Selective logging may become a form of sustainable use of Amazon forest ecosystems since most part of the forest biomass is maintained and the impacts on the exploited area are lower than in comparison to those under other land uses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of selective logging on some soil physical characteristics. The study area lies about 80 km north of Manaus and the vegetation is a humid tropical rainforest. Seven to ten trees/ha (DAP > 55 cm) were felled and removed by a D6 bulldozer, in 1993. Six disturbance classes were defined in the logged plots, with three replicates each: tractor track, center of clearing, edge of clearing, edge of forest, remaining forest and control forest. Soil under tractor tracks represented 13.8 % of the exploited area, and showed higher values of bulk density, and penetration resistance, and lower macroporosity and available water for plants than the other disturbance classes. The other classes were less affected and no significant differences were observed between their soil properties and the control forest, indicating selective logging as a practice that causes less impact on soils of Amazon forest ecosystems.
Forest management; soil compaction; penetration resistance; porosity
