Martina Cambi

• PhD at University of Florence

Highlights • A fauna exclosure experiment was conducted in a wind-damaged silver fir forest. •Ungulates slow down the timing of plant growth in secondary succession. • Ungulates increase the abundance of endozoochorous and generalist species. •Ungulates alter the tree species composition of the secondary succession. •Intensity and direction of...

Agricultural terraces are an important element of the Italian landscape. However, abandonment of agricultural areas and increase in the frequency of destructive rainfall events has made it mandatory to increase conservation efforts of terraces to reduce hydrological risks. This requires the development of new approaches capable of identifying and m...

The heavy machines used in forest operations not only cause reduction of the total amount of soil pores but also drastically modify their size distribution. The effects in these terms of repeated passages of a tracked skidder and a wheeled one of quite similar size were evaluated in a forest of central Italy. In particular, we focused on macro-aggr...

A main disadvantage of heavy machinery in forest operation is soil compaction. Compacted soils may be a barrier to seedling growth, even though the exact mechanisms of action are not clear yet, especially for different soil textures, plant species and ages. Previous meta-analyses did not find significant effects, mostly due to the limited size of t...

Forest roads play a key-role in fire fighting activities. In fact, all ground-based activities are strictly related to the presence of forest roads as access to fire edge. In spite of this important role, forest roads are often planned and built without considering their use in fire fighting, and this also occurs in literature, where few studies a...

Logging operations using heavy machinery effect changes in soil characteristics due to compaction; such conditions can negatively influence seedling development. In stands managed on the basis of close-to-nature silviculture or continuous cover forestry, successful establishment of natural regeneration after logging is important to ensure the prope...

Several studies have been carried out to investigate soil compaction and rutting after logging vehicle traffic, based on time consuming and punctual field measurements. The objective of this study was to measure soil disturbances with two methods: (i) a new, image-based models derived by a structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry approach; and (i...

Compaction and rutting on forest soils are consequences of harvesting operations. The traditional methods used to investigate these consequences are time consuming and unable to represent the entire longitudinal profile for a forest trail. New methods based on photogrammetry have been developed. The overall objective was to compare photogrammetry a...

Core Ideas Forest operations may cause severe soil disturbances. Soil impacts are usually assessed by time consuming methods. Our study investigated the use of a portable laser scanner to assess forest soil disturbance. Forest operations can cause compaction and rutting, resulting in soil degradation processes. Soil damage is usually assessed thro...

Forest harvesting operations may have a significant impact on soil physical properties by reducing its porosity and organic functions. Soil variations, in particular bulk density and total porosity, caused by external perturbations as soil becomes compacted due to machinery passes, can lead to changes in biogeochemical cycles that have consequences...

The authors describe a study conducted under controlled conditions, with the goal of determining the eventual benefits of replacing the conventional clamped carriage with an unclamped motorized dropline carriage. The rigging was a classic three-cable configuration common to European yarder operations, with a single span standing skyline. The mainli...

In 1999, the European Union proclaimed hardwood dust carcinogenic based on the classification of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued in 1995. The operational exposure limit (OEL) for inhalable wood dust has been set to 5 mg m⁻³ by EU directives, though in different countries the OEL ranges from 1 to 5 mg m⁻³. The objective...

Le operazioni forestali possono portare a conseguenze negative in termini di compattazione e formazione di solchi, i quali possono a loro volta creare processi di degrado del suolo come l’erosione, le colate di fango e le frane. L’entità del danno dipende dal tipo di mezzo forestale, dal numero di passaggi, dalle caratteristiche del suolo e dalla p...

The authors describe a study conducted under controlled conditions, with the goal of analysing the dynamic tension in the skyline of a yarder resulting from hauling known loads. The rigging was a classic three-cable configuration common to European yarder operations; with a single-span standing skyline and the mainline and haulback used to move the...

In recent decades, the use of heavy machinery in forest management has significantly increased, causing the compaction of forest soils and potentially affecting seedling survival and establishment. We thus investigated the effects of soil compaction on soil physical parameters, microarthropod biodiversity, soil respiration, as well as growth and ph...

The objective of this study was to investigate the inhalation exposure of forest operators to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and total xylenes) contained in the exhaust fumes released from chainsaws and to suggest possible countermeasures. The study was carried out in four silvicultural treatments (...

Mechanization and skid trails network play a key role in the fast extraction of timber from areas affected by windthrown, especially for timber quality and worker health and safety. Nevertheless, heavy vehicle trafficking may have a strong impact on soil, due to soil compaction and rutting. Different methods have been applied for determining the ef...

One of the most important issues in ground based wood extraction in forestry is to minimize the soil damage caused by heavy forestry machines. Generally, harvesting effects include changes in vegetation nutrient availability, soil microclimate/structure and litter quantity/ quality. Several studies were carried out on the impacts of heavy machines...

