWD were left in place. 

(2) Bole-only to 5-cm top (BO5): Tree boles up to a 5-cm top diameter were

removed as well as all broken boles and butt cuts to a 5-cm top. 

(3) Total-tree (TT): Complete tree boles, all live limbs and foliage, and most 

large dead limbs greater than 2.5 cm in diameter were removed. Small green

limbs and fresh foliage were removed by hand. Most remnant CWD was left 

in place. The shovel excavator inadvertently removed some forest floor and

remnant CWD when removing limbs and tops. 

(4) Total-tree plus (TT+): Harvesting removed the entire aboveground portion 

of the tree including all live limbs and foliage, and most dead limbs. In addition, most live or dead limbs greater than 0.6 cm remaining on the plot were

manually removed. All remaining CWD, including remnant old-growth logs

and surface red rot were also removed with the exception of new stumps, 

old-growth stumps and snags, and rotted material that could not be taken 

intact. The larger CWD was removed mechanically by using a shovel excavator positioned outside the internal measurement plot. Red rot below the

ground surface was left in place. In addition to the logging slash and CWD

removed by the shovel excavator, a considerable amount of the fine slash 

and CWD was removed by hand. Some forest floor was inadvertently 

removed by the shovel excavator as in the previous treatment. 

Trees and CWD were removed by cable or shovel yarder depending on treatment. 

Shovel yarders were only used within internal measurement plots for ground-based

harvesting where the soil compaction and soil compaction-plus-tillage treatments

were implemented (Terry et al. 2001). All biomass-removal treatments not receiving compaction were cable-yarded by using a CAT 330L (Caterpillar) two-drum

shovel yarder, and a tail-hold tractor to minimize site disturbance. Moreover, a

shovel excavator with a piling-rake head traversed all treatment plots outside the

internal measurement plot to scatter slash uniformly within the plot after harvesting, and to further remove woody materials. No ground-equipment traffic occurred

in any of the internal 0.10-ha measurement plots except as required to implement

the soil compaction, and soil compaction-plus-tillage treatments.

The TT and TT+ treatments were included in the study to extend the range of

biomass-removal regimes rather than simulate operational treatments. The TT treatment was not equivalent to an operational whole-tree harvest because more material was removed in TT than the material that would have been removed in an actual

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

45
46

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

operation. The TT+ treatment in this study did create conditions that are similar to

what would be achieved in areas between piles in some slash-piling operations. In

this study, all biomass material removed from treatment plots was piled in buffer

areas outside the study area and burned. None of the biomass-removal treatments

removed old-growth stumps/snags.

All the biomass-removal treatments received intensive vegetation control for

the first 5 years after harvest (2000-2004) except for the one set of the BO treatment

that was specified not to receive vegetation control. The purpose was to control all

competing vegetation, and not to simulate typical operational vegetation control.

Two weeks before planting the Douglas-fir seedlings, Oust® (0.21 kg/ha [DuPont

Crop Protection]) and Accord Concentrate® (4.67 L/ha [Dow AgroSciences LLC])

were broadcast by using backpack sprayers. In 2001, Atrazine® (9.3 L/ha [Syngenta

Crop Protection]) was uniformly sprayed in March and followed in April and May

by spot application of Accord Concentrate® (0.75 percent by volume in water). In

March 2002, Atrazine® (9.3 L/ha) and Oust® (0.17 kg/ha) were broadcast and followed with spot applications of Transline® (1 percent by volume in water [Dow

AgroSciences LLC]) in April-May and Accord Concentrate® (0.75 percent in water)

in June-July. In March 2003, a directed band of Velpar® (7.0 L/ha [DuPont Crop

Protection]) was applied between rows and followed with spot applications to

shrubs of Transline® (1 percent by volume in water) in April-May and Accord

Concentrate® (0.75 percent by volume in water) in June. In April 2004, Velpar®

(5.85 L/ha) was applied in a directed band between rows. Herbicide applications

differed by year to avoid development of species resistance to an individual 

herbicide.

In the BO treatment with vegetation control and no soil compaction, logs were

cable-removed with a CAT 330L two-drum shovel yarder, and a tail-hold tractor to

minimize site disturbance (fig. 11). 

Two additional treatments were imposed on BO plots with vegetation control:

• Soil compaction: Trees were yarded in May 1999 with a 44-ton CAT 330L

shovel with 70-cm-wide pads (fig. 12). The soil water content at time of yarding was at or near field capacity. Eight equally spaced traffic lanes were

flagged in each trafficked plot to make soil disturbance comparable across

blocks. Every other lane was trafficked twice to more closely simulate traffic

patterns that operationally occur when both a feller-buncher and a shovel

yarder are used during harvesting (fig. 13).

• Soil compaction plus tillage: In this treatment, the compaction treatment 

described above was followed by thorough soil tillage to 60-cm depth on 
The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

47

Figure 12—Ground-based forest harvesting (left) and traffic lane (right) at the Fall River research area.

Figure 11—Cable harvesting at the Fall River research area.

the areas trafficked by the shovel with a small CAT 322BL excavator shovel

fitted with a bucket (Pacific Services and Manufacturing, Inc.) with two 60-

cm-long tillage tines (fig. 14). 

To evaluate the effects of biomass removal, soil compaction and tillage, and 

vegetation control on Douglas-fir growth, the site occupied by the stand harvested

in 1999 was planted in March 2000 with 1+1 seedlings (grown in the nursery for 1

year, then lifted and transplanted at lower density in the nursery and grown another

year). Seedlings were selected to ensure they fell within designated height and basal

diameter ranges, planted at 2.5 by 2.5 m (1,600 trees/ha) and individually numbered

and tagged to allow accurate plot maps and tree-specific data to be obtained.
Postharvest Biomass and C and N Stores

Methods

Coarse woody debris—

We measured residual CWD in one randomly chosen plot from each of the four

cable-yarded biomass-removal treatments within each block from February to May

2000. We tallied CWD by using the line-transect method (Brown 1974, Harmon

and Sexton 1995). As in the preharvest assessment, plots were divided into five

equal sections (17 by 30 m), and two randomly located 10-m transects were 

surveyed in each section, resulting in a total transect length of 100 m per plot.

Transect lengths were not adjusted by slope because slopes were short and < 15

percent. The starting point for each transect was a randomly-located coordinate.

Transect direction was determined by random compass bearings from 1° to 360°.

Transects that would have extended outside the plot were ended at the plot border,

and then extended back into the plot from the origin in the opposite direction (180°)

to result in the correct length. Transects were allowed to extend into adjoining 

subplot sections. 

48

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Figure 13—Aerial views of plots after cable (top, no traffic lanes visible) and ground-based harvesting

(bottom, traffic lanes visible along the main plot axis) at the Fall River research area.
Woody residues were subsampled by size class. Residues with diameters from

0.6 to 2.5 cm were measured along the first 1 m of each transect; residues with

diameters from 2.5 to 7.6 cm were measured along the first 2.9 m; and residues

with diameters greater than 7.6 cm were measured along the entire 10 m of the

transect. Diameters were measured at the point of intersection of the transect with

the measured residue piece, and perpendicular to the piece’s longitudinal axis. 

