Impact of harvesting machinery on soil physical parameters : evaluation of ProFor model in three main forestry regions of South Africa

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorAckerman, P. A.en_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorRozanov, Andrei Borisovichen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKachamba, Daud Jonesen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Agrisciences. Dept. of Forest and Wood Science.
dc.date.accessioned2008-03-27T12:40:56Zen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2010-06-01T08:39:19Z
dc.date.available2008-03-27T12:40:56Zen_ZA
dc.date.available2010-06-01T08:39:19Z
dc.date.issued2007-12en_ZA
dc.descriptionThesis (MScFor (Forest and Wood Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
dc.description.abstractTimber harvesting operations in plantation forestry in South Africa are rapidly being mechanised. However, movement of forest machines over the soil increases the potential for soil compaction and disturbance. In an effort to prevent forest soil damage, the Technical University of Munich developed the “ProFor” software. This software enables the calculation of critical soil water content for a given machine and physical soil characteristics. The applicability of ProFor in the South African forestry industry was assessed through the comparison of the evaluation of the impact of forest harvesting machines on soil properties with ProFor predictions. The study was conducted in four harvesting sites located in three of the major plantation forestry regions of South Africa namely: KwaZulu-Natal; Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. The impact of forest harvesting machines on soil physical properties was assessed through the evaluation of changes in soil saturation, soil bulk density and rut depth. The impacts of machine movements on soil physical properties were then compared with ProFor’s predictions. The study has indicated that ProFor gave good predictions of the critical water contents for most of the studied soils except for sandy soils. The study has also indicated that in more than 75% of the observed cases (r = 0.76) ProFor gave valid predictions of rut formation. However, ProFor predictions poorly correlated (r = -0.1) with the observed soil compaction. The model can be adopted for the South African forestry industry for use in the management of wet spots of a plantation. However, ProFor can be of even greater importance if a separate algorithm was built to be used for the prediction of soil compaction which is a common hazard in most South African forestry.en_ZA
dc.format.extent1742835 bytesen_ZA
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2038
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
dc.rights.holderUniversity of Stellenbosch
dc.subjectForest harvestingen_ZA
dc.subjectProForen_ZA
dc.subjectSoil compactionen_ZA
dc.subjectRuttingen_ZA
dc.subjectDissertations -- Forest and wood scienceen
dc.subjectTheses -- Forest and wood scienceen
dc.subjectLogging -- Machinery -- Environmental aspects -- South Africaen
dc.subjectHarvesting machinery -- Environmental aspects -- South Africaen
dc.titleImpact of harvesting machinery on soil physical parameters : evaluation of ProFor model in three main forestry regions of South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
kachamba_impact_2007.pdf
Size:
1.66 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.72 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
Collections
Inaugural Addresses (Forest and Wood Science)