General Directorate of Natural Resources and Watershed Management of Golestan Province
Abstract: (176 Views)
Introduction and Objective: Logging on the ground in routes has brought a lot of force to the soil and due to the direct contact of wood with the forest soil, it has always been associated with a wide range of destructive effects on the forest ecosystem, the change in the physical and chemical properties of the soil is one of the most important effects caused by harvesting operations. Numerous studies report the long-term recovery of the physical and chemical properties of the soil. This research aims to obtain the necessary information for planning to reduce the damage to the soil in this topic, therefore, it is necessary to investigate the effects of using agricultural tractors in transporting wood in order to identify the negative effects and also provide solutions to reduce these effects.
Material and Methods: This research was conducted in Parcel 27 of Kohmian Forestry Plan, Azadshahr, Golestan province. In order to investigate the physical and chemical changes of the soil due to logging with agricultural tractors, soil sampling in reference areas and in the passageways by metal cylinders at three depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm of the soil that done randomly and in three replications in the form of a complete design (experiment). Then the physical properties of the soil including compaction, apparent specific gravity, moisture, texture and chemical properties including organic matter, cation exchange capacity, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper and soil acidity were studied.
Results: The results showed that the physical characteristics of the soil in all three depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm had a significant difference compared to the control area, such as soil compaction in the traffic area at these three depths from the soil surface was 2.46, 3.04 and 1.73 more than control area, the increase in specific weight of the soil in these three depths compared to the control area was 36, 27 and 20%, respectively. Organic matter in both first depth decreased by about 64% compared to the control area. Also, chemical properties such as cation exchange capacity and the concentration of elements such as phosphorus, nitrogen and iron showed a decrease of 37.62, 63.91, 10.2 and 73.05% respectively in the soil depth of 0-10 cm. And in the depth of 10-20 and 20-30 cm, these elements did not change significantly.
Conclusion: Considering the fact that using tractor in forest due to the lack of a winch and also non-uniform contact surface of its tires, causes more damage to the forest soil through the effect on the physical properties such as: soil compaction, increase in apparent specific weight and soil texture, as well as the impact on the chemical properties of the soil, including the reduction of elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, reduction of organic matter and exchange capacity, which because of the long-term durability of these effects, there is room for measures such as the use of specialized logging machines such as grapple skidders instead of agricultural tractors, and surface scraping In logging routes.
Material and Methods: This research was conducted in Parcel 27 of Kohmian Forestry Plan, Azadshahr, Golestan province. In order to investigate the physical and chemical changes of the soil due to logging with agricultural tractors, soil sampling in reference areas and in the passageways by metal cylinders at three depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm of the soil that done randomly and in three replications in the form of a complete design (experiment). Then the physical properties of the soil including compaction, apparent specific gravity, moisture, texture and chemical properties including organic matter, cation exchange capacity, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper and soil acidity were studied.
Results: The results showed that the physical characteristics of the soil in all three depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm had a significant difference compared to the control area, such as soil compaction in the traffic area at these three depths from the soil surface was 2.46, 3.04 and 1.73 more than control area, the increase in specific weight of the soil in these three depths compared to the control area was 36, 27 and 20%, respectively. Organic matter in both first depth decreased by about 64% compared to the control area. Also, chemical properties such as cation exchange capacity and the concentration of elements such as phosphorus, nitrogen and iron showed a decrease of 37.62, 63.91, 10.2 and 73.05% respectively in the soil depth of 0-10 cm. And in the depth of 10-20 and 20-30 cm, these elements did not change significantly.
Conclusion: Considering the fact that using tractor in forest due to the lack of a winch and also non-uniform contact surface of its tires, causes more damage to the forest soil through the effect on the physical properties such as: soil compaction, increase in apparent specific weight and soil texture, as well as the impact on the chemical properties of the soil, including the reduction of elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, reduction of organic matter and exchange capacity, which because of the long-term durability of these effects, there is room for measures such as the use of specialized logging machines such as grapple skidders instead of agricultural tractors, and surface scraping In logging routes.
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