Nutrient loss accelerated by clear-cutting of a forest ecosystem.
The forest of a small watershed-ecosystem was cut in order to determine the effects of removal of vegetation on nutrient cycles. Relative to undisturbed ecosystems, the cut ecosystem exhibited accelerated loss of nutrients: nitrogen lost during the first year after cutting was equivalent to the amount annually turned over in an undisturbed system, and losses of cations were 3 to 20 times greater than from comparable undisturbed systems. Possible causes of the pattern of nutrient loss from the cut ecosystem are discussed.
Bormann
F H
FH
Likens
G E
GE
Fisher
D W
DW
Pierce
R S
RS