The Effects of Forest Management on Erosion and Soil Productivity*

Elliot, William J.; Page‐Dumroese, Deborah S.; Robichaud, Peter R.

doi:10.1201/9780203739266-12

Cited by 34 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Natural events, such as landslides [19] and human causes, including cropland expansion, timber harvesting, charcoal and firewood demands, logging operations, and illegal mining activities in forestland without appropriate technology for forest protection, constitute unsustainable practices posing serious disturbances on forest ecosystems [26,28,59,60]. Therefore, impacts arising from human disturbances, coupled with natural hazards, can reduce forest sustainability and soil productivity [61]. Based on the land use maps of Rwanda ( Figure 2), this research considered the erosion-prone lands, occupying a total surface area of about 22,789.7 km 2 (86.5%); the remaining 3548.3 km 2 (13.5%) was covered by non-erodible lands.…”

Section: Land Use/land Cover (Lulc) Of Rwandamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In both years, the highest soil loss estimates from evaluated LULC types (Table 4) are in the order of forestland > grassland > cropland and are in agreement with the work of Nyesheja et al [28] in the Congo Nile Ridge region of Rwanda, whose findings show a similar trend of forestland (104.93 t ha −1 y −1 ) > grassland (64.55 t ha −1 y −1 ) > cropland (19.1 t ha −1 y −1 ). Previous studies highlighted that soil erosion could surge from less than 1 t ha −1 y −1 in undisturbed forests to over 100 t ha −1 y −1 in disturbed forests [54,61,86]. In this study, the main reason for excessive soil loss observed in the forestland was primarily attributed by its exposure on steep slopes, consistent with results from the Lebir catchment in Malaysia, where the highest erosion rate (87.63 t ha −1 y −1 ) occurred in the high conservation value forests due to steep topography [87].…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Nambajimana

Zhou

et al. 2019

Sustainability

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Rwanda has experienced accelerated soil erosion as a result of unsustainable human activities and changes in land use. Therefore, this study aimed at applying the RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) model using GIS (Geographical Information System) and remote sensing to assess water erosion in Rwanda, focusing on the erosion-prone lands for the time span 2000 to 2015. The estimated mean annual soil losses were 48.6 t ha −1 y −1 and 39.2 t ha −1 y −1 in 2000 and 2015, respectively, resulting in total nationwide losses of approximately 110 and 89 million tons. Over the 15 years, 34.6% of the total area of evaluated LULC (land use/land cover) types have undergone changes. The highest mean soil loss of 91.6 t ha −1 y −1 occurred in the area changing from grassland to forestland (0.5%) while a mean soil loss of 10.0 t ha −1 y −1 was observed for grassland converting to cropland (4.4%). An attempt has been made to identify the embedded driving forces of soil erosion in Rwanda. As a result, we found that mean soil loss for Rwanda's districts in 2015 was significantly correlated with poverty (r = 0.45, p = 0.013), increased use of chemical fertilizers (r = 0.77, p = 0.005), and especially was related to extreme poverty (r = 0.77, p = 0.000). The soil conservation scenario analysis for Rwanda's cropland in 2015 revealed that terracing could reduce the soil loss by 24.8% (from 14.6 t ha −1 y −1 to 11.7 t ha −1 y −1 ). Most importantly, the study suggests that (1) terracing integrated with mulching and cover crops could effectively control water erosion while ameliorating soil quality and fertility, and (2) reforestation schemes targeting the rapid-growing tree species are therefore recommended as an important feature for erosion control in the study area.

