THE AUTHORS 



RESEARCH SUMMARY 



DEBORAH S. PAGE-DUMROESE is a soil scientist 

 trainee with the Intermountain Station's Forestry 

 Sciences Laboratory in Moscow, ID. She received a 

 B.S. degree in natural resource management (1982), an 

 M.S. degree in forest soils (1985), and is currently 

 working on a Ph.D. degree in forest soils. 



MARTIN F. JURGENSEN is a professor of forest soils 

 and conducts research in forest soil - forest micro- 

 biology. Dr. Jurgensen received a B.S. in forestry 



(1961) , an M.S. degree in Silviculture (1965), and a 

 Ph.D. degree in soil science (1967). His present posi- 

 tion is with the Department of Forestry, Michigan 

 Technological University, Houghton, Ml. 



RUSSELL T. GRAHAM is a research forester with the 

 Intermountain Station's Forestry Sciences Laboratory 

 in Moscow, ID. Dr. Graham received a B.S. degree in 

 forestry (1972), an M.S. degree in forestry (1976), and a 

 Ph.D. degree in forestry (1981). 



ALAN E. HARVEY is principal plant pathologist with 

 the Intermountain Station's Forestry Sciences Labora- 

 tory in Moscow, ID. Dr. Harvey received a B.S. degree 

 in biology (1960), an M.S. degree in plant pathology 



(1962) , a Ph.D. degree in plant pathology (1968), and 

 spent an academic year of postgraduate work in plant 

 pathology (1972). 



Regeneration of conifers in the Pacific Northwest is 

 often hampered by high soil temperatures and low soil 

 moisture. The purpose of this study was to evaluate 

 the planting bed as a means of enhancing seedling 

 survival and growth. Surface organic matter and 

 mineral soil was mounded mechanically to form raised 

 planting beds on two habitat types. Soil properties 

 were compared with scalped and scarified soil treat- 

 ments on the same sites. Soil temperature and soil 

 moisture were measured four times during the growing 

 season. Organic matter content and bulk density were 

 measured at the beginning of the growing season. 



Organic matter content and bulk density values 

 were significantly (P<0.05) altered by the site prepara- 

 tion technique. Soil temperatures were not significantly 

 different at either site, perhaps because of heavy rain- 

 fall throughout the growing season. Moisture differ- 

 ences were most significant during the driest months 

 of July and August. During this time, the treatments 

 with high organic content had the most moisture, 

 had the most moisture. 



The organic matter may act as a mulch to retain 

 subsurface moisture and to improve soil nutrient 

 levels. It may also be favorable for mycorrhizal 

 development on seedling root systems. 



NOTE: Technical revisions were made in this report in July 1986. If you received a copy before July, 

 discard it and replace it with this one. 



