Abstract
The paper deals with the damage of the remaining stand and soil caused by harvesting using three ground-based forest operations methods (harvester-forwarder/cable skidder/animal-tractor). It compares the impact of the most common harvesting technologies applied in Slovakia and in Central Europe and thus contributes with valuable information to the knowledge on the suitability of their application in forests stands dominated by broadleaved tree species. Harvesting was performed in five forest stands located at the University Forest Enterprise of Technical University in Zvolen in central Slovakia from August to October 2019. Damage to remaining trees was assessed from the point of its size, type, and position of damage along stem. We expected lower damage of remaining trees in stands where harvesters were used because of the applied cut-to-length short wood system and fully mechanized harvesting system. In addition, we examined soil bulk density and soil moisture content in ruts, space between ruts, and in undisturbed stand to reveal the impact of harvesting machinery on soil. We expected greater soil bulk densities and lower soil moisture content in these stands due to the greatest weight of harvesters and in ruts created by machinery compared with undisturbed stand soil. The highest percentage of damaged remaining trees equal to 20.47% and 23.36% was recorded for harvester forest operations, followed by skidder (19.44%) and animal forest operations with 19.86% and 14.47%. Factorial ANOVA confirmed significant higher soil compaction in stands where harvesters were used (higer bulk density) than in stands where skidding was performed with the skidder and animal power. Higher soil moisture content was recorded in ruts created by harvesters and the skidder. The lowest soil moisture content was in undisturbed stands irrespective of the applied forest operation method.
Highlights
Research on the damage caused by forest operations to the remaining trees and soils in forest stands started at the beginning of the twentieth century and is becoming more important as the use of mechanized wood harvesting has been increasing since [1]
In the stands, where regeneration felling according to the shelterwood system was performed, forest operations were performed with skidders and harvester
We examined soil damage and residual stand damage at places directly affected by forest operations performed by the three technologies, namely skidder, animal, and harvester, and compared it with the situation in the remaining forest stands
Summary
Research on the damage caused by forest operations to the remaining trees and soils in forest stands started at the beginning of the twentieth century and is becoming more important as the use of mechanized wood harvesting has been increasing since [1]. Forests 2020, 11, 1289 damage to residual trees is bole wounds including scarring (bark removal with sapwood exposure) and gouging (removal of wood fibres with the scar). Each harvesting system can cause distinctive damage to remaining crop trees. These damages can be caused by both felling and extracting, regardless of the technological level of machines or experience of operators. Extracting usually causes more severe damage to the remaining trees, especially when winching and skidding are applied [7]. A number of authors have dealt with the assessment of stand damage by harvesting forest operations [3,8,9]
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