Uno dei maggiori problemi nel settore forestale è quello di limitare i disturbi al suolo dovuti al passaggio dei mezzi pesanti durante le operazioni di esbosco. Il suolo è un fattore determinante della produttività forestale in quanto, grazie alla sua fertilità, fornisce nutrimento alla crescita del bosco. Le operazioni di esbosco possono però orig...

Wood production is one of the main forest ecosystem services, it is related to the economic and social utility of forest resources in supporting national economies and forest-dependent people. A sustainable management of forest wood production is first of all related to the possibility of securing wood availability for present and future generation...

Le operazioni forestali possono provocare stress al terreno a causa del passaggio di mezzi necessari all’esbosco, come i trattori con gabbie, molto diffusi nei cedui. L’articolo, utile a comprendere meglio quanto incide questo stress e come è possibile mitigarne l’impatto, porta i risultati di uno studio sulla densità apparente e la resistenza al t...

Damage to forest soil caused by vehicle traffic mainly consists of soil compaction, displacement, and rut formation. Severity of the damage depends on vehicle mass, weight of the carried loads, ground morphology, and soil properties, such as moisture. This paper investigates the impacts of two types of vehicles (tracked or wheeled tractor), traffic...

Forest soils can suffer from various threats, some of which are human induced. Although mechanized harvesting allows for high productivity, it may also seriously damage forest soils. In recent decades, the use of powerful and heavy machinery in forest management has increased exponentially. The extent, degree, and duration of direct and indirect ef...

Diversi studi hanno valutato l'impatto causato dai veicoli sul suolo forestale evidenziando che durante il passaggio dei mezzi meccanici si manifesta uno stress a livello del suolo per effetto delle forze verticali e orizzontali di taglio esercitate sullo stesso. Lo stress al livello del terreno comprende anche lo slittamento dei pneumatici, che in...

Mechanized ground-based logging methods are widely used today, in flat or slightly sloping terrains, since they generally provide a safe work environment and high labor productivity. The heavy loads of vehicles imply considerable vertical and horizontal stress to soil, which often undergoes compaction and, as a consequence, other forms of degradati...

Despite the introduction of highly mechanized working systems in Italy, in forest utilization and especially in coppice harvesting the risk of injuries for the operators is still high. In Italy coppice are mainly harvested to produce firewood and, in this activity, the most important risk factors are mainly due to the use of chainsaws in felling an...

The impact on soil of forest harvesting have increased as a consequence of the heavier and heavier used machinery. Soil compaction and rutting are consequences of ground based extraction systems. Many studies were addressed to investigate this topic in the last decades. Nevertheless, some aspects are still unclear or disregarded, in particular the...

Several studies investigated the impact due to forest logging on soil degradation. Field studies revealed a complex relationship among microbial communities and soil degradation showing a wide variability of response. During timber harvesting, soil structure is reorganized and the porosity, together with the continuity among the pores, is reduced i...

La compattazione del suolo è una delle conseguenze più comuni delle utilizzazioni forestali. Questa è provocata dalla combinazione di carichi applicati e vibrazioni al passaggio dei veicoli, ed è ovviamente favorita da determinate condizioni ambientali e caratteristiche del suolo. La compattazione è una forma di degradazione del suolo, anche in ter...

La compattazione del suolo è una delle conseguenze più comuni delle utilizzazioni forestali. Questa è provocata dalla combinazione di carichi applicati e vibrazioni al passaggio dei veicoli, ed è ovviamente favorita da determinate condizioni ambientali e caratteristiche del suolo. La compattazione è una forma di degradazione del suolo, anche in ter...

Several studies investigated the impact caused by forest vehicles on soil. Many mechanized forest operations generate stress on soil due to applications of heavy loads. Often these stresses are associated at soil degradation and soil compaction that are linked at number of passages, silvicultural treatments and at type of soil. Soil structure and i...

In 2010 according to the new legislation on work and safety, (Legislative decree 81/2008) the Tuscany Region promoted a new research project on the evaluation of the forest operators’ hard wood dust and exhausts gases exposure in chainsaw cutting operation and in chipping operation, using a standardized survey methodology. Project partners were: CN...

Forest operation may have a significant impact on the physical properties of soil, reducing its porosity and workability. Heavy machinery is often used, both to cut the trees and extract the logs, thus causing serious soil compaction, which limits natural regeneration of the forest and induces runoff and erosion. The axle weight of forestry machine...

The European Union proclaimed in 1999, wood dust as carcinogenic basing on the classification of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued in 1995. In 2002 the Tuscany Region promoted the first study on the wood manufacturing operators’ hard wood dust exposure. The dust limits were established at the values of 5 mg/m³, but the f...