Monitoring The Effect Of Windrow Size On Soil Physical and Chemical Properties In Lower Coastal Plains Of Georgia.

Forests of the southeastern United States are an important source of biomass for energy production needs. Removal of small stems and woody slash during bioenergy harvests impacts the site preparation required to prepare harvested stands for planting, particularly the number and size of slash piles and windrows created during site preparation. This study investigated soil physical and chemical properties adjacent to windrows on a prepared site in the Lower Coastal Plain of Georgia following bioenergy harvest. Ten windrows were randomly selected from an experimentally harvested loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation and visually classified as small, medium or large.  Transects were established perpendicular to each windrow extending from the base of the windrow for a distance of 10 to 13 m. Soil temperature, volumetric water content and soil CO₂ were measured at points along these transects.  Additionally, extracts from surface soil samples and ion exchange resin capsules were analyzed for C, N, Ca, Mg, K, PO₄-P along these transects. Preliminary results indicate that nutrient concentrations, temperature, CO₂ efflux and moisture content all differ in the vicinity of windrows, but the effects are limited to the base of the windrows. Windrow size doesn't have any significant effect on these variables.