The Impact of Road Investments on the Forest Environment—Case Study: The Impact of Asphalt Roads on the Health Condition and Growth of Trees
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Asphalt binders used to reconstruct the forest road have a significant impact on tree growth increments in the pine stand and the tree health;
- The adverse impact of the asphalt pavement is correlated with the distance from the road.
2. Materials and Methods
- Laboratory analyses concerning the rate of leaching of heavy metals and hydrocarbons from provided samples of composites. Samples were subjected to leaching with simulated rainwater and distilled water. Moreover, total contents of trace elements essential for the environment were analyzed;
- Determination of the effect of the technical condition of the pavement on the intensity of the leaching process. Chemical analyses were performed on samples pre-crushed in a compressive strength testing machine (simulating the pavement ageing process);
- Chemical analyses of wood and soil samples collected from transects located at three distances from the analyzed asphalt road;
- Field observations comprising dendrological and dendrometric analyses of selected pine stands in transects parallel to the selected asphalt pavement.
2.1. Analyses of Soil Composition (Auxiliary Analyses)
2.2. Analyses of Wood Composition
2.3. Dendrological and Dendrometric Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Analysis of Soil Composition
3.2. Analysis of Wood Composition
3.3. Dendrological and Dendrometric Analyses
3.3.1. Annual Diameter Increments at Breast Height
3.3.2. The Degree of Tree Defoliation
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Degree of Damage | Defoliation [%] | Number of Needle Age-Groups * | Tree Crown ** |
---|---|---|---|
0—no damage | 0–10 | 3 | complete |
1—weak | 11–25 | 2–2.5 | slightly attenuated |
2a—moderate | 26–40 | 1.5–2 | moderately attenuated |
2b—medium | 41–60 | 1–1.5 | strongly attenuated |
3—strong | >60 | 1 | very strongly attenuated |
4—complete | 100 | - | - |
Chemical Element/ Group of Compounds | Distance from Road | Group III | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
16 m | 41 m | 66 m | ||
As | <5.00 | <5.00 | <5.00 | 50.00 |
Ba | 6.40 | 9.40 | 8.00 | 1000.00 |
Cd | <0.05 | <0.05 | <0.05 | 10.00 |
Cr | 3.10 | 2.60 | 3.20 | 500.00 |
Cu | 82.00 | 1.00 | <0.40 | 300.00 |
Hg | <0.05 | <0.05 | <0.05 | 10.00 |
Mo | <0.40 | <0.40 | <0.40 | 100.00 |
Ni | 1.30 | 1.40 | 1.40 | 300.00 |
Pb | 10.00 | 17.00 | 17.00 | 500.00 |
Sb | <5.00 | <5.00 | <5.00 | - |
Se | <5.00 | <5.00 | <5.00 | - |
Zn | 6.50 | 8.50 | 8.00 | 1000.00 |
PAH * | <0.10 | 0.17 | 0.24 | 1.00 |
Mineral oil | 78.00 | 120.00 | 92.00 | 300.00 |
Chemical Element | Distance from Road | ||
