Some ecological effects of machinery utilization in forestry

Forest ecosystems are exposed to longterm degradation due to forest machine ry used in various operations in forest management. On account of constant pressure on soil structure and principally because of machinery movement in forest stands, predominant damage is done by vehicles. This Impact is main ly restricted to soil, and only randomly related to vegetation. In paper ar e discussed adverse environmental impacts of damaged fc; est stands on vege tation and water balance, the consequence of that damage being the decrease of forest biomass production as well as quality of that biomass (i.e. wood ). Paper particularly deals with methods of establishing the extent of vari ous deteriorating impacts and (also with) ways of damage degree expression. In that light, some results of research on most Important forest operation s (felling, bucking, skidding, forest roads construction) are quoted. Respe ctable attention is dedicated to measures for avoiding or decreasing damage recommended by ECE/FAO/ILO group that dears with impact of forest mechaniz ation on soil structure. However, solutions that relate to measures for ret rieving devastated soil, criteria of adequate machinery choice and techniqu e as well as development of skidding technology that are environmentally ac ceptable are eagerly expected.