Soil Recovery Assessment after Timber Harvesting Based on the Sustainable Forest Operation (SFO) Perspective in Iranian Temperate Forests

Hadi Sohrabi, Meghdad Jourgholami, Mohammad Jafari, Naghi Shabanian, Rachele Venanzi, Farzam Tavankar and Rodolfo Picchio
Additional contact information
Hadi Sohrabi: Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj 999067, Alborz, Iran
Meghdad Jourgholami: Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj 999067, Alborz, Iran
Mohammad Jafari: Department of Reclamation of Arid and Mountainous Regions, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj 999067, Alborz, Iran
Naghi Shabanian: Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Khanagah Campus, Sanandaj 66177-1-5175, Iran
Rachele Venanzi: Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Farzam Tavankar: Department of Forestry, Khalkhal Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khalkhal 56817-31367, Iran
Rodolfo Picchio: Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: Minimizing the impact of timber harvesting on forest stands and soils is one of the main goals of sustainable forest operation (SFO). Thus, it is necessary to make an accurate assessment of forest operations on soil that is based on the SFO perspective. The present study was conducted according to SFO principles to investigate the time required for the natural recovery of soil after disturbance by skidding operations in some Iranian forests. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil found in abandoned skid trails from different time periods were compared with undisturbed forest soils. The soil bulk density, the penetration resistance, and the microporosity of a 25-year-old skid trail were 8.4–27.4% and 50.4% greater, and the total porosity, macroporosity, and soil moisture were 1.9–17.1% and 4.6% lower than the undisturbed area. In a 25-year-old skid trail, the values of pH, Electrical conductivity (EC), C, N, available P, K, Ca, and Mg, earthworm density, and biomass were lower than in the undisturbed area, and the C/N ratio value was higher than in the undisturbed area. High traffic intensity and slope classes of 20–30% in a three-year-old skid trail had the greatest impact on soil properties. In order to have sustainable timber production, SFO should be developed and soil recovery time should be reduced through post-harvest management operation.

Keywords: skidding operation; soil properties; sustainable forest operation; traffic intensity; soil recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2874/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2874/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2874-:d:341296

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().