Displacement of Nutrients into Windrows during Site Preparation of a Flatwood Forest

Abstract

Nutrient displacement into windrows during site preparation, which followed the harvest of a natural stand of slash ( Pinus elliottii Engelm.)—longleaf ( Pinus palustris Mill.) pine, was examined on a 36‐ha flatwoods site in northcentral Florida. Almost 150 m of windrow were formed per hectare of site‐prepared area. The average width of the windrows was 4.2 m. The windrows averaged 2.5 m 2 in cross‐sectional area and occupied approximately 6% of the harvested area. Total weight of the soil, fine wood, and coarse wood components were 154, 12, and 14 t/ha, respectively. Total N, P, and K contents were 373, 18, and 27 kg/ha of harvested area. These quantities of nutrients were equivalent to the quantities which would be removed in six bolewood harvests, and represented > 10% of the site's nutrient reserves.