Moisture and nutrient status of extremely acid Umbrepts in the Black Mountains of North Carolina

Moisture and nutrient conditions are poorly characterized in soils at elevations > 1500 m in the southern Appalachian Mountains. In the Black Mountains, high elevation soils are Typic and Lithic Haplumbrepts, with umbric epipedons that are extremely acid, organic-rich, rocky, and unstable due to the steep slopes. Many of the Umbrepts in the Black Mountains have been disturbed by exploitative logging, repeated wildfires, and depredation by the balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratzeburg), each of which has caused major fluctuations in C, nutrient, and hydrologic cycles of soils and ecosystems. The long-term recovery of these soils from 20th century disturbances depends directly on the dynamics of soil organic matter, due to organic matter's susceptibility to disturbance and to its control over soil moisture and nutrient availability. -from Authors

Duke Scholars

Author Daniel D. Richter Earth and Climate Sciences