Pacific Northwest Research Station

Title: Progress towards more uniform assessment and reporting of soil disturbance for operations, research, and sustainability protocols.

Author: Curran, Michael P.; Miller, Richard E.; Howes, Steven W.; Maynard, Douglas G.; Terry, Thomas A.; Heninger, Ronald L.; Niemann, Thomas; van Rees, Ken; Powers, Robert F.; Schoenholtz, Stephen H.

Date: 2005

Source: Forest Ecology and Management. 220: 17-30

Description: International protocols, such as those of the Montreal Process (MP), specify desired outcomes without specifying the process and components required to attain those outcomes. We suggest that the process and its components are critical to achieve desired outcomes. We discuss recent progress in northwestern North America, on three topics that will facilitate development of and reporting in sustainability protocols: (1) common terms and comparable guidelines for soil disturbance, (2) cost-effective techniques for monitoring and assessing soil disturbance, and (3) improved methods to rate soils for risk of detrimental soil disturbance. Uniform terms for soil disturbance will facilitate reporting and exchange of information. Reliable monitoring techniques and tracking the consequences of soil disturbance for forest growth and hydrology are paramount for improving understanding and predictions of the practical consequences of forest practices. To track consequences, we urge creation of regional research and operations databases that can be used to: (1) address MP values, (2) define detrimental soil disturbances, (3) develop risk rating systems for operational application, and (4) improve best management practices (BMPs) and ameliorative treatments that avoid or correct detrimental disturbances.

Keywords: soil compaction, rutting, monitoring, adaptive management, criteria and indicators, Montreal Process

View and Print this Publication (1.24 MB)

Pristine Version:  An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here:

View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (1.51 MB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Curran, Michael P.; Miller, Richard E.; Howes, Steven W.; Maynard, Douglas G.; Terry, Thomas A.; Heninger, Ronald L.; Niemann, Thomas; van Rees, Ken; Powers, Robert F.; Schoenholtz, Stephen H.  2005.  Progress towards more uniform assessment and reporting of soil disturbance for operations, research, and sustainability protocols..   Forest Ecology and Management. 220: 17-30.