Paul Arp

Academic interests

Forest Soils, Forest Watersheds, Forest Productivity, Forest Sustainability, Forest Hydrology, Hydro-Topographic Modelling and Mapping, Forest Planning Applications: Trafficability Forecasting, Road and Trail Routing, Infrastructure Placement, Digital Soil Mapping.

Brief biography

Dr. Paul Arp graduated with a BSc (Hon.) in Chemistry at Carleton University, and with a PhD (Physical Chemistry) at McGill University. Dr. Arp joined the Faculty in 1976 where he teaches Forest Soils and Forest Watershed Management, and conducts related research with graduate students, research associates and partners.

Over the years, he authored about 150 peer reviewed research papers. In this, he has overseen the development of various models relevant to forest management, specifically dealing with forest hydrology, biomass, nutrient cycling, forest productivity, and environmental stressors including acid rain and climate change.

Dr. Arp coordinates research at the Laboratory for Forest Soils and Environmental Quality and at the Forest Watershed Research Centre at UNB. His current research interests led him to developing tools in forest operations planning, related to the mapping of forest soils, soil moisture and nutrient regimes, soil trafficability forecasting, and vegetation distributions across landscapes at high resolution, in a practical manner.

The wet-areas modelling and mapping tool has become a well-integrated forest management tool in industry and government, and has received attention and operational planning use by many partners including other researchers across Canada and elsewhere.

Main courses taught

• Soils for Plant Growth
• Forest Watershed & Water Quality Management

Selected research

Furze S., Castonguay M., Jae Ogilvie J., Nasr M., Cormier P., Gagnon R. Adams G., Arp P.A. 2017. Assessing soil-related black spruce and white spruce plantation productivity. Open Journal of Forestry. In print.

Goguen, M. and Arp, P.A. 2017. Modeling and Mapping Forest Floor Distributions of Common Bryophytes Using a LiDAR-Derived Depth-to-Water Index. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 8, 867-890.

Nasr M., Arp P.A. 2017. Mercury and Organic Matter Concentrations in Lake and Stream Sediments in relation to one another and to atmospheric mercury deposition and climate variations across Canada. J. Chem.: Geochem; Special Issue on Aquatic Sediments, 26, 1818-1831.

Moran G., Paolini Cuadra P., Gonzalez V., Arp J.-P., Arp P.A. 2017. Digitally mapping the hydrogeological context for community planning: a case study for the upper Choapa River Watershed in Chile. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection. In print.

Keys K., Noseworthy, J., Ogilvie, J. Burton, D.L., Arp, P.A. 2016. A simple geospatial nutrient budget model for assessing forest harvest sustainability in Nova Scotia, Canada. Ecol. Modelling. Open Journal of Forestry, 6, 420-444.