We classified decay classes of CWD according to Maser et al. (1988) (table

18). No attempt was made to distinguish between classes 1 and 2 because the 

harvesting treatments were completed 8 to 10 months before sampling. Coarse

woody debris from recently harvested trees was classified as class 2 if limbs were

present, foliage was not evident, and wood was discolored but firm. Decay class 5

material, commonly referred to as “red rot,” was not determined on line transects

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

49

Figure 14—Tillage with an excavator in plots with soil compaction (top), and traffic lanes before 

(bottom left) and after tillage (bottom right) at the Fall River research area.
but was included with the forest floor component. We did not attempt to classify

woody material by plant species.

Volume of woody debris (VWD, m

3

/m2) found on line transects was calculated

by using the equations in Harmon and Sexton (1996):

For debris diameters ≤ 7.6 cm VWD = 9.869 x No x a x (d

2

/8L) [4]

For debris diameters > 7.6 cm VWD = 9.869 x No x (d

2

/8L) [5]

where 

No = the number of pieces of the given size class intercepted by the transect, a =

average secant for pieces (adjustment for nonhorizontal orientation of pieces), d =

average diameter in meters for pieces ≤ 7.6 cm, or actual diameter in meters for

pieces > 7.6 cm, and L = length of transect (m).

The computed volumes were summed by size class to yield CWD volume 

by plot. These volumes were then multiplied by wood density to determine wood

mass. Wood density was determined from additional samples collected 4 to 6

months after the line-transect survey was finished. We collected four to seven 

samples per plot on the transects in each of the following diameter ranges (in centimeters): 0.6-2.5, >2.5-7.6, and >7.6-60 for decay classes 1+2, 3, and 4, with the

exception of the smallest size class in decay class 4, which was not encountered.

Methods for sampling old-growth logs for wood density and C and N concentrations are described in the next section. Half of these CWD samples were collected

in blocks I and II, and half in blocks III and IV. This block grouping reflected different proportions of Douglas-fir to western hemlock basal areas in each block

(Terry et al. 2001). Samples for density determination were collected from two 

10-m line transects across selected treatment plots. Line transects were initiated 

at a random starting point 2 m inside plot borders along the south boundary, and

extended across the plot at a 90° angle. Decay class 2 samples were collected from

the BO and BO5 plots, which had more residual material than the other treatments.

Classes 3 and 4 were collected from TT and TT+ plots. This scheme was designed

to allow easy access to debris of specified decay classes. For diameters and decay

classes not found in the transects, the given plot was systematically traversed to

find the samples needed. Caution was taken not to collect two samples directly

adjacent to one another along the traverse line to ensure spreading the samples out

across the test area. On several occasions other plots (BO5) in each block were systematically traversed to acquire the samples not found in the bole-only plot within

a block. 

50

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
Small pieces were cut with hand-pruners or loppers into 10-cm-long sections,

and protruding twigs were trimmed. Larger pieces were cut with handsaws and

chainsaws into about 10-cm-thick disks. Diameter of each 10-cm disk was measured at both ends and in the middle, and thickness was measured in four quadrants

of the disk to get an average. These measurements were used to obtain volume

assuming a cylinder shape. Disks from the large pieces were quartered with an axe

into wedges and then submerged in water until air bubbles subsided. Volume was

obtained from the weight of displaced water. Most pieces, including those in decay

class 4, held their form enough to obtain volume. All samples were oven dried at

70 °C until constant weight. Wood density was averaged for blocks I and II, and

blocks III and IV, and for the diameter classes described in line transects. There

were eight samples per block-group and diameter class. We used N and C concentrations by decay class for branch and wood material collected from the preharvest

tree biomass and CWD assessments to determine C and N stores as described in

previous sections.

Old-growth legacy wood—Old-growth logs greater than 60 cm in diameter were 

sampled in January 1999 before harvest for determination of wood density, and C

and N concentration. At least four random transects were located in each block and

the closest old-growth log was chosen as the sample log. Three to five logs were

sampled per block. Each log was classified as decay class 3, 4, or 5 (table 18). A 9-

to 13-cm-thick wedge extending to the center of the log was cut from the upper to

middle log section with a chain saw. Volume of the wedge was determined by

measuring the angle (generally less than 90°), the thickness at two places along

each cut side and around the uncut edge, and the wedge radius (r), averaged from

three readings along the cut side and in the middle. Volume of the wedge (Vw; m

3

)

was calculated from these measurements as:

Vw = angle/360 (3.1416 r

2

x thickness) [6]

Wet weight of the wedge was determined in the field, and a subsample of the 

wedge was taken to the laboratory to determine oven-dry weight. Subsamples were

stored in zip-lock bags in a cooler until oven-drying. We used the C and N concentration values for CWD decay classes in the preharvest surveys for all nutrient calculations in the posttreatment surveys. Analyses were conducted at the University

of Washington Analytical Services Laboratory as described previously for other

woody debris.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

51
Stumps—

Volume of the aboveground portions of stumps from the recent harvest was determined per block. Diameter of the fresh-cut face of each stump was measured with

calipers in two perpendicular directions. Root-collar-diameter was measured with a

diameter tape at the lowest point on the stump above the swelling associated with

roots close to groundline. We then measured height from the root collar to the cutface along two sides. Diameters of the root collar and the cut-face were averaged to

calculate stump volume assuming that stumps were cylinders. Volume was multiplied by wood density of class-2 woody debris to estimate stump mass. To estimate

stump C and N contents, mass was multiplied by concentrations of C and N from

class-2 woody debris (fig. 9).

Forest floor—

Forest floor was assessed along the same transects used for CWD determinations.

At approximately 2, 4, and 6 m along each transect, we described forest floor 

condition, depth, and cover area in a 0.5- by 0.5-m metal frame. Stumps and oldgrowth logs were avoided, and the forest floor area was adjusted accordingly

because the area occupied by these components had been previously assessed.

Additionally, we surveyed the forest floor beneath slash in the BO and BO5 treatments. Slash had been removed in TT and TT+ treatments, allowing an unobstructed view of the forest floor and soil surface. At approximately 8 m along each line

transect, the metal frame was positioned and forest floor was collected to determine

dry weight. After the frame was positioned, we used hand pruners and chain saws

to cut woody material along the frame borders. Forest floor of each class found

within the frame was collected separately. Coarse woody debris > 0.6 cm in diameter was accounted for in the line transects; this material was set aside. All smaller

woody and forest floor materials down to mineral soil were excavated and collected.

Often, larger sized woody materials were buried beneath a layer of needles or disturbed soil on the surface. These woody pieces, regardless of size, were collected to

a depth where mineral soil was reached. Samples were dried at 70 °C to constant

weight.

