• Reinmann, Andrew B.
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

The objective of this retrospective study was to quantify the long-term effects of tree harvesting intensity on red spruce-flats in northern Maine. Six stands harvested approximately 30 years ago with volume removals of 30, 50, and 80 percent and two unharvested reference sites were selected. All of the stands were originally harvested during the winter with in-woods delimbing. Soil physical and chemical properties, stand basal area, species composition, and forest floor cover type were evaluated. Increment cores were extracted to look at growth and chemical indicators of tree response to harvesting and associated changes in soil solution chemistry. Dendrochemistry has not been used in this context before. Ion exchange resin membranes (IERMs) were employed to characterize relative differences among sites in current pools of plant- available nutrients in soil solution.