Sustainability, Vol. 12, Pages 2874: Soil Recovery Assessment after Timber Harvesting Based on the Sustainable Forest Operation (SFO) Perspective in Iranian Temperate Forests (Sustainability)

Minimizing the impact of timber harvesting on forest stands and soils is one of the maingoals of sustainable forest operation (SFO). Thus, it is necessary to make an accurate assessment offorest operations on soil that is based on the SFO perspective. The present study was conductedaccording to SFO principles to investigate the time required for the natural recovery of soil afterdisturbance by skidding operations in some Iranian forests. The physical, chemical, and biologicalproperties of soil found in abandoned skid trails from different time periods were compared withundisturbed forest soils. The soil bulk density, the penetration resistance, and the microporosity ofa 25-year-old skid trail were 8.4–27.4% and 50.4% greater, and the total porosity, macroporosity, andsoil 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 inthe undisturbed area. High traffic intensity and slope classes of 20–30% in a three-year-old skid trailhad the greatest impact on soil properties. In order to have sustainable timber production, SFOshould be developed and soil recovery time should be reduced through post-harvest managementoperation.