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The aim of the research was to determine the scale and forms of logging road impacts on the natural environment and residual cultural heritage of Ruthenian Highlanders that characterise the Polish part of the north-eastern Carpathians. To this end, we used LiDAR-derived DEM to detect and map forest roads and skid trails, and to estimate road density, in 60 forest divisions sampled at random from among the 2639 km 2 of forest managed in the above region by the State Forests National Forest Holding. The determined road network was then validated by GPS ground control. Supplementary, detailed LiDAR data were used to detect features of the past cultural landscape, and to determine the interference in that due to contemporary logging roads. Overall skidder traffic was estimated on the basis of a thorough analysis of State Forests documents, including legal acts, guidelines, management plans, detailed databases and maps of planned cuts. LiDAR data proved to be an adequate tool in the mapping of the network of logging roads present under the tree canopy, although it slightly underestimates road density in a densely vegetated, post-landslide topography. Our LiDAR-assessed density of Carpathian logging roads (at 108.5–140.7 m ha −1 , including skid trails) is nevertheless among the highest reported in the literature, and one that far exceeds recommended values. Spatial pattern analysis further revealed the unfavourable phenomenon of multiple parallel roads forming contiguous areas of disturbed soil and constituting dispersal paths for invasive plants. Many examples of cultural remains being run over and destroyed by skidders could also be reported. The observed process of log extraction is one of the least sustainable aspects to forest management in the Carpathians, and our results emphasise very clearly the need for rules to support the preservation of cultural heritage in forested areas, as well as improved tools by which skidding practices can be monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for timber products is facilitating the degradation and opening up of large areas of intact habitats rich in biodiversity. Logging creates an extensive network of access roads within the forest, yet these are commonly ignored or excluded when assessing impacts of logging on forest biodiversity. Here we determine the impact of these roads on the overall condition of selectively logged forests in Borneo, Southeast Asia. Focusing on dung beetles along > 40 km logging roads we determine: (i) the magnitude and extent of edge effects alongside logging roads; (ii) whether vegetation characteristics can explain patterns in dung beetle communities, and; (iii) how the inclusion of road edge forest impacts dung beetle assemblages within the overall logged landscape. We found that while vegetation structure was significantly affected up to 34 m from the road edge, impacts on dung beetle communities penetrated much further and were discernible up to 170 m into the forest interior. We found larger species and particularly tunnelling species responded more than other functional groups which were also influenced by micro-habitat variation. We provide important new insights into the long-term ecological impacts of tropical logging. We also support calls for improved logging road design both during and after timber extraction to conserve more effectively biodiversity in production forests, for instance, by considering the minimum volume of timber, per unit length of logging road needed to justify road construction. In particular, we suggest that governments and certification bodies need to highlight more clearly the biodiversity and environmental impacts of logging roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In seasonal climates the timing of logging operations can be adjusted to avoid the major growing periods of understory plants and seedlings. We evaluated the understory vegetation at five pairs of hardwood-dominated sites in northern Wisconsin, U.S.A. where one site in each pair was logged during winter and the other during summer. All sites were dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and basswood (Tilia americana), with varying amounts of other native tree species. Most (84%) of the 247 vascular plant species recorded during the study are indigenous to the region. Winter-logged sites supported significantly higher numbers and percent cover of ecologically vulnerable native plant species as defined by independently established coefficients of conservatism. These differences between winter-logged and summer-logged sites suggest that winter logging may have fewer negative impacts than summer logging on vulnerable plant species and, in the long run, may help maintain plant biodiversity in managed forests of this region. In both types of sites, understory plant richness and diversity were significantly higher near logging roads, due largely to higher numbers of alien species and early successional native plants. Away from roads, neither species richness nor diversity differed between winter-logged and summer-logged sites. Studies that fail to account for differences in species composition and studies that fail to include samples of access roads or skid trails are likely to ignore important impacts of logging activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A catchment study was conducted between January 1990 and April 1992 to quantify the impact of harvesting a mature Pinus caribaea plantation forest on total runoff, baseflow recession, peak discharge, stormflow volume and sediment concentration. As rainfall differed between pre- and post-harvesting periods, a streamflow prediction model (HBV) and statistical methods were used to evaluate observed changes and to test if these were significant. Most runoff occurred as baseflow (64–74% of total