Soil & Water Res., X:X | DOI: 10.17221/119/2025-SWR

Effect of logging residues management on the distribution of potentially toxic elements in soils of large-scale clearcuts resulting from bark beetle forest damageOriginal Paper

Lenka Pavlů ORCID...1, Marek Kučírek1, Václav Tejnecký1, Ondřej Drábek1, Petra Vokurková1, Luboš Borůvka ORCID...1, Martin Valtera ORCID...2, Věra Fadrhonsová3, Radek Novotný ORCID...3
1 Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
3 Forestry and Game Management Research Institute, Jíloviště, Czech Republic

This research focuses on the effects of large-scale clearcuts resulting from salvage logging after spruce (Picea abies) forest dieback caused by an extreme bark beetle infestation, and on the effect of logging residues management (chopping vs. clearing) on the distribution of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soil. Pseudo-total contents of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were determined in soil samples collected separately from the organic (F+H) and mineral (0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm depths) soil layers. The distribution of elements was influenced mainly by sampling locality and position in the soil profile. In general, the contents of Cd, Ni and Cr were higher in the mineral layers, whereas Pb was more concentrated in the FH layer. A significant effect of logging residues management on the distribution of PTEs was observed only for Pb and Zn. We expect that the relative decrease of Pb and increase of Zn contents in the “chopped” treatment was mostly due to the higher input of mineral soil and wood residues to the FH layer. Since the stand was harvested relatively recently, the effects of soil preparation have probably outweighed those of spreading or removing logging residues.

Keywords: forest soil; harvesting; risk elements; spruce

Received: October 15, 2025; Revised: November 12, 2025; Accepted: November 25, 2025; Prepublished online: January 7, 2026 

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