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Climate - Soils - Vegetation - Research - Results - Facilities - Collaborators - Contacts |
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 INTRODUCTION:
The Calhoun Experimental Forest is a contiguous block of 5,134 acres
located in the northwestern portion of the Enoree Ranger District of the
Sumter National Forest in Union County, South Carolina. The Southeastern
Forest Experiment Station established the experimental forest in 1947
for work on Piedmont forest, soil, and water problems. Like most of the
southeastern Piedmont, farming was the predominant use of the Calhoun
before it became part of the Sumter National Forest. Corn, tobacco, and
cotton were planted as early as the late 1700's. By the early 1800's,
farming was abandoned because the fields were worn out and erosion was
extensive. The area was fanned again after the Civil War and erosion
continued. More than one foot of topsoil had been lost when the Forest
Service acquired the land in the 1930's. The location of the Calhoun was
selected because erosion conditions there represented "the worst of
the worst." A number of experiments were conducted through the early
1960's when the Calhoun lab was closed. Few studies were conducted until
the late 1990's when work began to establish demonstrations of even- and
uneven-aged management. Today the SRS's Disturbance and Management of
Southern Ecosystems Research Work Unit administers the experimental
forest. |
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| CLIMATE: The Calhoun Experimental Forest is in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. Summers are warm and humid; winters are mild. Rainfall averages almost 50 inches per year and is evenly distributed throughout the year. Average high temperatures in summer are in the upper 80's and average low temperatures in winter are in the lower 30's. |  |
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| SOILS:
Common
soils are Ultisols of the Appling and Cataula series. Throughout the
experimental forest, these soils are severely eroded and of low
fertility. Vegetation now covers most of the area so erosion has slowed.
Severely eroded areas have lost the moderately erodible A and B
horizons, exposing the extremely erodible saprolite (C horizon). Site
indices vary greatly because of erosion and range from 60 to 90 feet for
pines and 70 to 100 feet where hardwoods exist. Soils are thin to
moderate, well drained loam over a clayey subsurface. On ridgetops,
these clayey soils are highly erodible but stable on gently sloping
terrain. Stream bottoms are narrow with deep sandy or silty sandy loams subject to flooding for short periods. |
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| VEGETATION
TYPE(S):
Cover
types are diverse because of the Calhoun's dissected topography and past
management practices. Plantations of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and
shortleaf pine (P. echinata) are common along ridgetops and flat areas.
Stands of mesic oaks and mixed mesophitic hardwoods occur at mid- to
lower-slope positions and along streams. Bottomland hardwoods are found
along the northern end of the forest, which is bordered by the Tyger
River. |
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