To determine specific gravity of red rot, 20 additional red-rot samples were collected close to the plot borders in areas previously not sampled. A straight, narrow

shovel was inserted into the red-rot sample. A piece of plywood (14 by 40 cm) was

inserted behind it, and the shovel was removed. Three more pieces were inserted,

each at 90° to the previous piece, with their edges touching to form a square sample “box.” Red rot was transferred from inside the square to a paper bag, and the

dimensions of the excavation were recorded for volume calculations. Depending 

52

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
on depth, one to three bags per square were necessary. The shallowest sample was

12 cm, and the deepest was 64 cm. For depths greater than 40 cm, shovel and plywood pieces were used as described to extend depth. Red rot samples were dried at

70 °C to constant weight, and density was calculated as dry weight per unit volume. Even though red rot extended almost twice as deep into the soil in BO and

BO5 than in TT and TT+ treatments, the density of the red rot material by depth or

treatment was not statistically different; therefore, an average of all samples (0.15

Mg/m3) was used for mass calculations. The total mass of red rot per plot was

obtained by multiplying plot cover of individual sampling points in square meters

by depth and density. 

Total area used for forest floor and red rot mass calculations was reduced by

percentage of area covered by stumps, old-growth logs, and large CWD pieces. 

The percentage of area covered by fresh and old-growth stumps, and remnant oldgrowth logs was determined by surveying one randomly chosen BO, TT, and TT+

plot within each of four blocks during July 2001. We placed a 1- by 1-m frame

divided into 16 equal sections in the four quadrants around each of 30 trees per plot

using the tree location as the plot center. Trees were selected by having a random

start on one of the first five seedlings in the first measurement plot row, then alternately sampling every 5th, then every 6th tree, down the row. Area of stumps, oldgrowth logs, and forest floor around individual seedling were estimated to the

nearest 1/2 square (1/32 or 3 percent) per 1-m2 grid. This area averaged 7.4 

percent in BO, BO5, and TT, and 2.4 percent in the TT+ treatments. The main

objective of this survey was to permit assessment of seedling performance in the

different forest floor conditions. The area covered in stumps and old-growth logs

was likely underestimated, because planting locations were moved when pin-flag

location landed on these obstructions. 

Forest floor samples were dried, weighed, and chipped with a Yard SharkTM

chipper/shredder (Tilton Equipment Co.). Forest floor materials were pooled by

plot and forest floor class. Samples were thoroughly mixed on a tarp, arranged in a

square and divided into fourths; two diagonal parts were kept for nutrient analysis;

the rest of the material was stored. Nutrient analysis was also done on treatmentlevel composites created by mixing 50 g of sample from each plot for class 2 and

for class 4. Forest floor class 5, bare soil, was not analyzed for nutrient concentration because it is not organic forest floor.

Total C and N concentrations were determined at the University of Washington

Analytical Services Laboratory as described above. A subset of samples were analyzed by using the same methods at the Weyerhaeuser Analytical Laboratory for

cross-checking.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

53
Carbon and N stores—

We determined nutrient concentrations in samples of forest floor conditions 1

through 7 composited by plot. Total C and N were determined at the University 

of Washington Analytical Services Laboratory. A subset of samples were also analyzed at the Weyerhaeuser Analytical Laboratory for cross-checking. Carbon and 

N concentrations were multiplied by the mass of the corresponding organic matter

type to calculate C and N stores. For old-growth logs, we used mean values

weighed by the relative abundance of old-growth logs by decay classes determined

in the preharvest sampling, as C and N concentrations changed with decay class.

Masses of individual organic matter components and N pools were added to determine plot-level totals. 

To determine C and N pools, we used C and N concentration values determined from the preharvest woody debris samples for material >7.6 cm diameter 

in similar decay classes (fig. 9). For the material in classes 1, 2, and 3, and 0.6- to

7.6-cm diameters, we used C and N values determined from the preharvest stand 

biomass sampling of live and dead limbs. The same C and N values for class 4

material were used for all diameter classes (fig. 9). For old-growth stumps and

snags, we used C and N concentrations determined for old-growth logs by decay

class. The C and N values for old-growth logs were weighted by the proportion of

old-growth logs in each decay class in each block. 

Results

In general, wood density decreased with decreasing diameter and with increasing 

degree of decay. Wood density of CWD ranged from 0.14 g/cm3 in decay class 4

for the >2.5- to 7.6-cm-diameter material to 0.41 g/cm3 in decay classes 1+2 in the

>7.6 to 60.0-cm-diameter material (table 24). The average wood density in g/cm3

for old-growth logs by decay class was 0.38 for class 3, 0.20 for class 3.5, 0.16 for

class 4, and 0.14 for class 5.

Biomass of CWD, old-growth logs, and recent stumps after treatments ranged

from 8 Mg/ha in TT+ to 135 Mg/ha in BO with a clear trend toward less residue

mass as the intensity of biomass removals increased (table 25). Decay class 2 mass

showed the same downward trend with increased biomass removals (i.e., BO >

BO5 > TT > TT+) as expected. Recent stumps added approximately 5 Mg/ha in

each treatment. Old-growth logs were the largest mass of woody debris in all treatments except TT+ where they were removed as part of the treatment specifications.

Decay class 4 was a small component of coarse woody debris (excluding oldgrowth logs and stumps) in all treatments, averaging less than 0.5 Mg/ha in each.

Carbon and N concentrations for CWD 0.6- to 7.6-cm diameter in decay class 1

54

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
and 2 were 49.4 and 0.22 percent, respectively, and in class 3 were 48.8 and 0.17

percent, respectively. Average old-growth log C concentrations were 49.8 percent

in decay class 3, and 52.5 percent in classes 4 and 5. Average N concentrations

were 0.13 and 0.28 percent for old-growth logs in class 3, and classes 4 and 5,

respectively. Overall, average C and N concentrations for old-growth logs weighted

by decay class and diameter were 50.4 and 0.17 percent, respectively. The N concentration for old-growth logs is relatively low compared to small CWD of similar

decay class (fig. 9) because of the amount of solid wood still remaining in the center of many of these logs.

Carbon and N stores in CWD for the four treatments followed a similar trend

as observed for biomass (i.e., BO, BO5 > TT > TT+) (table 26). Carbon stores

combining CWD, old-growth logs, and recent stumps ranged from 4 to 67 Mg/ha,

and N stores ranged from 8 to 210 kg/ha. 

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

55

Table 24—Wood density by decay class for coarse woody debris and 

old-growth logs after forest harvesting at Fall River

Class Wood density by log diameter class (cm)

0.6-2.5 >2.5-7.6 >7.6-60.0 72-115 

Mg/m3

1+2 0.28 (0.01) 0.29 (0.02) 0.41 (0.01)

3 .22 (.01) .22 (.01) .35 (.01)

4 .14 (.01) .25 (.05)

Old-growth logs 0.291a (.08)

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses. The number of observations (n) 

ranged between 6 and 27 samples for diameter classes between 0.6 and 60.0 cm, and 17 

samples for the 72- to 115-cm class.

a Wood density weighted by the biomass of old-growth logs in each decay class across 

four blocks.

