Logging: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:52, 26 June 2006

Revision as of 02:35, 5 July 2006

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==Logging and the environment ==

[[Image:Logskidder7981.JPG|thumb|left|Modern Log [[Skidder]] on clearcut plot, [[Johnsonville, South Carolina]].]]

Logging can impact the environment both by cutting down trees and by the disturbance caused by moving it to the landing. Removal of trees alters species composition and the structure of forest and can cause [[nutrient]] depletion. Harvesting in high value ecologically sensitive lands can lead to [[habitat]] loss. Machines used in logging often disturbs the [[soil]]. The use of heavy machinery in the forest can cause [[soil compaction]]. Harvesting on steep slopes can lead to [[erosion]] and [[landslides|mudslides]]. Logging on saturated soils can cause ruts, and change drainage patterns. Harvest activity near [[wetland]]s or [[vernal pool]]s can degardedegrade habitat. Loss of trees adjacent to streams can increase water temperatures. Harvesting adjacent to streams can increase [[sediment|sedimentation]] in streams lowering water quality.

Colonization of the forest area by [[invasive species|invasive exotics]] is a problem with poorly operated forestry practices, especially in the eastern North American [[hardwood]] forests. Some of the most marked effects of large-scale clearcutting, including the stream corridors, has been seen in the American [[Pacific Northwest]], where [[salmon]] [[spawning]] and rearing [[Habitat (ecology)|habitat]] has been damaged.