Abstract
This study compared the use of wood chips and slash to reduce the loss of sediment on newly constructed forest road slopes and investigated the annual amount of sediment loss on bare forest road slopes. A runoff block (sample field) was established for each of the four designated test sites (two cutslopes and two fillslopes). Each block had three runoff plots. One of the runoff plots was left empty for the control (CNT), while wood chips (C) and slash (S), respectively, were deposited in the other two. A total of 108 water samples were taken from the test sites and the amount of their suspended sediment calculated in the laboratory. As a result of this study, it was determined that the amount of soil loss in the control plots was about 1.26 times higher than in the slash plots and 2.21 times higher than in the wood chips plots. According to the results of variance analysis on the amounts of sediment, a statistically significant difference was found between the suspended sediment quantities transported on the road slopes (p < 0.05). However, no statistically significant difference between the suspended sediment quantities transported in the plots and the other variables of aspect, gradient or road slope was revealed by the t-test (p > 0.05).
Highlights
Forest roads are the most important infrastructural facilities for the utilization of renewable natural forest resources
The amount of sediment was found to be 6.42 g m−2 in the control plots, 5.11 g m−2 in the slash plots and 2.91 g m−2 in the wood chips plots. These results indicated that wood chips application was better than slash for reducing the loss of sediment in the slopes
According to the results of the 108 water samples taken to determine the soil loss from the plots in the test sites, it was determined that soil loss in the control plots was about 1.26 times higher than that in the slash plots and 2.21 times higher than that in the wood chips plots
Summary
Forest roads are the most important infrastructural facilities for the utilization of renewable natural forest resources. One of the major environmental problems resulting from improper forest road construction is the acceleration of soil erosion. During the road construction stage this topsoil is stripped off, altering the surface slope. This changes the structure of the soil as it is exposed and compacted for the construction area. Soil loss by erosion and surface runoff is accelerated in both cutslope and fillslope surfaces of forest roads. These effects emerge as the most important factors in determining soil loss by erosion [2,3,4]
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