Influence of ground-based skidding on physical and chemical properties of forest soils and their effects on maple seedling growth

Naghdi, Ramin; Solgi, Ahmad; Labelle, Eric R.; Zenner, Eric K.

doi:10.1007/s10342-016-0986-3

Cited by 54 publications

(48 citation statements)

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“…A large number of factors influence the extent and severity of soil compaction. As found by many authors, overall harvesting operations can lead to a reduction in soil porosity [14,[19][20][21][22][23], increased soil erosion [20][21][22][23][24] and a decrease in root penetration and length expansion [19].…”

Section: Howmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2016 [22] b u l k d e n s i t y -porosity-moisture-forest floor biomass-soil OC-N-P-K-pH 1. Machine traffic should be carried out (if possible) during dry and favourable weather conditions [27,44,[54][55][56], and it is important to reduce the number of load passes.…”

Section: Limiting and Preventing Disturbancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, scratches on the surface of forest soil due to skidding create favourable conditions for seed germination and further sapling growth [10]. However, in some research it was found that the germination rate had a strong negative correlation with an increase in soil bulk density [22][23][24]62]. Moreover, germination rates and growth could be significantly reduced by the number of passes and the trail slope gradient [19,22,23,55].…”

Section: Howmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How and How Much, Do Harvesting Activities Affect Forest Soil, Regeneration and Stands?

2020

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Purpose of Review Lowering the impact of forest utilisation on the forest environment is a part of the improvement in sustainable forest management. As part of forest utilisation, timber harvesting can also cause environmental implications. The main impact of forest operations is on the soil, on regeneration and on the residual stand. The aim of the present review was to identify the state of the art in forest utilisation, identifying how and how much forest operations affect forest soil, regeneration and the remaining stand. Particular attention was paid to the level of impact and potential to limit this. Recent Findings There are a large number of publications tackling forest harvesting, but most of them do not give a comprehensive framework and they mainly focus on one or very few aspects of forest damage. In order to improve general knowledge of the impact of forest operations, it was proposed that the scope of recent findings should be examined and a compilation of the available results from different regions should be presented in one paper. Summary It was found that the least impactful machine-based forest operations were harvester-forwarder technologies, while a larger scale of damage could be expected from ground-based extraction systems (skidders) and cable yarders. Animal power, if applicable, tended to be very neutral to the forest environment. A decrease in damage is possible by optimising skid trail and strip road planning, careful completion of forest operations and training for operators. The existence of legal documents controlling post-harvesting stand damage are rare and have been implemented in only two countries; there is no post-harvesting control on soil damage and natural regeneration.

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Section: Howmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limiting and Preventing Disturbancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Howmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How and How Much, Do Harvesting Activities Affect Forest Soil, Regeneration and Stands?

2020

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“…Soil compaction, defined as a reduction in total soil porosity and increase in soil bulk density, can occur naturally or be induced by human activities. In the north mountainous forest of Iran, soil compaction caused by logging operation is a major environmental problem, especially when ground-based skidding is applied [1]. Rubber-tired skidders and crawler tractors have a negative impact on forest soils and represent one of the most important factors responsible for soil physical degradation [2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact Assessment of Skidding Extraction: Effects on Physical and Chemical Properties of Forest Soils and on Maple Seedling Growing along the Skid Trail

Solgi

Naghdi

Marchi

et al. 2019

Forests

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Several studies investigated soil disturbances caused on skid trails by forest logging. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the severity and the distance of disturbances along both sides from the trails. The aims of this study were: i) to investigate the changes in physical and chemical properties of soil along the sides of skidding trails; ii) to measure the effects of soil compaction on of maple seedlings growth. Two levels of trail gradient (< 20% and >20 %), four levels of traffic frequency (3, 8, 15, and 30 passes) and four distance buffer strip zones (0.5 m intervals from 0 to 2 m in distance) on both sides of skid trail edges were analyzed. Each treatment included three replicate plots. In order to investigate the effect of compaction on seedlings emergence and growth, maple seeds were sown after logging. The results highlighted significant changes in physical and chemical properties of soil for each traffic frequency in the closest buffer strip (from 0 to 0.5 m from the skid trail edges). The largest changes in soil properties were identified at 0.5 m distance zones for a slope gradient > 20% after 3, 8, 15, and 30 skidding cycles. The highest changes were recorded on slope category >20%. The higher the soil compaction the lower the germination rate, root length, and stem height of seedlings.

