ABSTRACT

Extensive forest harvesting within the southeastern United States may disturb soils, accelerate erosion, and increase stream sedimentation. Soil erosion is often accelerated by access features, such as decks, roads, skid trails, and stream crossings. Area of access features have been reported for small samples within specific regions yet have not been examined at larger scales. Areas of haul roads, stream crossings, decks, skid trails, and harvest areas within 112 clearcuts in 11 southeastern states and three regions (Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain) were measured. Analyses revealed that Mountain harvests (13.6 hectares) were smaller than Piedmont (18.1 hectares) and Coastal Plain (16.7 hectares) harvests. While there was substantial variability, only one significant difference was detected regarding percent areas for access features between Mountain (7.8%) and Coastal Plain (6.3%) skid trails. Area percentages in combined regional access features revealed that the smaller Mountain harvests had a greater percentage of area (13.3%) in access features than in the Piedmont (12.2%) and Coastal Plain (10.3%). Analyses also indicated that an increase in total harvest area was associated with a significant decrease in the percent area occupied by access features.

摘要

美国东南部广泛的森林砍伐可能会扰乱土壤、加速侵蚀并增加河流沉积。土壤侵蚀通常会因平台、道路、滑道和溪流交叉口等通道特征而加速。已经报告了特定区域内小样本的访问区域特征，但尚未在更大范围内进行检查。测量了东南部 11 个州和三个地区（山区、皮埃蒙特和沿海平原）的 112 个皆伐范围内的运输道路、溪流交叉口、甲板、滑道和收获区的面积。分析显示，山区收成（13.6 公顷）小于皮埃蒙特（18.1 公顷）和沿海平原（16.7 公顷）收成。虽然存在很大的可变性，在山区 (7.8%) 和沿海平原 (6.3%) 滑道之间，仅检测到一个关于通道特征区域百分比的显着差异。合并区域访问特征中的面积百分比显示，较小的山区收成在访问特征中的面积百分比 (13.3%) 高于皮埃蒙特 (12.2%) 和沿海平原 (10.3%)。分析还表明，总收获面积的增加与通道特征占用面积百分比的显着下降有关。