Factors Influencing Forest Soil Erosion and Protection

Dear Colleagues,

Forestry production areas are generally fragile or have little aptitude for agricultural or livestock production, such as steep slopes and low fertility soils. The use or change of land use in these areas for forest production generates a great environmental concern regarding the degradation of water and soil.

The effects of agricultural systems on erosion processes are widely studied. Few studies, however, have provided information on the effects of forests on the commitment of water and soil resources via erosion processes. There are uncertainties concerning the effectiveness of forests in erosion control, either due to the type or management of soils and forests or canopy coverage. Although forest canopy provides soil surface protection, management operations, harvesting, construction, and maintenance of roads in forests increase susceptibility to water erosion. Little information is available on the hydrological and erosive behavior of forests, especially at different spatial and temporal scales. The dynamics via which complex processes and sediment transport occur at different scales are still largely unknown.

The configuration of hydrologic and erosive response changes with spatial scale since heterogeneities are greater at increased scales of watershed size. Furthermore, climate change provides alterations in hydrological behavior and, as a consequence, erosive processes. Despite the acquired knowledge, there are uncertainties about the impacts of forest operations on the quality of different soil types and the maintenance the sustainability of forest systems.

This Special Issue aims to provide contributions to advances in knowledge of the factors influencing forest soil erosion and protection to maintain forests’ productivity and environmental sustainability.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Soil tillage and management on the erosion processes and forests growth and productivity;
• Soil and water quality in forest systems;
• Soil tillage and harvesting operations on the soil erosion processes and forests growth and productivity;
• Land use, management, and change of land use on nutrients, soil and water losses and forests growth and productivity;
• Hydrological cycle components and erosion processes on slope and watershed scales;
• Climate change on hydrology and erosion processes on forests systems.

Dr. Miriam Fernanda Rodrigues
Guest Editor

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