Temperate deciduous forests in the United States are in the most densely populated states across the northern and mid-Atlantic east coast. Land development and associated human activities have resulted in small forests that are susceptible to various anthropogenic influences across multiple spatiotemporal scales. The objective of this study was to assess soil chemistry in forest patches of various sizes embedded within an urban development gradient. We established 36 forest sites along the U.S. east coast in northern Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania, and assessed soil chemical properties across metro (city size), landscape (surrounding urban density), patch (forest patch size/shape, non-native plant invasion), and temporal (time since forest canopy closure) scales. At the metro and landscape scale, we found significantly greater soil Cu, Zn, and S concentrations in forest patches with greater surrounding urban density. At the forest patch scale, soil pH and Ca increased with greater abundance of non-native invasive plants within the forest, whereas soil organic matter decreased with plant invasion. However, increased soil pH and Ca with decreasing SOM may also be a result of land use legacies since we found younger forests had significantly more plant invasion. Forest patch size and shape were primarily related to urban density, where smaller forests with greater edge to interior ratios had greater soil Cu and Zn concentrations. These findings support the importance of considering forest patch structure (size and shape), site legacies, proximity to urban land uses, and duration of intact canopy in understanding patterns and processes in forest soils.

美国的温带落叶林位于北部和大西洋中部东海岸人口最稠密的州。土地开发和相关的人类活动导致了小森林，这些小森林容易受到多种时空尺度上各种人为因素的影响。这项研究的目的是评估嵌入在城市发展梯度中的各种规模森林斑块中的土壤化学性质。我们在特拉华州北部和宾夕法尼亚州东南部的美国东海岸建立了36个森林站点，并评估了大都市（城市规模），景观（城市密度周围），斑块（森林斑块大小/形状，非本地植物入侵）的土壤化学性质。 ，以及时间（自林冠关闭起的时间）比例。在都会区和景观区，我们发现土壤中的铜，锌，周围城市密度较高的森林斑块中的硫和硫含量 在森林斑块尺度上，森林中非原生入侵植物的丰度越高，土壤pH和Ca升高，而植物入侵则使土壤有机质下降。但是，土壤pH值和Ca的增加以及SOM的降低也可能是土地利用传统的结果，因为我们发现较年轻的森林具有明显更多的植物入侵性。森林斑块的大小和形状主要与城市密度有关，其中边际与内部之比较大的较小森林的土壤铜和锌浓度较高。这些发现支持了在理解森林土壤的模式和过程中，考虑森林斑块结构（大小和形状），遗址遗留力，与城市土地利用的接近程度以及完整冠层的持续时间的重要性。