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“…To capitalize on timber resources, forests are often harvested with heavy machinery which has potential to alter soil properties, thereby reducing forest productivity and quality of ecosystem services (Cambi et al, 2015;Miwa et al, 2004). The effects of heavy equipment traffic on soil properties and forest productivity have been investigated around the world (Horn et al, 2004;Makineci et al, 2007;Murphy et al, 2004;Naghdi et al, 2016;Pinard et al, 2000;Powers et al, 2005;Rab, 2004). Forest harvest related soil disturbances that have been associated with decreased forest productivity include compaction (Greacen and Sands, 1980;Moehring and Rawls, 1970), decreased saturated hydraulic conductivity (Gent et al, 1984(Gent et al, , 1983, poor aeration (Aust et al, 1998a(Aust et al, , 1995(Aust et al, , 1993Xu et al, 2002), reduced nutrient availability (Powers et al, 2005;Tan et al, 2005), increased mechanical resistance to root penetration (Carter et al, 2007;Hatchell et al, 1970;Lockaby and Vidrine, 1984), and organic matter displacement (Powers et al, 2005;Rab, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil properties in site prepared loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands 25 years after wet weather harvesting in the lower Atlantic coastal plain

Neaves

Aust

Bolding

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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Harvesting traffic may alter soil properties and reduce forest productivity if soil disturbances are not mitigated. Logging operations were conducted during high soil moisture conditions on the South Carolina, USA coast to salvage timber and reduce wildfire potential following Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Long term study sites were established on wet pine flats to evaluate effects of primary skid trails and site preparation on soil properties and loblolly pine productivity. The experiment was analyzed as a split-plot within an unbalanced randomized complete block design having 12 blocks, two levels of traffic (primary skid trail (On), no obvious traffic (Off)) and four levels of site preparation (bedding (Bed), disking with bedding (D/B), disking (Disk), no site preparation (None)). Remeasurement of the study was conducted in 2015 at 25 years after salvage logging (stand age 23 years). Bed and D/B treatments had greater saturated hydraulic conductivity (p = 0.0567) and macroporosity (p = 0.0071) and lower bulk density (p = 0.0226) values than Disk and None treatments. Macroporosity benefits were evident two years after site preparation installation, but bulk density and saturated hydraulic conductivity were not, suggesting these two measurements were affected over time by differences in rooting activity influenced by initial aeration benefits. Depth to iron depletion (p = 0.0055) was significantly greater and soil carbon (p < 0.0001) was significantly lower in Bed and D/B treatments due to bed elevation above the water table and improved drainage. This implies greater aeration for roots, but trade-offs in aboveground biomass and soil carbon storage. However, above and below ground carbon differences balanced one another between treatments so that combined carbon storage in soil and above ground loblolly pine biomass was not significantly different by site preparation treatment (p = 0.1127). Bed and D/B resulted in approximately double the stand biomass (p < 0.0001) and stand density (p < 0.0001) than Disk and None. Bed and D/B generally created more favorable soil properties and enhanced long term loblolly pine stand productivity. Differences in soil properties and stand productivity between traffic levels, with and without site preparation, were negligible suggesting natural soil recovery mechanisms were mitigated effects of wet site harvesting over 25 years.

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Influence of ground-based skidding on physical and chemical properties of forest soils and their effects on maple seedling growth

Cited by 54 publications

References 50 publications

How and How Much, Do Harvesting Activities Affect Forest Soil, Regeneration and Stands?

How and How Much, Do Harvesting Activities Affect Forest Soil, Regeneration and Stands?

Impact Assessment of Skidding Extraction: Effects on Physical and Chemical Properties of Forest Soils and on Maple Seedling Growing along the Skid Trail

Soil properties in site prepared loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands 25 years after wet weather harvesting in the lower Atlantic coastal plain

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