The ruts on skid roads are the main factors causing water erosion in northern forests ofIran. In order to evaluate the reasons of this phenomenon, the skid roads in Pahneh Kola and Arzefon forests which are under management of Mazindaran wood and paper industry were selected, then 32 cross profiles were randomly chosen in 10 skid roads. The effects of factors such as stocking volume per hectare, understory vegetation, longitudinal slope, skid roads length, canopy, soil type, basin area of each profile and its slope were measured as soil changed. Results showed that there was no significant linear relationship between water erosion rate and profile distance from starting point, stocking volume and understory vegetation. But there was a significant positive correlation between rate of water erosion and basin area (p-value < 0.001), longitudinal slope of skid road and basin area (p-value < 0.01) and skid road length and tree density (p-value < 0.05). Also, the regions with open canopy, clay soil and litter cover in understory showed the greatest rate of water erosion.
Lotfalian, M., Shirvani, Z., & Naghavi, H. (2009). Investigation of effective factors on skid roads erosion. Iranian Journal of Forest, 1(2), 115-124.
MLA
M. Lotfalian; Z. Shirvani; H. Naghavi. "Investigation of effective factors on skid roads erosion". Iranian Journal of Forest, 1, 2, 2009, 115-124.
HARVARD
Lotfalian, M., Shirvani, Z., Naghavi, H. (2009). 'Investigation of effective factors on skid roads erosion', Iranian Journal of Forest, 1(2), pp. 115-124.
VANCOUVER
Lotfalian, M., Shirvani, Z., Naghavi, H. Investigation of effective factors on skid roads erosion. Iranian Journal of Forest, 2009; 1(2): 115-124.
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