Table 25-Coarse woody debris biomassa after forest harvesting at Fall River

Biomass by decay class

Old-growth Recent Total

Treatment 1+2 3 4 logs stumps biomass

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mg/ha- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mg/ha

Bole only 49.8 (6.9) 10.1 (3.0) 0.1 (0.1) 70.0 (29.5) 5.2 135.2

Bole only to 27.3 (2.6) 10.0 (3.4) 0 76.3 (36.2) 5.2 118.8

5-cm top

Total tree 10.7 (2.4) 8.8 (5.0) .5 (.5) 27.9 (9.5) 5.2 53.1

Total tree plus 1.9 (.9) .3 (.1) .2 (.2) 0 5.2 7.6

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 4 plots).

a Excluding old-growth stumps and snags.
56

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Ta

ble

2

6

—

C

arb

o

n (C) a

n

d

nitro

g

e

n (N) store

s in

c

o

ars

e

w

o

o

d

y

d

e

bris

a

after fore

st h

arv

e

stin

g

at F

all Riv

er

C

W

D

b

y

decay class

Treatment 1+2 3 4 Old-growth logs Recent stu

m

ps Total

C

N

C

N

C

N

C

N

C

N

C

N

Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha

Bole only 23.9 (3.3) 58.3 (8.2) 5.0 (1.5) 30.1 (9.0) 0.05 (0.05) 0.4 (0.3) 35.3 (14.8) 114.1 (47.9) 2.4 3.2 66.7 206.1

Bole only to

5-cm top 13.3 (1.2) 47.1 (4.2) 4.9 (1.7) 29.5 (10.0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 38.5 (18.1) 130.6 (6.14) 2.4 3.2 59.1 210.4

Total tree 5.2 (1.1) 16.4 (3.6) 4.3 (2.4) 25.9 (14.8) .3 (0.3) 2.4 (2.3) 14.1 (4.8) 48.7 (16.5) 2.4 3.2 26.3 96.6

Total tree .9 (.4) 3.6 (1.7) .2 (.1) .6 (.2) .1 (.1) .9 (.9) 0 (0) 0 (0) 2.4 3.2 3.6 8.3

plus

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 4 plots). a Excluding old-growth stumps and snags.
We categorized five forest floor conditions based on visual observations (table

27). Intact forest floor with no slash ranged from 23 percent of the plot area in 

BO5 to 53 percent of the plot area in TT. Because woody debris obstructed the

view of the forest floor in BO and BO5 treatments, we also examined underneath

the woody debris and estimated an additional 37 percent of the plot area in these

treatments contained intact forest floor. Thus, intact forest floor in BO and BO5

covered 66 and 59 percent of the plot areas (table 28). Areas with small slash and

buried wood were more abundant in BO and BO5, covering 51 percent and 47 percent of the plot areas, respectively. Forest floor mixed with soil was least abundant

in BO (9 percent) and most abundant in BO5 and TT+ (23 percent). 

Red rot cover varied relatively little across treatments from 17 percent in BO5

to 24 percent in TT+ (table 28). Bare soil was relatively rare, but most frequent in

the TT and TT+ treatments (6 percent and 8 percent, respectively), where large 

biomass amounts were removed. 

Depth of the forest floor differed with treatment and category. Intact forest

floor, small slash or buried wood, and red rot were two to three times as deep in 

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

57

Table 27—Description of forest floor classes used in the postharvest assessment at Fall River

Class Name Description

1 Intact forest floor Undisturbed mat of brown and gray needles

2 Small slash or buried wood Slash <0.6 cm in diameter or buried wood under the forest floor

3 Forest floor mixed with soil Soil particles scattered on top of and among needles

4 Red rot Decay class 5 material; reddish, unconsolidated woody pieces, found 

mostly in piles

5 Bare soil Bare mineral soil

Table 28—Forest floor covera and depth to mineral soil by forest floor condition and biomass-removal 

treatment at Fall River

Small slash or Forest floor mixed Bare 

Treatment Intact forest floor buried wood with soil Red rot soil

Cover Depth Cover Depth Cover Depth Cover Depth cover

percent m percent cm percent cm percent cm percent

Bole only 66 (8.2) 8.8 (3.2) 51 (5.5) 14.5 (1.5) 9 (3.4) 11.1 (4.4) 18 (3.1) 19.0 (3.1) 4 (1.2)

Bole only to 

5-cm top 59 (7.3) 10.4 (1.1) 47 (4.7) 11.1 (.8) 23 (6.7) 4.6 (3.0) 17 (3.0) 22.1 (5.2) 2 (.6)

Total tree 53 (3.5) 4.7 (1.0) 6 (2.6) 7.5 (.9) 16 (2.0) 1.6 (.5) 19 (3.3) 7.2 (.5) 6 (2.3)

Total tree 42 (4.5) 4.0 (1.0) 3 (2.8) 1.2 (1.2) 23 (3.3) 2.0 (.5) 24 (1.7) 7.0 (.7) 8 (1.7)

plus

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 4 plots).

a Percentage of cover sums for a given treatment are greater than 100 because material from some classes overlapped in areas 

where buried wood was found.

Bare

soil

cover
BO and BO5 treatments as in TT and TT+ (table 28). Depths in BO and BO5 

treatments were relatively similar to each other, as were depths in the TT and TT+

treatments. Depth of forest floor mixed with soil tended to be greater in BO (11

cm) compared to the other treatments. Red rot was scattered more in the TT and

TT+ treatments because of dragging whole trees across the soil surface during

cable yarding. In contrast, protective limbs and tops were left on the soil surface in

the BO and BO5 treatments. Although a shovel-excavator working in the treatment

buffers around measurement plots was used to either remove slash and CWD or

uniformly scatter slash in all treatments, this equipment caused more scattering of

red rot in treatments that had the most CWD removals. Considerable scattering and

some inadvertent removal of red rot occurred in the buffer area of the TT treatment

where the shovel excavator moved piles of broken tops and other logging slash out

of the plot. 

Carbon and N concentrations in intact forest floor, small slash, mixed forest

floor, and red rot differed substantially (i.e., 28 to 49 percent for C, and 0.36 to

0.66 percent for N) (table 29). Red rot was the greatest mass among all forest floor

materials within the BO and BO5 treatment, whereas intact forest floor was the

greatest mass in TT and TT+ (table 30). The range in red rot biomass was from 20

Mg/ha in the TT treatment to 51 Mg/ha in the BO5 treatment. The unexpected low

mass of red rot in the TT treatment compared to the BO and BO5 treatments may

have been caused by the shovel excavator picking up, temporarily piling, and then

removing broken limb material. Some red rot material could have been removed

during this operation, as the buffer area represents 60 percent of the overall treatment plot. Another possibility is that there may have been initially small amounts

58

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Table 29—Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations in forest floor, small slash or

buried wood, mixed forest floor, and red rot after forest harvesting at Fall Rivera

Bole only to Total tree 

Bole only 5-cm top Total tree plus

Material C N C N C N C N

Percent

Intact forest floor 42.7 0.66 40.3 0.66 36.2 0.66 34.7 0.66

Small slash or buried 

wood 46.1 .58 46.1 .58 --- --- --- ---

Forest floor mixed 

with soil 28.4 .55 28.4 .55 28.4 .55 28.4 .55

Red rot 48.8 .36 48.8 .36 48.8 .36 48.8 .36

a Mean values averaged across treatments were used when values were similar or statistical tests 

indicated that treatment differences were not significant.
of red rot on these plots, or that the sampling did not completely address the variability in this characteristic.

