Soil Disturbance by Logging Operation of Industrial Plantation Forest in Indonesia

Abstract

Logging concessions in natural forest and industrial plantation forest are the main producers of logs in Indonesia. Several companies of industrial plantation forest have been successfully planted with fast-growing species such as Acacia mangium for pulpwood. These plantation forests have entered their annual harvesting period. Some options of timber harvesting machines such as forwarder, harvester, feller buncher, and excavator are chosen to remove timber from stump to the log landing site. The negative impact of such machines includes the loss of topsoil and soil compaction. The objectives of the research were to analysis soil compaction by excavator with log carrier in forwarding log from stump to landing site. Bulk density, cone index and deep of rut were measured after logging operation at the harvesting site at one of industrial plantation forest of South Kalimantan. The result showed that soil bulk density increase with the increase in the number of excavator with log carrier passes. The rut was formed on several places on the soil surface, particularly near landings and under the log carrier. The ground pressure of the excavator and log carrier caused the formation of the rut on the soil surface. Weight of excavator plus loads had caused pressure on the track of the contact with the ground. Rut formed and high soil bulk density indicated the soil compaction occurred by the harvesting operation.