runoff). Baseflow increased significantly after harvesting, from 10% to 16% of rainfall. The minimum daily flow increased by 70% after harvesting, in spite of lower rainfall in that period. Stormflow volumes and peak discharges also increased significantly as a result of Horton overland flow generation on new road and log-landing surfaces and a higher wetness of the catchment due to lower evapotranspiration. Stormflow volume doubled from 2.7% to 5.5% of rainfall after harvesting. The combined effect amounted to estimated increases in flows from 252 mm under forest to 580 mm after harvesting for the 324-days period of 1990 (total rainfall of 1613 mm) and from 90 mm to 194 mm for the drier 309-days period in 1991/1992 (total rainfall of 992 mm). Sediment concentrations increased significantly during stormflow events after harvesting, but not under baseflow conditions. Harvesting of the pine plantation therefore increased stormflow, baseflow and total water yield significantly. Stormflow water quality was affected negatively, though, through increased sediment concentrations. These aspects are important for water resources management considerations related to plantation forestry in areas with a distinct dry season. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Three hundred and sixty three landslides in three watersheds that totaled 382 km2 were identified from air photographs, beginning at a date that preceded logging to the present. The three watersheds all lie on Vancouver Island; however, they have different precipitation regimes, topography, and amounts logged. Landslide areas in the watersheds varied in size from 200 m2 to more than 1 ha. Nearly 80% of the landslides were debris slides; 15% were debris flows, and the remainder primarily rock falls. Following logging, the number of landslides increased substantially in all watersheds although the amount of increase was variable: approximately 11, 3, and 16 times in Macktush Creek, Artlish River, and Nahwitti River, respectively. Other analyses of changes in landslide density also produced highly variable results, with the number of landslides increasing between 2.4 and 24 times. Further, 2–12 times more landslides reached streams following logging activities. Densities for landslides impacting streams increased for the period of record from 1.5 to 10 times following logging activities. The densities were substantially greater where only landslides that reached streams since development began in a watershed were considered. Roads had the greatest spatial impact in the watersheds (compared to their total area), with frequencies determined to have increased by 27, 12, and 94 times for Macktush, Artlish, and Nahwitti, respectively. The results highlight the relative impact of roads and their role in slope stability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• This review demonstrates a growing trend of road optimization publications. • Majority of studies were from Iran and developed at the level of strategic planning. • There were 30 different methodologies for optimizing the design of forest roads. • Two most common methods were Analytical Hierarchy Process and Dijkstra algorithm. • These road optimization methods can be applied to sustainable forestry in Amazonia. Forest Management in the Brazilian Amazon has social, economic and environmental relevance, as it allows for the sustainable use of natural resources, while at the same time conserving a majority of the ecological processes of the forest. Among forest operations, the construction of new roads is essential for effective sustainable forest management (SFM). However, it is the most expensive part of forest infrastructure and has the greatest environmental impact. Several methods to optimize forest road planning (FRP) have been studied worldwide, although the literature is scarce on the subject of FRP in areas of SFM in Amazonia. Thus, the objective of this study was to carry out a systematic review of the global literature, on FRP optimization in the last decade (2009–2019), as a way to support future planning activities for road infrastructure in SFM in the Amazon. To guide this objective, three questions were raised to determine what the dominant factors affecting FRP in the study period, specifically what were the: (i) spatial variables; (ii) spatial decision analysis and; (iii) optimization methods for road layout. The bibliographic search was conducted according to the Prisma methodology where a set of keywords was entered into the Scopus, Science Direct and Web of Science indexing databases. In this study, all articles published in English-language journals between 2009 and 2019 were considered, resulting in 62 articles for analysis. There was a growing trend in publications, with most studies developed at the level of strategic planning (46.8%). Also, it was observed that the majority of studies occurred in the forests of Iran (33.9%). The results to the questions of this study found that: (i) there were 45 spatial variables, with slope the most studied (54.7%); (ii) Eleven methods of analysis for spatial decisions, with methods based on Analytical Hierarchy Process – AHP the most studied (36.6%) and; (iii) Thirty different methodologies for optimizing the design of forest roads, mainly methods based on Dijkstra's algorithm (40.5%). Some of the encountered methods have already been implemented in Amazonia to optimize the planning of infrastructure in areas of SFM. In this context, the combination of approaches, variables and analysis for FRP optimization that have been successfully tested in other forests of the world, could feasibly be applied in future planning of logging operations in the Amazon in order to verify the potential of these different procedures and methods, provided that they meet the objectives of the SFM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]