Intact forest floor mass was similar across all biomass removal treatments 

ranging from 30 to 33 Mg/ha (table 30). According to the tree biomass data, there

should have been 10 Mg of fresh foliage added to the forest floor after the harvest

in BO and BO5. Very little fresh foliage was left in TT and TT+ as fresh foliage

was removed mechanically and by hand in these treatments. During future assessments, sampling intensity should be increased to detect differences in forest floor

biomass between BO and BO5, and TT and TT+ treatments. Forest floor mass in

the different treatments was also calculated by using forest floor cover percentage

by class and depth, for each of mass and volume. Results from using this approach

were similar to those for red rot material (table 30) (i.e., 6.1 percent greater values,

on average, with the alternative approach), and small or buried slash (i.e., 8 percent

greater on average). Differences between the two methods were extremely large

(i.e., up to threefold) for forest floor mixed with soil probably because of broad

variability in mass per unit volume recorded when sampling these classes. As a

consequence, the method consisting of calculating mass of forest floor classes by

collecting, drying, and determining weights per unit area was adopted as the more

reliable calculation method. 

Small or buried slash ranged from 0 Mg/ha in TT treatments to 20 Mg/ha in

BO. The 16 and 20 Mg/ha of buried slash in the BO and BO5 treatments, respectively, is a store that is often missed in postharvest forest floor sampling protocols.

Mixed forest floor had the smallest mass among all treatments and ranged from 1

in BO to 5 Mg/ha in TT+.

Carbon and N stores in intact forest floor were similar for all treatments ranging from 10 to 13 Mg/ha for C and 197 to 218 kg/ha for N (table 31). As expected,

Red rot was a 

significant store of 

C and N in the BO

and BO5 treatments.

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Table 30—Forest floor mass by forest floor condition and biomass-removal treatments 

at Fall River

Intact forest Small or Forest floor mixed Red rot 

Treatment floor buried slash with soil material Total

Mg/ha 

Bole only 29.8 (11.2) 20.2 (9.7) 0.7 (0.4) 46.9 (12.7) 97.6

Bole only to 33.1 (9.3) 16.3 (3.5) 2.0 (1.2) 51.1 (9.5) 102.5

5-cm top

Total tree 32.4 (2.9) 0 (0) 1.6 (1.0) 19.9 (4.5) 53.9

Total tree plus 29.9 (7.0) 0 (0) 4.8 (2.4) 23.9 (1.0) 58.6

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 4 plots per treatment).
60

General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691 Table 31—Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stores in forest floor components at Fall River by treatment Forest Intact forest floor Small or buried slash floor mixed with soil Red rot Total Treatment C N C N C N C N C N Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Mg/ha kg/ha Bole only 12.7 (4.8) 196.7 (73.9) 9.3 (4.5) 117.2 (56.3) 0.2 (0.1) 3.9 (2.2) 22.9 (6.2) 168.8 (45.7) 45.1 486.6 Bole only to

5-cm top 13.3 (3.7) 218.5 (61.4) 7.5 (1.6) 94.5 (20.3) .6 (.3) 11.0 (6.6) 24.9 (4.6) 184.0 (34.2) 46.3 508.0

Total tree 11.7 (1.0) 213.8 (19.1) 0 (0) 0 (0) .5 (.3) 8.8 (5.5) 9.7 (2.2) 71.6 (16.2) 21.9 294.2

Total tree plus 10.4 (2.4) 197.3 (46.2) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1.4 (.7) 26.4 (13.2) 11.7 (.5) 86.0 (3.6) 23.5 309.7

Values are means with one standard error in parentheses (n = 4 plots per treatment).

Table 32—Summary of biomass and carbon and nitrogen stores after forest harvest at Fall River

Biomass Carbon Nitrogen

BO BO5 TT TT+ BO BO5 TT TT+ BO BO5 TT TT+

- - - - - - - - - Mg/ha - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mg/ha - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - kg/ha - - - - - - - - - - - -

Coarse woody 60.0 37.3 20.0 2.4 29.0 18.2 9.8 1.2 88.8 76.6 44.7 5.1

debrisa

Old-growth

stumps/snags 34.9 28.8 29.7 47.2 17.6 14.7 14.9 23.2 28.9 29.0 23.5 35.4

Old-growth logs 70.0 76.3 27.9 0 35.3 38.5 14.1 0 114.1 130.6 48.7 0Recent stumps - - - - - - - - - - 5.2- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2.4- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -3.2 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Forest floor 97.6 102.5 53.9 58.6 45.1 46.3 21.9 23.5 486.6 508.0 294.2 309.7

Coarse roots - - - - - - - - - 82.2- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 39.6- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -180.8 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Small/fine roots

0-45-cm depth - - - - - - - - - - 3.8- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -24.6 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mineral soil

0-80 cm depth - - - - - - - - -458.7b- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -248.5- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 13 143.0- - - - - - - - - - - -

Total 812.4 794.8 681.4 658.1 418.8 409.5 352.5 339.7 14 070.0 14 095.8 13 762.7 13 701.8

BO = bole-only removal, BO5 = bole-only to 5-cm top removal, TT = total-tree removal, TT+ = total-tree-plus removal.a Excluding old-growth stumps, snags, logs, and recent stumps.b Soil organic matter.
Total N above the

mineral soil averaged 734 kg/ha in

BO and BO5, and

decreased to 414

and 353 kg/ha in 

TT and TT+,

respectively.

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C and N stores in small and buried slash were quite similar for the BO and BO5

treatments (9 and 8 Mg/ha for C, and 117 and 94 kg/ha for N, respectively), and

absent in the TT and TT+ treatments. Red rot was a significant store of C and N in

BO and BO5 treatments (i.e., 23 and 25 Mg/ha for C, and 169 and 184 kg/ha for N,

respectively).

The postharvest assessment quantified biomass and C and N stores left in each

treatment. Coarse woody debris, old-growth logs, and some forest floor components were the stores that changed substantially from pre- to postharvest time. 

After harvest, CWD biomass (excluding old-growth stumps, snags, and logs)

ranged from 2 Mg/ha in TT+ to 60 Mg/ha in BO (table 32). Because of the harvest

residues (i.e., branches, bole parts) left on the ground, biomass of CWD in BO was

2.7 times and in BO5 1.7 times the biomass in the preharvest assessment (table 

23). Coarse woody debris was almost completely removed in TT+. Biomass of oldgrowth logs averaged 73 Mg/ha in BO and BO5, and 28 Mg/ha in TT. As planned,

old-growth logs were completely removed in the TT+ treatment. Forest floor biomass was similar in BO compared to BO5 (98 vs. 102 Mg/ha), and in TT compared

to TT+ (54 vs. 59 Mg/ha). 

