At what temporal scales does disturbance affect belowground nutrient pools?

We monitored the effects of both harvesting aboveground biomass and Hurricane Hugo on soil chemical and physical properties, and live and dead root biomass over 6 yr in a subtropical wet forest in Puerto Rico. Our goal was to determine how belowground processes changed at different temporal scales including the immediate period prior to revegetation (9 wk), the intermediate period of initial regrowth (9 mo), and the longer-term reorganization of the vegetation and biogeochemical cycling (6 yr). Harvesting resulted in temporary increases in the availability of exchangeable nutrients, but forest floor and soil nutrient pools had generally returned to pre-harvest values over a 3 wk period. Significant amounts of K moved through the soil over this time period, amounting to 23-46 kg/ha(-1), and resulting in a reduction in the size of the exchangeable soil K pool. The hurricane deposited approximately 845 kg/ha(-1) of forest floor mass and considerable nutrients on the soil surface, and increased soil NO3-N and exchangeable K pools, but in all cases, pool sizes had returned re pre-hurricane values within 3 mo. Examination of the data on an annual time step over the G yr period revealed an increase in soil cation pools and a significant decrease in soil pH. No change in soil organic matter was detected at any time step following the disturbances. Live fine root biomass was dramatically reduced as a result of the hurricane, and was only beginning to show signs of recovery near the end of the G yr experiment.