• Yarie, John A.
  University of Maine
  

The spruce-balsam fir forest types, the most important in Maine, occupy 47 percent (7,040,000 acres) of the total forest land area (Ferguson and Kingsley, 1972). Red spruce, white spruce, black spruce, and balsam fir comprise 55.7% of the total growing stock volume and 49.4% of the sawtimber volume in the state.

A concurrent increase in the demand for all wood products with undoubtedly force a shift to the complete tree concept of utilization on selected sites which will in turn result in an increase in the amount of material being removed from the nutrient cycle. Replacement of the nutrients removed by logging will require the use of fertilizers and effective fertilization will require knowledge of the present nutrient status of the site. This study was undertaken with. the objectives of (1) ascertaining the level of available soil nutrients of forested land in western Maine and (2) determining the relationships of selected growth parameters of even-aged stands of spruce and balsam fir to the nutrient status of the site.