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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Forest Soils
Volume 7 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2024.1464140

Impact of winch-assisted logging machinery on soil disturbance in the mountainous forests of Western Carpathians

Provisionally accepted
Michal Allman Michal Allman 1Zuzana Dudáková Zuzana Dudáková 1Martin Duchan Martin Duchan 1*Martin Jankovský Martin Jankovský 1Vladimír Juško Vladimír Juško 2
  • 1 Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Prague, Czechia
  • 2 Faculty of Forestry, Technical University of Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Timber harvesting on steep terrain is a challenge in terms of economic viability, safety, and environmental performance. Felling with chainsaws and use of yarders seems optimal in this environment. However, using mobile traction winches allows for the safe work of ground-based technologies even in these challenging conditions.Methods: Our study assessed the impact of winch-assisted cut-to-length harvesting on soil disturbance in young forest stands (up to 40 years old) across slopes of 14.9° to 27.4° (27 to 52 %). Utilising 78 measurement points (i.e., 234 measurements), we analysed soil samples from trail ruts, between ruts, and undisturbed areas for soil bulk density (g.cm -3 ) and soil moisture content (%), simultaneously measuring penetration resistance (MPa), penetration depth (cm) and rut depth (cm).The results highlighted that areas without winch assistance experienced the most significant increases in soil bulk density (up to 22.35%) and penetration resistance (up to 26.8%), though these differences were not statistically significant. Linear mixed effects models did not confirm a significant effect (p ˃ 0.05) of a traction winch on the soil bulk density (g cm - 3 ) and penetration resistance (MPa) in the ruts of the forwarding trails. Mean forwarding trail profile depths ranged from 4.63 to 7.28 cm, with the maximum depths between 10.86 and 17.25 cm, showing deeper ruts in non-assisted areas. Moreover, the presence of the traction winch (p ˂ 0.05) significantly affected the maximal depth of the forwarding trail rut.The findings suggest that winch-assisted harvesting may mitigate soil disturbance (rut depths) on steep slopes, offering a sustainable option for utilising ground-based machinery with reduced environmental impact.

    Keywords: CTL technologies, mobile traction winch, Steep slopes, Bulk density, penetration resistance, soil disturbance

    Received: 13 Jul 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Allman, Dudáková, Duchan, Jankovský and Juško. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Martin Duchan, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, 16500, Prague, Czechia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.