Evaluation of changes in soil physical, chemical and biological properties 25 years after skidding operations in Kheyrud forest

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student of forest engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, I.R. Iran

2 Prof., Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, I.R. Iran

3 Prof., Department of Reclamation of Arid and Mountainous Regions, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, I.R. Iran

Abstract

Soil compaction is a widespread problem in forestry due to the use of heavy machinery for timber harvesting and the lack of attention to soil conditions in harvesting operations. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the natural recovery process of compacted soil properties after skidding operations in Kheyrud forest. Four abandoned skid trails with different ages (3, 10, 20 and 25 years) were selected with three replications at the forest area. In each of them, three traffic intensity classes and three slope classes were specified and sampling were done at the wheel track at depths of 0-10 and 10-20 cm of soil. The results showed that 20 years after the skidding operations, bulk density, penetration resistance and microporosity were 8.4%, 27.4% and 50.44% greater and TP, MP and SM were 1.96%, 17.1% and 4.58% lower than the undisturbed area, respectively. 20 years after skidding operation, the values of pH, EC, C, N, Available P, K, Ca, and Mg, earthworm density and biomass were lower than the undisturbed area, respectively, and value of C/N ratio was higher than the undisturbed area. High traffic intensity (H3) and slope classes of 20 - 30% (C3) in the 3-year skid trail had the greatest impact on soil properties, that indicating greater changes and longer recovery of soil properties in these treatments. The consequence of this study indicated that recovery of soil chemical properties is longer than biological and physical properties, so that complete recovery of these properties takes more than 25 years.

Keywords

References

[1]. Picchio, R., Mercurio, R., Venanzi, R., Gratani, L., Giallonardo, T., Lo Monaco, A., and Frattaroli, AR. (2018). Strip clear-cutting application and logging typologies for renaturalization of pine aforestationa case study. Forests, 9(6): 366.
[2]. Jourgholami, M., Soltanpour, S., Etehadi Abari, M., and Zenner, E.K. (2014). Influence of slope on physical soil disturbance due to farm tractor forwarding in a Hyrcanian forest of northern Iran. iForest, 7(5): 342–348.
[3]. Cambi, M., Hoshika, Y., Mariotti, B., Paoletti, E., Picchio, R., Venanzi, R., and Marchi, E. (2017). Compaction by a forest machine afects soil quality and Quercus robur L. seedling performance in an experimental feld. Forest Ecology and Management, 384: 406–414.
[4]. Picchio, R., Venanzi, R., Tavankar, F., Luchenti, I., Iranparast Bodaghi, A., Latterini, F., Nikooy, M., Di Marzio, N., and Naghdi, R. (2019). Changes in soil parameters of forests after windstorms and timber extraction. European Journal of Forest Research, 138: 875–888.
[5]. Cambi, M., Certini, G., Neri, F., and Marchi, E. (2015). The impact of heavy traffic on forest
soils: a review. Forest Ecology and Management, 338: 124–138.
[6]. Ezzati, S., Najafi, A., Rab, M.A., and Zenner, E.K. (2012). Recovery of soil bulk density, porosity and rutting from ground skidding over a 20-year period after timber harvesting in Iran. Silva Fennica, 46(4): 521-538.
[7]. Ebeling, C., Fründ, H., Lang, L., and Gaertig, T. (2017). Evidence for increased P availability on wheel tracks 10 to 40 years after forest machinery traffic. Geoderma, 297: 61-69.
[8]. Hope, G.D. (2007). Changes in soil properties, tree growth, and nutrition over a period of 10 years after stump removal and scarification on moderately coarse soils in interior British Columbia. Forest Ecology and Management, 242: 625-635.
[9]. von Wilpert, K., and Schäffer, J. (2006). Ecological effects of soil compaction and initial recovery dynamics: a preliminary study. European Journal of Forest Research, 125(2): 129-138.
[10]. DeArmonda, D., Emmertb, F., José Nogueira Limaa, A., and Higuchia, N. (2019). Impacts of soil compaction persist 30 years after logging operations in the Amazon Basin. Soil and Tillage Research, 189: 207-216.
[11]. Makineci, E., Demir, M., Comez, A., and Yilmaz, E. (2007). Effects of timber skidding on chemical characteristics of herbaceous cover, forest floor and topsoil on skidroad in an oak (Quercus petrea L.) forest. Journal of Terramechanics, 44(6): 423-428.
[12]. Naghdi, R., Solgi, A., and Ilstedt, U. (2016). Soil chemical and physical properties after skidding by rubber-tired skidder in Hyrcanian forest, Iran. Geoderma, 265: 12-18.
[13]. Jaafari, A., Najafi, A., and Zenner, E.K. (2014). Ground-based skidder traffic changes chemical soil properties in a mountainous Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) forest in Iran. Journal of Terramechanics, 55: 39-46.
[14]. Ebeling, C., Fründ, H., Lang, L., and Gaertig, T. (2017). Evidence for increased P availability on wheel tracks 10 to 40 years after forest machinery traffic. Geoderma, 297: 61-69.
[15]. Mohieddinne, H., Brasseur, B., Spicher, F., Gallet-Moron, E., Buridant, J., Kobaissi, A., and Horen, H. (2019). Physical recovery of forest soil after compaction by heavy machines, revealed by penetration resistance over multiple decades. Forest Ecology and Management, 449: 117472.
[16]. Sohrabi, H., Jourgholami, M., Tavankar, F., Venanzi, R., and Picchio, R. (2019). Post-Harvest Evaluation of Soil Physical Properties and Natural Regeneration Growth in Steep-Slope Terrains. Forests, 10(11): 1-17.
[17]. Nugent, C., Kanali, C., Owende, P.M., Nieuwenhuis, M., and Ward, S. (2003). Characteristic site disturbance due to harvesting and extraction machinery traffic on sensitive forest sites with peat soils. Forest Ecology and Management, 180(1-3): 85-98.
[18]. Jourgholami, M., Ghassemi, T., and Labelle, E.R. (2019). Soil physio-chemical and biological indicators to evaluate the restoration of compacted soil following reforestation. Ecological indicators, 101: 102-110.
[19]. Najafi, A., Solgi, A., and Sadeghi, S.H. (2009). Soil disturbance following four wheel rubber skidder logging on the steep trail in the north mountainous forest of Iran. Soil and Tillage Research, 103(1): 165-169.
[20]. Demir, M., Makineci, E., and Yilmaz, E. (2007). Harvesting impact on herbaceous understory, forest floor and top soil properties on skid road in a beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) stand. Journal of Environmental Biology, 28(2): 427-433.
[21]. Mariani, L., Chang, S.X. and Kabzems, R. (2006). Effects of tree harvesting, forest floor removal, and compaction on soil microbial biomass, microbial respiration, and N availability in a boreal aspen forest in British Columbia. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38(7): 1734-1744.
[22]. Gayoso, J., and Iroume, A. (1991). Compaction and soil disturbances from logging in Southern Chile. Annals of Forest Sciences, 48(1):  63-71.
[23]. Naghdi, R., Solgi, A., Zenner, E.K., Najafi, A., Salehi, A., and Nikooy, M. (2017). Compaction of forest soils with heavy logging machinery. Silva Balcanica, 18(1): 25-39.
Forest and Wood Products
Volume 73, Issue 4
February 2021
Pages 403-415

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics