Abstract
Minimizing the impact of timber harvesting on forest stands and soils is one of the main goals of sustainable forest operation (SFO). Thus, it is necessary to make an accurate assessment of forest operations on soil that is based on the SFO perspective. The present study was conducted according to SFO principles to investigate the time required for the natural recovery of soil after disturbance by skidding operations in some Iranian forests. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil found in abandoned skid trails from different time periods were compared with undisturbed forest soils. The soil bulk density, the penetration resistance, and the microporosity of a 25-year-old skid trail were 8.4–27.4% and 50.4% greater, and the total porosity, macroporosity, and soil moisture were 1.9–17.1% and 4.6% lower than the undisturbed area. In a 25-year-old skid trail, the values of pH, Electrical conductivity (EC), C, N, available P, K, Ca, and Mg, earthworm density, and biomass were lower than in the undisturbed area, and the C/N ratio value was higher than in the undisturbed area. High traffic intensity and slope classes of 20–30% in a three-year-old skid trail had the greatest impact on soil properties. In order to have sustainable timber production, SFO should be developed and soil recovery time should be reduced through post-harvest management operation.
Highlights
One of the main goals of sustainable forest operation (SFO) is to comply with the forest operations ecology [1,2,3]
The results show that high traffic intensity (H3) and slope classes of 20–30% (C3) in three-year-old skid trails had the greatest impact on soil properties (Figures 5 and 6)
This study was designed to determine the effects of different levels of traffic intensity, slope gradient, soil depth, and wheel track on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil on the soil recovery assessment after timber harvesting
Summary
One of the main goals of sustainable forest operation (SFO) is to comply with the forest operations ecology [1,2,3]. Soil plays a vital role in forest ecosystems by providing nutrients, water, and energy flow, which leads to forest productivity and biodiversity conservation [5,6,7] Due to their specific characteristics, forest soils are highly susceptible to disturbances caused by skidding operations, the effects of which may persist for years after skidding [8,9,10]. Finding the optimum space between the forest road to minimize the total cost of timber extraction and road construction plays a key role in planning sustainable forest operations [14] In this case, a large area of forest soil is affected by the machinery traffic, with possible related changes or disturbances. The lack of recovery of soil properties, especially bulk density and penetration resistance, can impact the regeneration and decrease of growth seedlings, as reported by Picchio et al [9] and Sohrabi et al [27]
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