Abstract
Heavy forest machinery used in skidding has the capacity to influence the physical properties of soils. These may possibly lead to an upsurge in soil disruption and compaction of the soil surface decreases forest soil fertilities. This study assesses the effects of skidding on some soil physical properties such as the soil bulk density and porosity in the Nkrankwanta off-forest reserve in Ghana. The treatments comprised of four traffic intensity levels (1, 5, 10, and 15 passes) of the Mercedes Benz skidder (MB) Trac 1800 and a slope of two levels (less than 20 % and greater than 20 %) in a completely randomized block design. In addition, porosity and soil bulk density were assessed at varied distances from the MB Trac 1800. Soil bulk density results showed increasing trends with traffic frequency. Soil bulk density measured in the undisturbed area was 0.64 g cm-3 and 0.56 g cm-3 at slopes of less than 20% and greater than 20%, respectively. On the skid trail, soil bulk density significantly increased with traffic frequency (p<0.05). However soil porosity declined. Soil porosity estimated in uninterrupted area was 59.10 % and 57.40 % at < 20% and > 20% slope, respectively. Soil porosity was significantly influenced via different skidder passes (p<0.05). The soil physical properties were not influenced by the steepness of the slope however acted together in the number of passes to influence soil porosity. The impacts of the skidder on soil physical properties were significantly apparent at distances of 2 m to each sideway of the skidding trail. In conclusion, distinct responsiveness ought to be considered throughout the operations of skidding to curtail unfriendly influences on soil physical properties in ground-base skidding.
Highlights
The usage of heavy equipment to execute forestry undertakings for example logging has intensified all over the overworld in the past years
Soil compaction is a common consequence of the ground-based skidding systems that always occurred in heavy machinery operation (Binkley and Fisher 2013)
Soil bulk density measured in the undisturbed area was 0.64 g cm-3 and 0.56 g cm-3 at slopes of less than 20% and greater than 20%, respectively
Summary
The usage of heavy equipment to execute forestry undertakings for example logging has intensified all over the overworld in the past years. The main attention of woodlands is found in the southern parts of Ghana In these areas, farm machines such as tractors and skidders are normally used for skidding operations and the majority of the machines used are of substantial weight. Farm machines such as tractors and skidders are normally used for skidding operations and the majority of the machines used are of substantial weight The passageway of these heavy machines can lead to adverse changes in forest soil structures (Ampoorter et al 2007; Allman et al 2015) there are greater potentials for the compaction of soils in forest operations (Cambi et al 2016). The ultimate goal of the researcher was to make available valuable, technical, and scientific evidence for the progress of best practices of management in the forest areas of Ghana with regards to the protection of forest soils efficiency and the effectiveness of the forest ecosystem
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