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Section: Land Use/land Cover (Lulc) Of Rwandamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Nambajimana

Zhou

et al. 2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…On top of the high erosivity and high erodibility are the large population and the resultant pressure of disturbing natural vegetation for human demands. Elliot, Page‐Durmroese, and Robichaud () reported that soil erosion could surge from less than 1.0 t ha −1 yr −1 in undisturbed forests to over 100 t ha −1 yr −1 in disturbed forests. Thus, determining the soil loss in this high‐risk region and seeking for proper management are critical for preventing land degradation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runoff and soil erosion responses to rainfall and vegetation cover under various afforestation management regimes in subtropical montane forest

Yang

Qian

et al. 2019

Land Degrad Dev

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Soil erosion and runoff generation are a major concern in forest and agricultural ecosystem management. However, the tangled coeffects of rainfall and vegetation on runoff and erosion generation are regionally dependent and remain unclear in regions with high erosivity, such as Southeast China where the large‐scale afforestation is being implemented. Here, we present the 4‐year observations of runoff and erosion responses to various storms following three afforestation (assisted natural regeneration [ANR; windrowing harvest residues on surface]; Chinese fir cultivation [YCF]; and Castanopsis carlesii cultivation [YCP] after slash‐and‐burn) since 2012. Stepwise power‐law regressions were used to identify the key variables and formulate the responses. Results show that the YCF and YCP following slash and burn have extremely high erosion rates, over 20 t ha−1 yr−1 (twofold higher than the global tolerable threshold), during the first year. In contrast, the erosion rate is only approximately 1.3 t ha−1 yr−1 in the ANR. The high erosion rates reveal the environmental vulnerability and the necessity of management in this region. Stepwise regressions suggest total rainfall rather than rainfall intensity as key variable probably because the forest canopy substantially offsets raindrop kinetics. The nonlinear runoff and erosion responses indicate that the risk of soil erosion is extremely high when vegetation cover is less than 40% and rainfall is greater than 80 mm. This study, therefore, suggests that windrowing harvest residues into strips or maintaining a vegetation cover greater than 40% is a sound management practice for mitigating land degradation in this region.

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“…Forest operations and mechanical stress can result in serious and prolonged changes in soil, affect soil functions and properties, reduce soil and forest productivity and eventu-3 ally cause financial losses (e.g. Elliot et al, 1999;Jansson and Johansson, 1998;Lüscher et al, 2010;Sutherland, 2003). In recent years there has been an increasing interest in sustainable forest management, and a detailed review of the available literature on machinery-induced negative effects on forest soils is provided by Cambi et al (2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of timber forwarding on physical properties of forest soils in southern Finland

Toivio

Helmisaari

Palviainen

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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Forest harvesting activities can cause soil damage and disturbance through soil compaction, rut formation and soil mixing. These affect the soil structure and functions and forest productivity. Soil compaction results for instance in increased bulk density and decreased porosity, affecting soil moisture, water infiltration and aeration. The effects of timber forwarding on soil physical properties have gained little attention in boreal forests. These issues will become more important in the future since harvesting operations on unfrozen soils are getting more common due to the anticipated climate warming. In this study, the changes of forest soil physical properties (bulk density, moisture content and porosity) after 1 to 10 forwarder passes on two fine-grained mineral soil sites in southern Finland were analysed. Penetration resistance and rut formation were also measured. The measurements were performed in three periods with different soil moisture conditions. The test drives were carried out with a conventional 8-wheeled forwarder with total mass of 29.8 tons. Soil bulk density increased and porosity decreased after the machinery passes. However, soil moisture content increased on one site and mainly decreased on another. The first three passes caused the greatest compaction and rutting, the first pass having the strongest impact. After the first and third pass 34-55 % and over 70 % of the total mean rut depth was formed, respectively. Further passes only had slight effects. The compaction and changes of soil physical properties appeared to be greater in dry conditions. Rut formation and soil mixing Highlights-Traffic by heavy machinery has significant impacts on soil properties-First passes cause the strongest impacts-Impacts depend highly on soil characteristics and actual site conditions

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The Effects of Forest Management on Erosion and Soil Productivity*

Cited by 34 publications

References 24 publications

Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Runoff and soil erosion responses to rainfall and vegetation cover under various afforestation management regimes in subtropical montane forest

Impacts of timber forwarding on physical properties of forest soils in southern Finland

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