ABSTRACT
Roads adversely impact forest soil productivity by directly reducing the productive area and by causing the greatest amount of soil erosion. Relationships between disturbance and productivity are not simple but rather are extraordinarily complex, reflecting interactions among disturbance levels, soil water-holding capacities, nutrient cycling properties, and climate. The effect of a given disturbance is highly dependent on site-specific soil properties and microclimate and may also be influenced by year-to-year variation in climate. Work is ongoing to collect long-term site productivity data from numerous sites to aid in the analysis of forest management on soil erosion and site productivity. The F. J. Pierce overview includes over 60 references to research on impacts of erosion on agricultural production. Research on the impacts of soil erosion on forest productivity is limited. The chapter provides an overview of knowledge on the influence of forest management activities on soil erosion and related on-site impacts and the subsequent effects of those impacts on forest productivity.
