Soil compaction has been becoming one of the main impacts caused by mechanized harvesting activities. The weight and movement of machines at the time of cutting and loading timber combined with the inappropriate moisture condition of the soil are the main causes of soil structural degradation, observed mainly by changes in physical properties. Thus, this work aimed to identify soil compaction caused due to forest harvesting of Pinus taeda L. performed on three different soil moistures. The study was conducted in the operational areas of a forestry company located in Paraná on red latosol. The treatments consisted of the interaction of three factors: moisture (rainy day harvesting and 3 and 7 days after rain), harvesting operations (machine traffic, no machine traffic/eventual timer landing and yard), and time of collection (before and after harvest). The residual biomass from forest harvesting was essential to minimize soil compaction caused by machinery traffic that was close to the maximum. The gradation of soil moisture represented by the different days of harvest after a rain did not influence differently the soil compaction. However, harvesting operations impacted soil to a depth of 10 cm causing compaction on the traffic lines of the machines, while the others operations did not cause changes in density, macroporosity and resistance to penetration.
Forest soil; Timber harvesting; Soil physical quality
