Soil protection mats from Securatek were put through their paces for scientific tests to comparatively examine the effects of driving on the forest floor both without and with a portable soil protection system.
Excerpt from the trade magazine Forst&Technik issue 05.2023
A portable protection system
Soil protection during forestry machine use is usually done with brushwood mats, wide tires and bogie belts. However, sustainable forest management requires a rethink in light of climate change, as increasingly wet weather in winter limits the load-bearing capacity of forest soils.
An alternative technical soil protection option is a portable soil protection system made of highly stable and at the same time flexible plastic. The state forests of Rhineland-Palatinate are currently testing such a system under scientific supervision.
Under the pressure of economic constraints, increasing demands on occupational safety and a growing shortage of skilled workers, forestry is being forced to mechanize timber harvesting. To meet these requirements, highly productive machines integrated into efficient work processes are needed.
This inevitably leads to the use of larger and heavier machines in the forest. The consequences of this are higher mechanical ground loads that are effective down to greater depths. Furthermore, it can be assumed that climate change will lead to a tendency towards milder winters with more precipitation and higher soil moisture up to water saturation of the soils. This limits the mechanical resilience of the soils.
This will result in more intensive and deeper-reaching negative changes in the ecologically and economically relevant soil properties and functions. Damage compaction up to complete soil destruction can be the consequence. These are also critically perceived by more and more forest visitors.
Here you can read the complete report:
2023-05_Forest_and_Technology_Soil_Protection_Panels
Our special thanks go to all participants and cooperation partners who have participated and made possible this important, progressive, topic with passion and innovative spirit.
- Kompetenzzentrum Waldtechnik Landesforsten Rheinland-Pfalz
- Institute for Soil Science of the University of Trier
- Research Institute for Forest Ecology and Forestry (FAWF)
Our further thanks go to Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH as publisher of the magazine "Forst&Technik" which published this article in issue 5/23.
- Link to the digital magazine
- Link to Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag
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