Forest roads play an important role in providing access to forest resources. However, they can significantly impact the adjacent soil and vegetation. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of road geometry (RG) on the chemical and biochemical properties of adjacent soils to assist in environmentally friendly forest road planning in mountainous areas. Litter layer, canopy cover, soil organic carbon (SOC) stock, total nitrogen (TN), the activity of dehydrogenase (DHA), and urease (UA) enzymes at a 0–20 cm soil depth were measured by sampling at various distances from the road edge to 100 m into the forest interior. The measurements were done for three road geometries (RG), namely straight, curved, and bent roads, to ensure data heterogeneity and to reflect the main geometric features of the forest roads. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the effects of RG on the measured variables were statistically significant. Spearman’s correlation test clearly showed a strong positive correlation between environmental conditions, SOC, TN, DHA, and UA for given RGs. Based on piecewise linear regression analysis, the down slope direction of the straight and the inside direction of bent roads accounted for the lowest and highest ranges of ecological effects, respectively. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the environmental effects brought about by road geometry, which can be important for forest road managers when applying the best management practices.

Purpose of Review Forest roads, which are important for accessing and managing forest areas, are particularly vulnerable to damaging impacts of severe climatic events. Understanding how weather changes affect forest roads is important for their efficient management and to ensure their reliability in supporting forest products supply chains. This paper reviews research conducted on the impact of climate factors on forest roads over the past two decades. The aim of our study was to develop a conceptual framework to support adaptation and mitigation strategies in forest road network management, ensuring sustainable wood flow despite a changing climate. Recent Findings Through a review of scientific articles and their results, we provided insights and recommendations to increase the resiliency of forest road infrastructures against the effects of climate change. Framed within the principles of climate-smart forestry, this study also offers practical suggestions to maintain the efficiency and safety of wood transportation networks under changing weather conditions, supporting sustainable forest operations and climate adaptation. Summary This review highlights how changes in precipitation and temperature patterns caused by climate change can impact forest road infrastructure and wood transportation. Based on the analysis of the reviewed articles, we identified key consequences such as increased erosion, road deformation, and reduced frozen periods. The research provides dedicated actions to ensure sustainability of forest resources and their infrastructure. This review is a key step towards more resilient and adaptive forest road management practices, helping to reduce the impacts of climate change on forest transportation and ecological systems.

Forest roads are important for adequate management of natural resources, but they are also a dominant contributor of sediment to forest streams and water pollution. This study measured road sediment concentration from forest roads to determine the impact of rainfall intensity and cutslope types on sediment concentration in the Patom district of northern Iran. Two 110 m road segments with variable soil and rock fragment cover exposed at the cutslopes were studied. Seven rainfall and corresponding runoff events were measured in 1-liter bottle samplers every 10 minutes at the outlet of cross sectional culverts, and from two 3 m2 plots on the roadbeds adjacent to each cutslope. A statistically significant difference at the 95% confidence level between two cutslope types and rainfall intensity on sediment concentration was determined from the field data based on nonparametric tests, though no statistically significant difference in the concentration of sediment between the two roadbeds plots were found. The average of sediment concentration of soil trench and the rock fragment cover cutslopes were 60.3 and 46.8 g/l, respectively. The results reported here should help forest road managements to improve the understanding of cutslopes erosion and sediment production from forest roads and to employ suitable methods to reduce sediment production.

Forest road networks provide access to the forest as a source of timber production and tourism services. Moreover, it is considered the main tool to protect forests from fire and smuggling. The prerequisite of road management and maintenance planning is to have spatial distribution and map of the roads. But newly constructed or some other forest road segments are not available in national maps. Therefore, mapping these networks is raised as a priority for a forest manager. The aim of this study was to assess accuracy of routine methods in road mapping. For this purpose, Patom district forest road was selected and road network map was extracted from the National Cartographic Center maps as the ground truth or base map. The map of the network was acquired using two methods, a GPS receiver and survey technique. Selecting 70 sample points on the network and considering the National Cartographic Center map as base map, accuracy was determined for two methods. The results showed that while the survey method was more accurate at the beginning of the path (first 500 meters), accumulation of errors resulted in higher rates of error in this method (up to 263 meters) compared to GPS. Mann-Whitney test revealed significant differences in accuracy of two methods and mean accuracies were 38.86 and 147.90 for GPS and surveying respectively. The results showed that for samples 1-15 there was no significant difference between the survey and GPS data but for samples 28-42 and 56-70 statistically significant difference were existed between the survey and GPS data. Regression analysis showed that the relation between GPS and surveying accuracies and distance were best defined by cubic (R2 adj = 0.65) and linear (R2 adj = 0.83) regression models respectively. Applying 10 and 5 meters buffers around base map, 68 and 41% of GPS and 44 and 21% of surveying derived road were overlapped with buffer zones. The time required to complete the survey was found to increase the overall cost of mapping road network. The lower time requirements associated with the GPS methods were found to reduce the costs associated with mapping forest roads.Â

Climate change poses an increasing threat to the functionality of forest transportation infrastructure, particularly in northern regions where seasonal access and ground conditions are critical for wood mobilization. The objective of this study was to assess how projected changes in temperature and precipitation may compromise accessibility to forest resources. In addition, it aimed to develop targeted adaptation recommendations to support resilient transportation systems. These actions are essential to ensure the continuity of wood supply under future climatic conditions. Climate projections were extracted from the climatedata.ca platform based on the CMIP6 (CanDCS-M6) model under three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5). Using a GIS-based workflow, projected temperature and precipitation data were spatially matched to the selected Forest Management Units (FMUs) in Quebec, Canada, and the study area was divided into three latitudinal subregions to capture spatial temperature variation. Classified road network maps were then overlaid with projected climate data for 2020, 2040, 2060, and 2080 to evaluate winter road usability, precipitation-related exposure of road classes, and changes in effective winter road density. Results showed a consistent shortening of the winter road operational period under all scenarios, with the most severe reductions under SSP5-8.5. In highly affected areas, the winter road usability window may decrease from 90 days in 2020 to only 21 days by 2080. Increased precipitation is also expected to affect numerous road segments, raising risks of erosion, sedimentation, and loss of accessibility. A reduction of approximately 7% in effective winter road density is projected across the study area under the high-emission scenario (SSP5-8.5), reflecting the most severe impact of future temperature increases. Based on these findings, targeted road upgrades, climate-informed infrastructure design, and alternative access planning are proposed to help sustain wood flow and support year-round forest operations under future climatic conditions.