---|---|---|---|
16 m | 41 m | 66 m | |
As | <5.00 | <5.00 | <5.00 |
Ba | 4.50 | 1.60 | 1.30 |
Cd | <0.05 | <0.05 | <0.05 |
Cr | 3.90 | <0.30 | <0.30 |
Cu | 0.79 | <0.40 | <0.40 |
Hg | 0.14 | <0.05 | <0.05 |
Mo | <0.40 | 0.42 | <0.40 |
Ni | 2.20 | <0.40 | <0.40 |
Pb | <1.00 | <1.00 | <1.00 |
Sb | <5.00 | <5.00 | <5.00 |
Se | <5.00 | <5.00 | <5.00 |
Zn | 12.00 | 5.90 | 7.20 |
Year | Zone I | Zone II | Zone III | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Average | Min. | Max. | Average | Min. | Max. | Average | Min. | Max. | |
[mm] | |||||||||
2000 | 1.580 | 0.740 | 2.304 | 2.180 | 0.960 | 3.346 | 2.034 | 1.520 | 3.096 |
2001 | 1.726 | 0.454 | 2.833 | 2.134 | 1.214 | 3.705 | 2.264 | 1.460 | 2.668 |
2002 | 1.796 | 0.406 | 2.436 | 2.243 | 1.103 | 3.332 | 2.419 | 1.222 | 3.606 |
2003 | 1.435 | 0.531 | 2.178 | 1.798 | 0.988 | 2.652 | 1.769 | 0.749 | 2.958 |
2004 | 1.264 | 0.419 | 1.910 | 1.907 | 0.881 | 3.204 | 1.818 | 0.934 | 2.757 |
2005 | 0.822 | 0.334 | 1.392 | 1.097 | 0.214 | 2.073 | 1.118 | 0.532 | 1.647 |
2006 | 0.867 | 0.318 | 1.482 | 0.974 | 0.227 | 2.081 | 1.103 | 0.730 | 1.863 |
2007 | 1.172 | 0.272 | 1.920 | 1.125 | 0.199 | 2.148 | 1.553 | 1.019 | 2.178 |
2008 | 1.253 | 0.221 | 2.239 | 1.337 | 0.295 | 2.509 | 1.675 | 1.095 | 2.399 |
2009 | 1.285 | 0.621 | 2.094 | 1.588 | 0.304 | 3.272 | 1.694 | 1.087 | 2.743 |
2010 | 1.065 | 0.463 | 1.753 | 1.165 | 0.357 | 2.005 | 1.239 | 0.758 | 1.644 |
2011 | 0.997 | 0.631 | 1.816 | 1.014 | 0.355 | 1.962 | 0.984 | 0.488 | 1.564 |
2012 | 1.315 | 0.561 | 1.996 | 1.396 | 0.557 | 2.240 | 1.486 | 0.895 | 2.325 |
2013 | 1.227 | 0.625 | 1.871 | 1.416 | 0.549 | 2.324 | 1.426 | 0.719 | 2.243 |
2014 | 1.420 | 0.919 | 1.836 | 1.696 | 0.579 | 3.161 | 1.511 | 0.673 | 2.279 |
2015 | 0.957 | 0.437 | 1.206 | 1.196 | 0.541 | 2.159 | 0.966 | 0.425 | 1.329 |
2016 | 0.895 | 0.693 | 1.309 | 1.075 | 0.439 | 2.080 | 0.765 | 0.232 | 1.170 |
2017 | 0.709 | 0.400 | 0.946 | 0.905 | 0.341 | 1.956 | 0.672 | 0.148 | 1.186 |
2018 | 0.698 | 0.258 | 1.037 | 0.964 | 0.281 | 2.054 | 0.799 | 0.183 | 1.675 |
2019 | 0.840 | 0.346 | 1.381 | 1.111 | 0.294 | 1.906 | 1.003 | 0.241 | 1.963 |
2020 | 0.815 | 0.153 | 1.237 | 1.033 | 0.295 | 1.875 | 1.003 | 0.398 | 2.076 |
2021 | 0.706 | 0.285 | 1.145 | 0.886 | 0.298 | 1.578 | 1.071 | 0.470 | 2.072 |
Year | Analysis of the Normality of the Distribution Using the Shapiro–Wilk Test | Homogeneity of Variance Test | Significance of the Differences | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Levene’s Test | Brown–Forsythe Test | Test F | Kruskal–Wallis Test | ||||
p [%] | |||||||
Zone I | Zone II | Zone III | |||||
2000 | 0.7632 | 0.2317 | 0.1562 | 0.1479 | 0.4479 | 0.1428 | |
2001 | 0.9011 | 0.3439 | 0.0884 | 0.3116 | 0.3648 | 0.2427 | |