Carbon stores ranged from 29 Mg/ha in BO to 1 Mg/ha in TT+ for CWD, from

0 Mg/ha in TT+ to 38 Mg/ha in BO5 for old-growth logs, and from 22 Mg/ha in

TT to 46 Mg/ha in BO5 for forest floor (table 32). After the harvest, 89 kg N/ha

remained in CWD in BO, but this store decreased to only 5 kg N/ha in TT+.

Similarly, there was still 131 kg N/ha in old-growth logs in BO5 but nothing left in

TT+. Relative to initial stand conditions, the forest floor N store increased in BO

and BO5 but decreased in TT and TT+. The average N store in the forest floor

within BO and BO5, and TT and TT+ was 497 and 302 kg N/ha, respectively.

Discussion

Postharvest CWD biomass in BO and BO5 at Fall River was markedly greater 

than that in TT and TT+. Forest floor represented greater biomass and C and N

stores than CWD. If recent stumps and remnant old-growth logs, stumps, and snags

were included in CWD, then this aggregate woody material C store would be

greater than the forest floor C, but this would not be the case for N because of the

large forest floor N stock.

Amounts and dimensions of CWD and old-growth logs are usually smaller 

in managed than in unmanaged forests (Duvall and Grigal 1999, Krankina and

Harmon 1995, Spies et al. 1988), because substantial amounts of wood are removed

at shorter intervals. Also, micrometeorological conditions, size of material, and soil
nutrient processes in old-growth forests differ from those in harvested areas affecting the amount and size of downed wood (Edmonds et al. 1986). Consequently, 

the 170 Mg/ha of aboveground woody debris biomass in BO (CWD, old-growth

stumps/snags, old-growth logs, and recent stumps) at Fall River was markedly

lower than the 456 Mg/ha biomass of debris > 0.6 cm in diameter in an old-growth

forest in Olympic National Park (Agee and Huff 1987).

Given the very low N concentrations in wood, CWD generally constitutes a

relatively small N store (Graham 1982 as cited in Harmon and Sexton 1995, Sollins

et al. 1987). Its sheer mass, however, can make CWD a substantial C pool especially in those treatments that leave large amounts of residue on site as was the case

for BO and BO5 at Fall River. Old-growth logs at Fall River originated both by

natural death in the old-growth forest present before 1952-53, and from nonmerchantable portions of logs felled or bucked during harvesting of the old-growth

stand. Large old-growth logs may persist for up to 200 years (Sollins et al. 1987).

Old-growth log mass in Douglas-fir forests in western Oregon averaged 215 Mg/ha

(Sollins et al. 1980), or about three times as much as the old-growth log residues 

in BO and BO5 at Fall River. In the future, logs greater than 60 cm will not be a

common component in the woody debris store in intensively managed Douglas-fir

stands except perhaps in some riparian-zone buffers. 

Coarse woody debris plus old-growth logs, stumps, and snags constituted

major C pools in BO, BO5, and TT, but represented a relatively minor N store

compared with forest floor and, possibly, roots. Given their average C:N ratio of

296, old-growth logs likely contribute little to total N availability of the site, but

they are important for long-term C storage. At 5.2 Mg/ha, recent stumps composed

a small biomass store. Although stump removal has been linked to smaller root 

collar diameter and less total N content in 4-year-old Douglas-fir and western white

pine in northern Idaho (Page-Dumroese et al. 1998), this could be alternatively

attributed to displaced topsoil. 

The amount of red rot, buried slash, and CWD in BO and BO5 was markedly

greater than in TT and TT+. Harvest in BO and BO5 left slash and foliage from 

the felled trees, which were removed in TT and TT+. The proportion of bare soil

increased in TT and TT+, and additional bare soil was created in TT+ because of

the removal of all old-growth logs. The forest floor/red rot that existed before harvest was also scattered somewhat during the harvesting operation in TT and TT+

because no slash covered the soil surface when trees were cable-yarded out of the

plots. In contrast, the woody residues in BO and BO5 plots protected the forest

floor against mechanical dispersion. 

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
The forest floor pool was the largest C pool above the mineral soil in all biomass removal treatments. Greater C concentration in red rot than in intact forest

floor resulted in red rot being the largest C store among forest floor components in

BO, BO5, and TT+. The intact forest floor, however, was the largest N store among

forest floor components across all treatments. The intact forest floor is likely to

most rapidly decompose, mineralize, and quickly supply nutrients to the growing

trees because of its relatively low C:N ratio (Edmonds 1979). Buried slash and fine

roots will also likely decompose quickly because of warmer temperature near the

surface soil.

On average, 18 Mg/ha of small or buried slash was found in BO and BO5. This

material was removed in the TT and TT+ treatments, when mostly broken limbs

were removed from plots. In addition, more logging slash may have been pushed

into the soil surface during the logging operation in BO and BO5. The C:N ratio of

this buried material at Fall River was 80 compared with 225 (49.4/0.22) in fresh

class 1 to 2 limb material. Bole-only and BO5 contained far more of this material

than TT and TT+, suggesting that short-term N-immobilization after imposing the

treatments may be greater in BO and BO5 that in TT and TT+. 

Biomass, C, and N Removals

Methods

Biomass removals were not measured directly during the harvest operation. Instead,

we calculated removals in each biomass-removal treatment by subtracting the average sum of CWD and forest floor left after harvest in the treatment from the sum of

the preharvest standing crop biomass in bole wood, bark, live and dead branches,

foliage, dead trees and snags, CWD, and the forest floor prior to harvest. Preharvest

estimates of these stores were based on plot averages for all 48 study plots. In addition, as we did not measure old-growth logs in the TT+ at plot-level accuracy prior

to harvest, we estimated the old-growth log removals in this treatment by using the

average postharvest estimate present in the BO, BO5, and TT treatments, because

we believe that Brown's transect method, used only in the postharvest assessment,

provided the best estimate of this component. Carbon and N removals in the different treatments were calculated by multiplying biomass removal levels in each 

component by elemental concentrations for that component.

Results

Estimated biomass removed during harvest averaged 358 Mg/ha in BO, 381 Mg/ha 

in BO5, 424 Mg/ha in TT, and 498 Mg/ha in TT+ (fig. 15). These removals represent

Biomass-removal

treatments had 

a significantly

greater impact on

the site C store

than the N store

because of the

large N reservoir in

the mineral soil.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

63
59 to 82 percent of the initial biomass store above the mineral soil, and 31 to 43

percent of the initial biomass store (including soil organic matter) to 80-cm soil

depth. Estimated C removals were 175 Mg/ha in BO, 187 Mg/ha in BO5, 206 Mg/ha

in TT, and 244 Mg/ha in TT+. Fractions of the initial C store removed were similar

to those for biomass: 60 to 83 percent of the C store above the mineral soil, and 30

to 42 percent of the total C store to 80-cm soil depth. Estimated N amounts removed

during harvest were 432 kg/ha in BO, 445 kg/ha in BO5, 796 kg/ha in TT, and 925

kg/ha in TT+. Compared with the biomass and C pools, greater proportions of the

initial N store above the mineral soil were removed at harvest (33 to 70 percent),

but the total N store to 80-cm soil depth only decreased by 3 to 6 percent because

of the large belowground N stores.

