Persistent Land Use (clearing, agriculture, abandonment, forest regrowth) Legacy for Soil Chemical Properties in Central New York.

Historic changes in land use influence species composition and soil chemical properties. Abandoned lands, originally deeded to NY veterans of the Revolutionary War and cleared for subsistence agriculture during the 1800s, currently support northern hardwood forests and Norway spruce plantations. These abandoned farm sites, easily identified by the presence of foundations, refuse piles and large diameter sugar maple, comprise important cultural resources linking past practices to current vegetation composition and soil characteristics.  We studied three abandoned farms in central NY and compared A horizon soil properties among three site conditions common to each: (i) homestead, (ii) hardwood forest, and (iii) Norway spruce plantation. The silt loam soils, formed in glacial till, were classified as well- and moderately-well drained Lordstown and Mardin series, respectively. The legacy imparted by past land use practices on soil chemistry is readily apparent today, 60 - 85 years following abandonment and subsequent forest regrowth.  Levels of exchangeable (1 N NH₄Cl) cations (K, Ca, Mg), extractable P (Truog), and pH of soil from abandoned homesteads significantly exceeded corresponding values for soil from adjacent hardwood forest and Norway spruce plantations. These differences likely reflect direct human (i.e. disposal of wastes including shells and bones) and animal (feed and manure) impacts on the homestead sites.  In contrast, soil organic matter, total C, stable isotope ratio (¹³C/¹²C) and total N did not differ among site conditions. We advocate protection and maintenance of these sites as cultural resources that reflect the history of settlement in central New York. Such sites provide opportunities for retrospective study that can contribute new knowledge related to contemporary problems associated with long- and short-term impact on humans of biogeochemistry and other forest ecosystem states and processes.