Interactions of Forest Road, Forest Harvesting and Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

Forestry developed with the goal, ultimately, of maximizing the long-term economic return from the forest, a goal that has remained virtually unchanged to the present day, despite the growth in understanding of ecosystem function (Farrell et al. 2000). Forest ecosystems supply a wide range of commodities sought by an expanding human population, including structural materials, fuels, and medicines, along with a wide range of critical ecosystem services including nutrient cycling, climate regulation, maintaining water balances and carbon sequestration (Klenner, 2009). The concept of sustainable forest management, which may be defined as the use and regulation of forests and forest areas, at local, national and global levels, in such manner and to such extent as to protect their biological diversification, their productivity, rejuvenation capacity and survival energy as well as their potential to fulfill their ecological, economic and social functions, both at present and in the future, while not causing any harm to other ecosystems, is well recognized by all countries in the world (Demir, 2007).