ABSTRACT:The felling and skidding damage to residual trees was investigated in a selectively cutting operation in the Caspian forest of Iran. The logging operation was performed by chainsaw and cable skidder. Prelogging, after felling and skidding operations residual tree injuries (species, DBH and damage) were inventoried by systematic plot sampling. Two types of tree damage were observed: destroyed and injured. In this study felling operations mainly injured trees whereas skidding was the main cause of destruction. The percentage of destroyed and injured residual trees by felling operations was 1.4% and 3.4%, whereas the percentage of destroyed and injured residual trees by skidding operations was 5.2% and 11.1%. About 87% of destroyed trees were found in the DBH class smaller than 22.5 cm. Maple and Alder were the most damaged trees among the other trees species. Damage to the lower bole and wood damaged intensity were the most common type of injury. To reduce the stand damage, skid trails should be planned before felling and felling directions should be predetermined. In the selection cutting management, limiting logging damage to residual trees must therefore remain a major objective.

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Background: Logging damage to residual trees during selection cutting may lead to serious economic losses in terms of both timber quality and diameter growth reduction. In this study, we investigated the effect of logging operations on residual tree damage and the consequence of injuries on diameter growth in an uneven-aged mixed forest dominated by beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky). Methods: The diameter growth of 56 wounded and 56 unwounded beech trees were compared 12 years after selected logging of other trees had taken place in an Iranian Caspian forest. Results: Of total logging wounds, 25.0 % (14 wounds) were caused by felling operations and 75.0 % (42 wounds) were caused by winching operations. The reduction in diameter growth of wounded beech trees was only observed in the breast height DBH range below 55 cm. The diameter growth of wounded trees was 8.1 % lower than in unwounded trees. The vertical distance from the ground of wounding was a significant factor in diameter growth. Wounds that were larger than 200 cm 2 in area significantly reduced diameter growth of beech trees. Whether wounds were closed or open wounds had no significant effect on diameter growth but decayed wounds reduced diameter growth by 15.3 %.Conclusions: This study suggested that intensive logging wounds reduce diameter growth, especially in young beech trees. In addition to the intensity, size and position of wounds and tree age, the reduction of diameter growth was related to the ratio of wound size to stem area.

Damage to the remaining stand on steep terrain can be quite severe and is usually difficult to control during winching. Timber skidding, especially by agricultural tractor, is a common solution in small-scale forestry. One of the factors influencing remaining stand damage is winching on steep terrain, although, to date, this has only been studied in general. Limiting stand damage is possible when the factors causing the damage are well-known. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to study in detail the impact of slope steepness on different types of damage in the stand after winching, focusing in particular on: (1) the share of trees with damage (including natural regeneration), (2) the size of the wound, (3) the number of wounds per tree, (4) wound intensity, and (5) the position of the wound on a tree. Field observations were carried out in three beech (two in Italy and one in Iran) and two pine stands (in Italy), in which four classes of slope steepness were selected for each stand. After timber harvesting, damage to the remaining stand as well as to any natural regeneration was recorded. It was found that the share of wounded trees was directly related to slope steepness, although this was less obvious in the natural regeneration. On steeper slopes, there were larger wounds and, on average, there were more wounds per tree. Wound intensity also depended on the gradient of the slope. The size, understood as diameter at breast height, of the remaining trees on the slopes also had an impact on the wound characteristics: on thicker trees, bigger wounds were detected and a higher number of them. However, thicker trees were less often wounded. Wound position on a tree did not depend on slope steepness but it may have been related to stand density and size of winched timber.

Aim of study: The main aims of this study were to determine of damage level to residual stand and soil disturbance from mechanized selection logging.Area of study: Mixed beech stands in Caspian forests, northern Iran. Material and methods: Point-transect and systematic plot sampling were used for assessing damages to soil and trees, respectively.Main results: 89% of forest soil area was undisturbed or shallow disturbed, and 5.2% was deep disturbed. Soil bulk density of top 10 cm in the winching corridors, ruts and skid trails were increased 10.7%, 20.6% and 32.1% respectively than controlled area. Frequency of damages to regeneration and trees were 12% and 11.2%. The frequency of damages to regeneration was increased with increasing of their heights, but frequency of damages to trees was decreased with increasing of their diameter. The most type of damages was bole wounds in sizes of 100 to 200 cm 2 within 1 m from the ground level, and deep wounds. The frequency of damages was different in tree species (p = 0.001). The mean size of bole wounds was 174 cm 2 , and the mean height of bole wounds was 70 cm from ground level. The intensity of wounds on trees bole were decreased with increasing of their heights from ground level (p = 0.02), while their sizes were increased (p = 0.001).Research highlights: Winching of logs was the main cause of damages to soil and residual stand. The detailed planning strategy will reduce damage to level which is acceptable and predictable.