Abstract
We measured erodibility and mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates in different parts of a forest road. Samples of topsoil were collected from cutslope, fillslope, road surface and forest ground to assess the texture, bulk density, moisture, CaCO3 and organic matter. Soil aggregate stability was determined by wet sieving. Soil erodibility on the road surface was 2.3 and 1.3 times higher than on the fillslope and cutslope, respectively. The forest soil had the lowest erodibility. Aggregate stability of cutslope and road surface were low and very low, respectively. There was a significant negative relationship between cutslope erodibility with CaCO3 and sand content. Cutslope erodibility increased with increasing silt, clay and moisture content. On fillslopes, MWD increased with increasing rock fragment cover, plant cover, litter cover, organic matter and sand. There was a strong negative correlation between fillslope erodibility and organic matter, sand and MWD. There was no significant difference between erodibility of bare soil and soils beneath Rubus hyrcanus L. and Philonotis marchica (Hedw.) Brid.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angers DA, Carter MR. 1996. Aggregation and organic matter storage in cool, humid agricultural soils. In: Carter MR, Stewart BA (eds.), Structure and Organic Matter Storage in Agricultural Soils. Advances in Soil Science. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Pub., CRC Press Inc..
Amezketa E. 1999. Soil aggregate stability: A review. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 14: 83–151.
Bryan RB. 2000. Soil erodibility and processes of water erosion on hillslope. Geomorphology, 32: 385–415.
Burri K, Graf F, Böll A. 2009. Revegetation measures improve soil aggregate stability: a case study of a landslide area in Central Switzerland. Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, 82: 45–60.
Clayton JL. 1983. Evaluating slope stability prior to road construction. USDA forest service research paper INT-307. Ogdan, Utah: Intern mountain forest & Range Experiment Station, p. 6.
Cerdá A. 1998. Soil aggregate stability under different Mediterranean vegetation types. Catena, 32(2): 73–86.
Dvorak J, Novak L. 1994. Soil conservation and silviculture, Developments in Soil Science 23. Agricultural University. Prague, Czech Republic: ELSEVIER Amsterdam-London-New York-Tokyo, p. 399.
Gee GW, Or D. 2002. Particle-size analysis. In: Warren AD (ed.), Methods of soil analysis: part 4 physical methods. Soil Science Society of America. Book series. No. 5 ASA and SSA Madison, W1, pp. 255–293.
Guerra A. 1994. The effect of organic matter content on soil erosion in simulated rainfall experiments in W. Sussex, UK. Soil Use and Management, 10(2): 60–64.
Heil D, Sposito G. 1995. Organic matter role in illitic soil colloids flocculation. III. Scanning force microscopy. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 59: 266–264.
Hosseini SA, Jalilvand H, Pourmajidian MR, Parsakhoo A. 2011. Effects of forest road clearings on understory diversity beneath Alnus subcordata L. stands in Iran. Maejo Internationnal Journal of Science and Technology, 5: 241–251.
Jordán-López A, Martínez-Zavala L, Bellinfante N. 2009. Impact of different parts of unpaved forest roads on runoff and sediment yield in a Mediterranean area. Science of the Total Environment, 407(2): 937–944.
Jordán A, Martínez-Zavala L. 2008. Soil loss and runoff rates on unpaved forest roads in southern Spain after simulated rainfall. Forest Ecology and Management, 255: 913–919.
Karimi H, Soufi M, Haghnia GH, Khorasani R. 2008. Investigation of aggregate stability and soil erosion potential in some loamy clay soils: case study in Lamerd watershed (south of Fars province). Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 14: 1–9.
Kusky T. 2008. Landslides, Mass Wasting, Soil, and Mineral Hazards (The Hazardous Earth). Facts on File (J), p. 128.
Martínez-Zavala L, Jordán López A, Bellinfante N. 2008. Seasonal variability of runoff and soil loss on forest road backslopes under simulated rainfall. Catena, 74: 73–79.
Mandy P, Dominik A, Christian K, Christian R. 2009. Higher plant diversity enhances soil stability in disturbed alpine ecosystems. Plant Soil, 324: 91–102.
Monnier G. 1965. Action des matieres organiques sur la stabilite structurale des sols. Ann Agron, 16: 327–400.
Morgan RPC. 2005. Soil erosion and conservation, Third edition. Cranfield, Bedfordshire: Black well Publishing, National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfield University. p. 304.
Moreno-de las Heras M, Merino-Martín L, Nicolau JM. 2009. Effect of vegetation cover on the hydrology of reclaimed mining soils under Mediterranean-Continental climate. Catena, 77: 39–47.
Megahan WF. 1978. Erosion processes on steep granitic road fills in Central Idaho. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 42: 350–357.
Mbagwu SC. 2003. Aggregate stability and soil degradation in the Tropics. Department of Soil Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria, Lecture given at the College on Soil Physics, pp. 247–252.
Nadler A, Levey GJ, Keren R, Eisenberg H. 1996. Sodic calcareous soil reclamation as affected by water chemical composition and flow rate. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 60: 252–257.
Neyshabouri MR, Ahmadi A, Rouhipour H, Asadi H. 2011. Soil texture fractions and fractal dimension of particle size distribution as predictors of interrill erodibility. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 35: 95–102.
Pohl M, Stroude R, Buttler A, Rixen C. 2011. Functional traits and root morphology of alpine plants. Annals of Botany, 108(3): 537–545.
Liu QQ, Chen L, Li JC. 2001. Influence of slope gradient on soil erosion. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 22(5): 510–519.
Refahi HG. 2006. Water erosion and conservation. Tehran: University of Tehran Press, p. 668.
Riley SJ. 1988. Soil loss from road batters in the Karuah State Forest, Eastern Australia. Soil Technology, 1(4): 313–332.
Šoltés R. 2008. Philonotis marchica (Bryophyta), new record in Slovakia (exhausted fen Krivý kút, Poprad Basin). Thaiszia Journal of Botany, 18: 51–54.
Skidmore EL, Layton JB. 1992. Dry-Soil aaggregate sstability as iinfluenced by selected soil pproperties. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 56: 557–561.
Sidle RC, Furuichi T, Kono Y. 2011. Unprecedented rates of landslide and surface erosion along a newly constructed road in Yunnan, China. Natural Hazards, 57: 313–326.
Wischmeier WH, Smith DD. 1978. Predicting rainfall erosion losses — a guide to conservation planning. Agricultural Handbook 537, USDA, Washington DC, pp. 1–58.
Yadav JSP, Girdhar IK. 1981. The effect of different magnesium-calcium ratios and sodium adsorption values of leaching water on the properties of calcareous soils versus non-calcareous soils. Soil Science, 131: 194–198.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Parsakhoo, A., Lotfalian, M., Kavian, A. et al. Assessment of soil erodibility and aggregate stability for different parts of a forest road. Journal of Forestry Research 25, 193–200 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-014-0445-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-014-0445-2