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691

Figure 15—Biomass, carbon, and nitrogen removals at harvest at

the Fall River research area. Treatments are bole-only removal

(BO), bole to 5-cm top removal (BO5), total-tree removal (TT),

and total-tree plus all-legacy-wood removal (TT+).
Discussion

The treatment array at Fall River provided a wide range of biomass removals from 

498 Mg/ha in TT+ to 358 Mg/ha in BO. Differences in biomass removals between

BO and BO5 were small, as this change in the merchantable wood standard had 

a relatively minor impact on removals even though most wood greater than 5 cm 

in diameter was removed in BO5 regardless of length. Equipment operators inadvertently removed some CWD and forest floor as they piled and removed broken

limbs and tops from TT plots. In an operational total-tree harvest operation, most

limbs are broken off in the felling and forwarding operations, and considerable

mass of broken tops, limbs, and branches would be left in place. 

Absolute biomass removals at Fall River (498 Mg/ha in TT+) were within the

upper third of the range recorded in the LTSP sites that encompassed 96 to 532

Mg/ha of removals (Powers et al. 2005). Relative biomass removals at Fall River

mostly fell within the mid-third of the 42- to 100-percent range in the LTSP sites.

The most intensive biomass removal treatment at Fall River (i.e., TT+), however,

did not remove all forest floor as was done in the LTSP studies (Powers et al.

2005). Had the forest floor been removed, the removal would have increased to

559 Mg/ha, exceeding the range noted above.

Estimated N removals at Fall River (925 kg/ha in TT+) were mostly within the

upper half of the LTSP site range of 98 to 1068 kg/ha (Powers et al. 2005). The

fraction of N above the mineral soil removed at Fall River ranged from 33 to 70

percent and from 18 to 100 percent in the other LTSP site installation. If total forest

floor removal at Fall River had been similar to other LTSP studies, it would have

increased N removals to 1240 kg/ha.

A “stability ratio” (Evans 1999) has been proposed as an indicator of unstable

or nonsustainable conditions created by excessive nutrient removals. The ratio is

calculated as the proportion of a nutrient removed relative to the total site capital of

the nutrient. A stability ratio greater than 0.3 (i.e., 30 percent of the nutrient store

removed) likely indicates serious long-term stability concerns, and a stability ratio

greater than 0.5 would create an immediate stability concern. The stability ratios

for the biomass-removal treatments at Fall River were 0.03, 0.03, 0.04, and 0.06 

for BO, BO5, TT, and TT+. Even if the forest floor had been removed, the stability

ratio would have only been 0.08. These low removal ratios are a consequence of

the high amount of N in the mineral soil at Fall River. Long-term tree-growth monitoring within the Fall River study will ultimately determine whether site productivity has been impacted by biomass removals at harvest. The assessment of the

existing and removed biomass and C and N stores will be of value when tree

Total site N was

only reduced by 

6 percent in the

most intensive 

biomass-removal

treatment (TT+).

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

65
growth and soil/tree physiological processes are evaluated across treatments and

when study results are compared and contrasted with other studies. 

Final Remarks

Lessons Learned

One of the primary objectives of the Fall River study was to add to the strategic 

forest productivity database in the Pacific Northwest and enhance understanding of

the consequences of biomass manipulation, ground-based harvesting, and vegetation control for short- and long-term forest productivity. Through affiliation with

the USFS LTSP network, much can be learned by comparing treatment responses

across a wide range of sites. Also, active interaction with the participants in that

research program improved the experimental design and methodological approaches used at Fall River. The national study benefits from the research at Fall River by

adding data from a study with (1) high site quality, (2) additional treatments, (3)

additional assessments and protocols, and (4) replicated treatments.

Research at Fall River is designed to contribute to the understanding of mechanisms of treatment response and to better define soil quality thresholds (i.e., soil

property values that are advantageous, inconsequential, or detrimental to tree

growth) and to improve guidelines for best management practices. Characterizing

pre- and postharvest biomass and nutrient stocks is a critical step in long-term site

productivity studies, and permits interpretation of how base-level conditions were

altered by the imposed conditions, particularly biomass manipulation treatments.

We believe that the postharvest treatment assessments are especially important

because unintended operations during treatment implementation can affect treatment outcomes. At Fall River, for example, we confirmed that some forest floor

removal did occur in the total-tree removal treatments when the shovel-excavator

removed small limbs and broken tops.

The Fall River study was designed to include biomass-removal, soil-compaction, and vegetation-control treatments similar to those of the LTSP program.

The soil-compaction treatment achieved by ground-based harvesting of commercial

boles provided realistic treatment conditions that will allow information to be

directly transferred to operational guidelines for similar sites. After imposing the

biomass-removal treatments, we realized that BO and BO5 were similar in terms of

the amount of the material removed from the site. In retrospect, we believe that it

may have been better to replace BO5 either with a mini-piling treatment, which is

used operationally for heavy slash conditions to provide more favorable planting

spots, or with a total CWD plus forest floor removal treatment like that in other

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
LTSP study sites. Testing the mini-pile treatment would have enabled us to evaluate

effects and operational value of manipulating biomass without removing it from 

the site. The mini-piling treatment at Fall River was dropped because the study plot

size was deemed too small to accommodate the treatment. In hindsight, however,

we believe this treatment could have been installed successfully. The mini-piling

treatment is being tested in LTSP studies recently installed in the Olympic

Peninsula (Washington) and in the Western Cascades (Oregon) (Harrington et al.

2005). Testing the full forest floor removal treatment would have also provided a

wider range of biomass-removal treatments. Having one treatment beyond normal

operational treatments is beneficial because it allows interpolation between treatment values rather than extrapolation of results. In addition, extreme treatments

help to better understand the resiliency or susceptibility of the site to disturbance,

and the potential for ameliorative treatments to restore productivity potential.

Local biomass equations for Douglas-fir and western hemlock generated from

trees felled at the harvested stand at Fall River were important to more accurately

estimate component biomass, and biomass and nutrient removal. The widely used

equations by Gholz et al. (1979) developed for larger trees overestimated some

components of biomass, particularly foliage of Douglas-fir.

Two methods were used for assessing CWD: (1) a transect method whereby 

all CWD within 30-cm by 15-m transects were classified and weighed, and (2) the

line-transect method (Brown 1974, Harmon and Sexton 1995). The line-transect

method was by far the most efficient, and likely the most accurate of the two methods. The transect method required daily collection of material for moisture content

adjustment, and the occurrence of large logs oriented down the full transect caused

large variation in biomass estimates. Calculating the volume of the logs intercepted

by the transect was also challenging although a method was developed to determine log volumes. We would recommend that the line-transect method be used in

future evaluations of CWD at the research site. 

