Effect of management activities on forest soil properties in the Rocky Mountains: VI. Microsite data

This data publication contains measurements from a field study that was designed to determine how mechanical site preparation and prescribed fire treatments affected the understory vegetation, conifer establishment and growth, and soil physical and chemical properties in each of 11 national forests located in Montana, Idaho, and Arizona. These data were collected over a five-year period (1989-1993). The treatments (listed by treatment code) applied to the sites included the following: 1 = bole removed followed by broadcast burn, 2 = bole removed followed by dozer or grapple pile, 3 = control (undispersed), 4 = whole tree removal (only in 1990 Helena/Deerlodge Forest), and 9 = burned only. Not every treatment was used in each forest. The data for this portion of the study is from the microsite, which is a small (3 inch) circular area placed within each stand boundary. Used in conjunction with the vegetation and tree/stump data in this archive collection, the microsite gives a more complete picture of the soil surface conditions to the manager for each treatment type. The microsite data itself contains descriptions and percent-cover estimates of lifeforms, percentages of abiotic components on the soil surface, shade directions at the microsite, and estimates of a range of burn severities across the small area. The original intent of the study was to summarize the data to an individual stand so returning to each stand for additional sampling in subsequent years was not planned and plot locations were not permanently marked. However, written or diagrammed descriptions of the location of each sample site exist on the sample forms. These descriptions are included with these archived data in case there is a future need to return to the sample areas.
The overall purpose of this study was to determine how management practices, such as burning, machine piling, scarifying, and scalping, change the character of the organic-rich surface soil layer; and how this change affects seed sprouting, seed-growth performance, and mycorrhizal development that maintains vegetation in these Rocky Mountain forests. The specific purpose of the microsite data was to describe how severe the disturbance from treatment was and how it affected the surface soil layer. That is, how cutting and/or burning affected the abiotic components, shade availability, and scaring of the soil surface. It allowed researchers to make recommendations on how to best maintain, or restore, soil surface conditions for long-term forest soil productivity in the different forest types of these national forests.
There are six separate data publications containing the data collected to examine the effect of management activities on forest soil properties in the Rocky Mountains: I. understory vegetation; II. tree, stump, and downed woody debris data (variable plots and transects); III. soil core data; IV. soil chemistry data; V. burn and soil surface conditions; and VI. microsite data. Data were originally published on 08/04/2021. Minor metadata updates were made on 09/24/2021.