%0 Article
%T Bulk density of forested mineral soils.
%A Tamminen, Pekka
%A Starr, Michael
%D 1994
%J Silva Fennica
%V 28
%N 1
%R doi:10.14214/sf.a9162
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/5528
%X <p>Relationships between bulk density and organic matter (OM) content, textural properties and depth are described for forested mineral soils from Central and Northern Finland. Core samples were taken of 0–5, 30–35 and 60–65 cm layers at 75 plots. Three measures of bulk density were calculated: the bulk density of the &lt; 20 mm fraction (BD<sub>20</sub>), the bulk density of the &lt; 2 mm fraction (BD<sub>2</sub>), and laboratory bulk density (BD<sub>l</sub>). BD<sub>l</sub> was determined from the mass of a fixed volume of &lt; 2 mm soil taken in the laboratory. All three measures of bulk densities were strongly correlated with organic matter content (r ≥ -0.63). Depth and gravel (2–20 mm) content (in the case of BD<sub>2</sub>) were also important variables. BD<sub>l</sub> was sensitive to clay contents &gt; 7% but did significantly improve the prediction of both BD<sub>2</sub> and BD<sub>20</sub> in coarse soils (clay contents ≤ 7%). Predictive models were derived for coarse soils.</p>