Mechanization is a powerful tool in the agro-forest industry, today, playing an important role in the processes of forest production, exploration and transportation. However, this intensive machinery utilization can cause severe damages to the soil, especially compaction, which can have a negative reflection on productivity. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of soil compaction caused by forwarder traffic. The soil physical parameters analyzed were: soil density and soil penetration resistance, with the soil samples being taken at five sampling points, equally spaced along the exploration track, at three depth levels (0-15 cm, 1530 cm and 30-50 cm). Each variable was analyzed by variance analysis, applied in split plots with the following effects being evaluated: machine, depth, and machine-depth interaction. The result analysis showed that the forwarder caused a small soil compaction i.e., an average increase close to 0.06 g/cm³ in soil density and 1.00 MPa in soil penetration resistance. The maximum values of soil density and penetration resistance after machine traffic were, respectively, 1,12 g/cm³ and 2,87 MPa.
Compaction; forest soil; machinery