2002 | 0.1645 | 0.7814 | 0.9607 | 0.6575 | 0.6858 | 0.1731 | |
2003 | 0.8380 | 0.7806 | 0.9819 | 0.5533 | 0.6180 | 0.3492 | |
2004 | 0.8049 | 0.9183 | 0.3560 | 0.2184 | 0.2479 | 0.0816 | |
2005 | 0.2615 | 0.9696 | 0.9092 | 0.1788 | 0.2019 | 0.3082 | |
2006 | 0.5756 | 0.5561 | 0.1440 | 0.2669 | 0.2988 | 0.6030 | |
2007 | 0.5320 | 0.4788 | 0.6563 | 0.1138 | 0.2274 | 0.2345 | |
2008 | 0.9405 | 0.1773 | 0.0254 | 0.4148 | |||
2009 | 0.7840 | 0.3849 | 0.3543 | 0.0079 | 0.0674 | 0.4259 | |
2010 | 0.7542 | 0.5105 | 0.2917 | 0.0737 | 0.1011 | 0.7120 | |
2011 | 0.0808 | 0.3999 | 0.5310 | 0.1310 | 0.2775 | 0.9899 | |
2012 | 0.6252 | 0.1914 | 0.1514 | 0.4555 | 0.4762 | 0.8263 | |
2013 | 0.8990 | 0.2200 | 0.7126 | 0.0756 | 0.2679 | 0.6707 | |
2014 | 0.2723 | 0.6334 | 0.9824 | 0.0294 | 0.0727 | 0.7423 | |
2015 | 0.1153 | 0.7308 | 0.2746 | 0.1820 | 0.1725 | 0.3239 | |
2016 | 0.0467 | 0.5949 | 0.2136 | 0.5758 | |||
2017 | 0.6734 | 0.3326 | 0.6412 | 0.0217 | 0.0732 | 0.7581 | |
2018 | 0.5700 | 0.5844 | 0.4468 | 0.0777 | 0.1057 | 0.5030 | |
2019 | 0.9817 | 0.5894 | 0.7896 | 0.1248 | 0.2402 | 0.5113 | |
2020 | 0.4986 | 0.6042 | 0.2720 | 0.2153 | 0.4423 | 0.5813 | |
2021 | 0.3001 | 0.4299 | 0.3173 | 0.0864 | 0.0828 | 0.2233 |
Dependent Defoliation [%] | ANOVA of Kruskal–Wallis Rank; Defoliation, Independent (Grouping) Variable: T1 Kruskal–Wallis Test: H (2, N = 182) = 5.452065 p = 0.0655 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Code | N Important | Sum Rank | Avarge Rank | |
TRANSECT I | 1 | 73 | 7452.00 | 102.08 |
TRANSECT II | 2 | 53 | 4592.00 | 86.64 |
TRANSECT III | 3 | 56 | 4609.00 | 82.30 |
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Turski, M.; Beker, C.; Czerniak, A. The Impact of Road Investments on the Forest Environment—Case Study: The Impact of Asphalt Roads on the Health Condition and Growth of Trees. Sustainability 2023, 15, 1307. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021307
Turski M, Beker C, Czerniak A. The Impact of Road Investments on the Forest Environment—Case Study: The Impact of Asphalt Roads on the Health Condition and Growth of Trees. Sustainability. 2023; 15(2):1307. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021307
Chicago/Turabian StyleTurski, Mieczysław, Cezary Beker, and Andrzej Czerniak. 2023. "The Impact of Road Investments on the Forest Environment—Case Study: The Impact of Asphalt Roads on the Health Condition and Growth of Trees" Sustainability 15, no. 2: 1307. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021307
APA StyleTurski, M., Beker, C., & Czerniak, A. (2023). The Impact of Road Investments on the Forest Environment—Case Study: The Impact of Asphalt Roads on the Health Condition and Growth of Trees. Sustainability, 15(2), 1307. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021307