Soil nutrient and vegetation response to ecological restoration in a coastal Douglas-fir plantation on Galiano Island, BC

dc.contributor.authorHarrop-Archibald, Hilary
dc.contributor.supervisorSchaefer, Valentin
dc.contributor.supervisorVolpe, John
dc.date.accessioned2010-08-31T21:28:00Z
dc.date.available2010-08-31T21:28:00Z
dc.date.copyright2010en
dc.date.issued2010-08-31T21:28:00Z
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Environmental Studies
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science M.Sc.en
dc.description.abstractMuch emphasis has been placed on the recovery and maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Although a number of studies have focused on the relationship between carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics, few have focused on the effects of management activities oriented towards biodiversity values on soil carbon and nitrogen pools. The dual goals of restoration for ecosystem structure and function versus restoration for soil carbon sequestration may not be mutually exclusive. This research evaluates the ability of restoration work to meet both of these goals using the restoration work done by the Galiano Conservancy Association in a Coastal Douglas-fir forest on Galiano Island, British Columbia as a case study. The restoration in District Lot 63 was successful in terms of increasing both floristic diversity and stand structure heterogeneity. Significant changes in soil carbon were observed in the forest floor, and significant changes in both soil carbon and nitrogen were observed in the top 15 cm of the mineral soil. As time from treatment increased, soil carbon and nitrogen approached, and in some cases surpassed, reference area levels. The results from this study indicate that the restoration on Galiano Island was successful in terms of increasing the biodiversity values of the stand and may have no large long-term effects on soil carbon or nitrogen pools.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/3012
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben
dc.subjectEcological restorationen
dc.subjectSoilen
dc.subjectVegetationen
dc.subjectBritish Columbiaen
dc.subject.lcshUVic Subject Index::Sciences and Engineering::Earth and Ocean Sciences::Environmental sciencesen
dc.titleSoil nutrient and vegetation response to ecological restoration in a coastal Douglas-fir plantation on Galiano Island, BCen
dc.typeThesisen

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