Subsequent plans for evaluation of forest floor biomass should include more

samples per plot than those used in this investigation in order to address the

increased variability that followed treatment implementation. A preliminary sampling across all treatments is recommended to determine an adequate sample size.

Great care was taken during this investigation to assure that red rot was properly sampled down to the mineral soil. Red rot can be a significant component of

the forest floor biomass on some sites and should be sampled any time the forest

floor biomass is determined. It was beneficial to separate the forest floor into components (e.g., red rot, intact and decomposed foliage, buried slash, etc.) in the

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

67
postharvest forest floor assessment to understand the relative proportion of the area

in different substrate materials. After harvest, buried wood and slash constituted a

significant biomass pool and, therefore, should not be overlooked during forest

floor characterization because of its role in nutrient cycling dynamics.

Two representative portions of the preharvest stand were not harvested. This

was a wise decision that allowed us to contrast soil solution chemistry, N leaching,

and soil temperature across a wide range of treatments including an uncut stand.

Maintaining nonharvested plots within the study design would not have been prudent, as damage from windthrow could have been severe, and microsites within

plots in proximity to the uncut stands would have had shading and other impacts

from the old stand. 

Another very useful study design decision was to plant extra trees in each plot

to be destructively sampled for biomass determinations and other needs. The number of extra trees was the same in each plot, and equal tree counts were maintained

across all treatments even though biomass harvest and other investigations took

place only in selected treatments.

Finally, developing a collaborative working relationship across organizations

(USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station, University of Washington College of

Forest Resources, and Weyerhaeuser Company) was extremely valuable as team

members brought different insights and skills to meet the broad range of study

objectives. Additionally, this collaboration has spawned other long-term site productivity studies that expand the regional strategic database, and ancillary collaborative projects that further explore the mechanisms of treatment response. Equally

important, this study allowed several graduate students to gain a broad range of

experience and make significant research contributions. 

Future Research Action and Directions

The long-term site productivity study at Fall River was designed as a full-rotationcycle experiment. Hopefully, treatments can be repeated (or modified as needed)

and carried out through multiple rotations. Although much has been learned in the

6 years (at the time of this writing) since study installation, the real value in the

study comes from long-term assessment and from integrating findings with other

regional and national LTSP studies. Followup actions that may be of value to

understanding the implications of biomass removal, soil compaction, and vegetation control on site productivity are outlined below.

• Assessment of CWD and forest floor in BO, TT, and TT+ with vegetation 

control and in the BO without vegetation control should be made every 

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General Technical Report PNW-GTR-691
10 years or at least at midrotation and before thinning to understand how 

these pools change with time. 

• Changes in mineral soil C and N could be assessed periodically in BO with 

and without vegetation control and in the TT+ treatment. In retrospect, it 

would have been better to sample soils to specified depths rather than sampling the A horizon first and then at specified depths below the A horizon. It

was somewhat subjective to estimate where the A horizon ended and the AB

horizon started at the study site.

• Tree growth, foliar nutrient content, and leaf area should be assessed at least

every 5 years. Leaf area could be assessed by measuring light interception,

recording litter fall, or with LIDAR technology.

• Fertilization treatments are part of the study's experimental design. Foliar 

nutrient concentration and content of Douglas-fir should be assessed periodically across treatments to determine if nutrients are becoming limiting. If 

nutrient limitations do not occur, fertilization should not be carried out, 

allowing more replications of the biomass removal treatments. If growth 

differences become evident between the most intensive organic-matterremoval treatment and the other treatments, this may be an indicator that 

fertilization is needed.

• The stand planted at 1,600 trees/ha should be thinned when treatments reach 

a given relative density, so that early treatment differences are not subsequently negated by severe between-tree competition. 

• There is considerable value in carrying this study through multiple rotations

with similar treatments (and probably replacing the BO5 treatment with a 

total forest floor removal treatment). The next clearcut harvest at Fall River

could occur earlier (e.g., at age 30 to 35) than in current operational rotations

to accelerate the information cycle and increase the disturbance pressure on 

the system. Fertilization treatments should be maintained as part of the study

design in case biomass-removal treatments negatively affect tree growth.

Additional research directions that could be explored are outlined below: 

• Data arising from the Fall River and other LTSP studies could be used to 

validate the stability ratio concept (Evans 1999) and the proposition that 

long-term site productivity would decline if that ratio is greater than 0.3 (i.e.,

removal of more than 30 percent of a growth-limiting nutrient store). This is 

a simple approach that needs to be refined through a better understanding of

tree nutrient demands and site supply dynamics across treatments and sites.

Tree growth, foliar

nutrient content, and

leaf area should be

assessed at least

every 5 years.

The Fall River Long-Term Site Productivity Study in Coastal Washington: Site Characteristics, Methods, and Biomass and Carbon...

69
• Tree growth data by treatment at Fall River and other LTSP sites could be 

compared to growth potential predictions from physiological-based models

(e.g., 3P-G, Waring and McDowell 2002) to determine how accurately they

predict growth across the range of site and treatment conditions. Carbon

sequestration, C contributions to the atmosphere, and C storage in deep soil

layers could also be assessed.

Developing a regional strategic database aimed at maintaining and enhancing forest

productivity, and understanding the implications of intensive management on tree

growth will continue to be a worthwhile endeavor. Whatever the future brings, 

public agency, university, and forest industry collaboration on this research will

likely be the most fruitful approach for gaining scientific knowledge. A study of

this magnitude cannot be completed without the dedication and full support of each

organization involved and other sponsors. Resources and commitment allowed

project continuity, enabling us to assemble and summarize the pre- and postharvest

site characterization and biomass and nutrient store data. We hope that this report

will provide useful information for those interested in forest sustainability issues

and for the scientists working on the study in the future.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Weyerhaeuser Company, the National Council for Air and 

Stream Improvement, and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research

Station for financial support for the study installation and various site characterization activities within the project. This is a product of the Sustainable Forestry

component of Agenda 2020, a joint effort of the USDA Forest Service Research

and Development and the American Forest and Paper Association. We thank Alex

Dobkowski, Peter Farnum, Ron Heninger, and Bill Scott for their contributions to

study design and in the site selection phase of the study. We also acknowledge Eric

Beach, Teiko Breid, Karl Buermeyer, Paul Carpenter, Lance Christensen, Warren

Devine, Chris Diaz, James Dollins, Christel Kern, Bridget Korman, Rick Leon,

Diana Livada, Ryan Mansfield, David Marshall, Deborah Page-Dumroese, David

Peter, Kyle Petersen, Robert Powers, Ed Seymore, Amy Sidell, Smythe and Prante

Forestry, Douglas Waldren, Bryan Wender, and Darlene Zabowski for assistance at

various stages of the project. We express our deep gratitude to Mary Beth Adams,

James Boyle, Ron Heninger, Lana D’Souza, Robert Edmonds, and Peter Homann

for reviewing the manuscript.

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71

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