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Spatializing the Soil-Ecological Factorial: Data Driven Integrated Land Management Tools

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Spatializing the Soil-Ecological Factorial: Data Driven Integrated Land Management Tools Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2015 Spatializing the Soil-Ecological Factorial: Data Driven Integrated Land Management Tools Travis Nauman Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Nauman, Travis, "Spatializing the Soil-Ecological Factorial: Data Driven Integrated Land Management Tools" (2015). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6299. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6299 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Spatializing the Soil-Ecological Factorial: Data Driven Integrated Land Management Tools Travis Nauman Dissertation submitted to the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resource and Design at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Plant and Soil Sciences Committee: James A Thompson, Ph.D., Chair Louis McDonald, Ph.D. James Rentch, Ph.D. Brenden McNeil, Ph.D. Timothy Warner, Ph.D. Division of Plant and Soil Sciences Morgantown, West Virginia 2015 Keywords: soil survey, disaggregation, ecological site, digital soil mapping, podzolization, red spruce, O-horizons, soil organic carbon Copyright 2015 Travis Nauman ABSTRACT Spatializing the Soil-Ecological Factorial: Data Driven Integrated Land Mangement Tools Travis Nauman Soils form the dynamic interface of many processes key to the function of terrestrial ecosystems. Many soil properties both influence and are influenced by activity of flora and fauna. Interactions between soils, biota, and climate determine the potential ecosystem services that a given unique ecological site (ES) can support, and how resilient a site is to various pressures and disturbances. Soil data are needed to fully understand how these factors interact, but because this data is difficult to obtain, existing soil maps are sometimes not detailed enough to fully explore relationships. Environmental raster GIS data layers were used to increase the detail of maps by representing soil forming factors and associated ecological pedomemory legacies important to understanding ecological potential. This dissertation presents methods and tools to help create these new soil maps at appropriate resolution and theme for field scale assessment of ecological sites that enable land managers to plan and implement appropriate management decisions. USDA-NRCS soil surveys were disaggregated to higher resolution maps using a semi- automated expert training routine to implement a random forest classification model. This transformed soil map polygons of variable thematic and spatial resolution (soil map unit concepts) to a consistent 30-meter raster grid of unified theme (soil taxa). Disaggregated maps (DM) showed highly variable accuracy (25-75% overall validation accuracy) that mirrored that of the original soil surveys evaluated in Arizona (AZ) and West Virginia (WV). However, disaggregated maps expressed the soil data at a much more detailed spatial scale with a more interpretable legend. The WV surveys exhibited much lower accuracy than the AZ survey evaluated. This lower accuracy in WV is likely due to the forested setting and highly dissected landscape, two factors that create more intrinsic soil variability that is harder to explain with spatial covariates. Ecological site descriptions (ESD) document soil-ecosystem groups that produce unique amounts and types of biological constituents and respond similarly to disturbance and environmental variation. ESD are linked to soil map unit components in USDA-NRCS soil surveys and are used as the basis for land management planning on rangelands and forestlands. The component level connection makes DM a good way to spatialize ESD because both are spatially represented at the same thematic level, whereas conventional soil maps have polygons that often have multiple components linked to a delineation. However, in the evaluation of mapping ESD via DM, the DM turned out not to document the key difference in spodic soil properties that distinguished the important ecotone between northern hardwood and alpine red spruce conifer ESDs in Pocahontas and Randolph counties, WV. So, to adjust, spodic soil properties were mapped directly using digital soil mapping approaches. A strong spatial model of spodic soil morphology presence was developed from a random forest probability model and showed correspondence to red spruce and hemlock occurrences in local historic land deed witness trees from records between 1752 and 1899. From this result, areas with spodic soil properties were assumed to be associated with historic red spruce communities, although 68% of those areas in the WV study area are currently under hardwood cover. This would seem to indicate that hardwoods have encroached on the historic extent of spruce, which is consistent with other recent studies. O-horizon thickness was also observed to be one cm thicker for every 10% greater importance value of red spruce or hemlock versus that of hardwood species at field sites. From these observations, it was calculated conservatively that at least 3.74-6.62 Tg of C have likely been lost from red spruce influenced ecological sites in WV due to historic disturbance related conversions of forest to hardwood composition. These results highlight the value of working within a soil-ecological factorial framework (e.g. an ESD) to contextualize land management options and potential derived services or negative consequences of each available action. Dedication I dedicate this work to those who seek knowledge in its base form. It is rare to see scientists that can go outside of their comfort zone and political sphere in the pursuit of knowledge. I feel like I have been privileged to work with individuals that have those qualities in West Virginia. Specifically, I dedicate this to the backwoods soil scientists whose curiosity about our living soils are the foundation for figuring out how we can live in harmony with our surroundings. I also dedicate this work to my closest friends and family. The adventures we took to the amazing wild places of the western US inspired my curiosity in the natural world and have motivated my work. My parents instilled in me an intellectual independence and willingness to question and evaluate the status quo that has allowed me to contribute some small bit to science. It is this willingness to question and be questioned that allows progress to be made in the expansion of knowledge and wisdom. I’m compelled to note my inspirational figures in natural science; those who have strived to conserve, preserve and protect wild spaces. Those individuals, the likes of John Muir, Henry Thoreau, Edward Abbey, and Aldo Leopold, recognized that we cannot disconnect ourselves from our wild pasts. These are visionaries who recognized that our destinies are tied to our wild places, and that our collective soul is not whole without the opportunity to connect with the natural world around us. iv Acknowledgements The time I’ve spent in West Virginia has been punctuated with people who have contributed to this work and the growth necessary for me to complete this story. My advisor, Dr. James Thompson, has been a mentor and supporter all along the way. His ability to give me intellectual space while still helping to guide me through the tedious processes of graduate school, conferences, publishing, and managing professional relationships has been a foundation of my success. Our many long conversations about the soil science and how to best tell the story of landscapes have helped mold me into a ‘soil story-teller’. I cannot express my gratitude to him for his support through the variety of ups and downs that both of us have experienced. My committee has been an absolute pleasure to work with and I thank them for being flexible and supportive through the evolution of this project. It has been great to have the forestry input of Dr. Rentch, the spatial ecology perspective of Dr. McNeil, the soil chemistry foundation of Dr. McDonald, and the remote sensing knowledge of Dr. Warner to draw from. This multi- disciplinary group never failed to inspire good conversation and ideas when gathered into one room! I have also been surrounded by a cadre of excellent individuals who have provided input, support and sweat and blood to help produce this work. The field data that made this work possible was collected by a variety of individuals over the years. The WV soil partnership, led by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) soil survey staff, produced an amazing amount of data during our annual field week events. This data proved invaluable in testing our hypotheses about red spruce ecological sites. Henry Liebermann and Aaron Burkholder were troopers during the summer 2013 field data collection efforts that resulted in our conclusions about forest floor controls. Working through swarms of biting flies, dense thickets of red spruce saplings, and sometimes suffocating heat, Henry and Aaron were dedicated and tough. I’d also like to specifically acknowledge some key individuals on the Morgantown NRCS staff. A special thanks goes out to Jason Teets, Skip Bell, Tim Dilliplane, and Katey Yoast for their knowledge and leadership in telling the ‘red spruce story’, and for their help in classifying soil descriptions. Without their help intellectually and in the field, this work would not have been possible. I’d also like to recognize the leadership of David Kingsbury at the NRCS regional office in Morgantown.
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