Soil characteristics of the deciduous forests in central Ontario and their relationships with site indices of sugar maple, American beech and red oak

In this study, 61 plots of sugar maple, American beech, and red oak were established in Algonquin Park, Haliburton Forest, and North Bay area. At each plot 3--9 undamaged dominant study trees with no indication of previous disturbance were felled for stem analysis and producing site index. At each plot, three soil pits were dug and soil samples from H, A, and B horizons were collected. Physical characteristics including texture, coarse fragment content, thickness of horizons, and depth of rooting system and chemical characteristics including pH and both concentration and pool of C, N, P, Ca, Mg, Na, and K were measured.; In the second chapter, the measured variables were compared/contrasted among the study species. In the third chapter, the soil variables were used to produce appropriate models to indirectly estimate site index of three study species in the region. In the fourth chapter, the nutrient concentrations were compared/contrasted within site quality classes of study species in order to find possible trends which could be used in quantifying soil nutrient regime (SNR). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...