%0 Research article
%T Effects of repeated slash removal in thinned stands on soil chemistry and understorey vegetation
%A Rosenberg, Olle
%A Jacobson, Staffan
%D 2004
%J Silva Fennica
%V 38
%N 2
%R doi:10.14214/sf.423
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/423
%X The increased interest in harvesting logging residues as a source of  bio-energy has led to concerns about the potentially adverse long-term  impact of the practice on site productivity. The aim of this study was  to examine the effects on soil chemistry (pH, C, N and AL-extractable P,  K, Ca and Mg) in three different soil layers (FH, 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm  mineral soil) and understorey vegetation after the second removal of  logging residues in whole-tree thinned stands. The study was performed  at four different sites, established in the period 1984–87, representing  a range of different climatic and soil conditions: a very fertile  Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) site in south-western Sweden and  three Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sites located in south,  south-central and central Sweden. The effects of whole-tree thinning on  soil chemistry and understorey vegetation were generally minor and  variable. Across all sites the concentrations of Ca and Mg were  significantly lower when slash was removed.