Biomass and nutrients in regenerating woody vegetation following whole-tree and conventional harvest in a northern mixed forest

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Abstract
Biomass and nutrient contents of regenerating woody plants and litter fall were measured after a northern mixed conifer - hardwood forest was harvested by conventional and whole-tree methods. before harvest, the central Ontario study site was occupied by a 95-year-old pine (Pinus resinosa, P. strobus) and aspen (Populus tremuloides, P. grandidentata) stand growing on gently rolling gravel-free outwash sands. Four years after harvest, aspen abundance increased 100-fold in both harvested areas, with higher densities after whole-tree harvest (WTH) (4.1 stems/m2) than after conventional harvest (CH) (2.7 stems/m2). No self-thining of aspen occurred between 2 and 4 years after harvest. Total aboveground woody biomass accumulated at 2.0 t .cntdot. ha-1 .cntdot. year-1. Peak autumn litter production occurred earlier in the harvested areas than in an adjacent uncut area. Cycling of N and K in litter fall returned to preharvest rates after 4 years. Cycling in litter fall was lower after WTH than after Ch. Vegetation uptake of N adk K (litter fall plus woody biomass) in the harvested areas in year 4 exceeded the preharvest value. Increased N accumulation in woody biomass (3.0 kg .cntdot. ha-1 .cntdot. year-1 before harvest, 10.6 kg .cntdot. ha-1 year-1 after WTH) would place a relatively greater demand on forest floor N pools in the WTH than in the CH area owing to lack of N input in logging slash. Although WTH did not reduce initial rates of biomass production, Populus spp. had lower concentrations of N, Ca, Mg in the WTH area than in the CH area. There may be a danger than WTH on less fertile sites in the region will produce dense, unproductive aspen stands with low rates of self-thinning.