Purpose of Review

Predicting, preventing, and minimizing machinery-induced soil compaction are of paramount importance in forest ecosystems. Understanding the soil’s susceptibility to compaction is crucial in achieving these goals. This meta-analysis assessed the relevance of climatic and soil conditions for the susceptibility of forest soils to wood-harvesting-associated compaction across global climatic zones. We utilized soil bulk density change data (effect sizes; compacted versus uncompacted) from 81 forest sites worldwide, and mapped global patterns of the susceptibility of forest soils to compaction using climate and soil data.

Recent Findings

Wood-harvesting operations by harvester-forwarder technologies disturb the soil less as compared to skidders and cable yarders. It has been shown that a high number of vehicle passages (> 20 times) lead to maximum soil damage, although this contradicts the general belief that major soil disturbance occurs within the first few vehicle passages. Despite these important findings, a global compilation of local information on forest soil compaction induced by mechanized wood harvesting is currently lacking. A map that illustrates the global pattern of soil susceptibility to compaction is also required to identify particularly susceptible forest regions.

Summary

Forest soils in tropical and temperate zones were most susceptible to compaction (48% and 30% bulk density increase, respectively), while forest soils in arid and cold zones were less susceptible (15% and 18% bulk density increase, respectively). Soils in tropical and temperate forests receive high annual precipitation amounts, are characterized by high soil organic carbon content and low bulk density, and are often wet, resulting in high susceptibility to compaction. Since tropical and temperate forests are biodiversity hotspots, forest managers and policymakers should pay particular attention to mechanized wood-harvesting operations in these zones, as the recovery of compacted forest soils requires decades.

Graphical Abstract

中文翻译：

---

全球气候带森林生态系统土壤对机械压实敏感性的荟萃分析

审查目的

预测、预防和尽量减少机械引起的土壤压实对于森林生态系统至关重要。了解土壤对压实的敏感性对于实现这些目标至关重要。这项荟萃分析评估了气候和土壤条件与全球气候区森林土壤对木材采伐相关压实敏感性的相关性。我们利用了全球 81 个森林点的土壤容重变化数据（效应大小；压实与未压实），并利用气候和土壤数据绘制了森林土壤对压实敏感性的全球模式。

最近的发现

与集材机和电缆堆场机相比，采伐机-转运技术的木材采伐作业对土壤的干扰较小。研究表明，大量车辆通过（> 20次）会导致最大的土壤破坏，尽管这与主要土壤扰动发生在前几次车辆通过内的普遍看法相矛盾。尽管有这些重要发现，但目前仍缺乏关于机械化木材采伐引起的森林土壤压实的全球当地信息汇编。还需要一张说明土壤对压实敏感性的全球模式的地图，以确定特别容易受到压实影响的森林区域。

概括

热带和温带地区的森林土壤最容易发生压实（容重分别增加48%和30%），而干旱和寒冷地区的森林土壤则不太容易受到压实（容重分别增加15%和18%）。热带和温带森林的土壤年降水量高，具有土壤有机碳含量高、容重低的特点，并且经常潮湿，导致对板结的敏感性很高。由于热带和温带森林是生物多样性热点地区，森林管理者和政策制定者应特别关注这些地区的机械化木材采伐作业，因为压实的森林土壤的恢复需要数十年的时间。

图形概要