Technical elements, such as forest road networks, are inseparable parts of forest ecosystems. The current approach to the layout of a forest road network is largely based on technical and economic solutions and does not include an approach related to the forest ecosystem itself, which should be taken into account in the form of an ecological criterion. The aim of this work was to find out whether inclusion of the ecological criterion in the current method for the layout of a forest road network will affect the construction of forest roads and its economy. The inclusion of the ecological criterion is based on respecting forest stands with a high value of the real potential of forest functions within the accessed area so that these stands would be disrupted as little as possible and the real potential of forest functions would not be reduced considerably in consequence of the construction and use of the forest road network. The forest road network is therefore designed in the stands with a low value of the real potential. Specifically, we examined the changes in parameters of earthwork amount and we analyzed if the changes were statistically significant, and whether the spatial design of the forest road cross profile would change and how this change would be manifested in the construction of forest roads. The results showed that inclusion of the ecological criterion in the construction of forest roads causes only a slight increase in the level of the evaluated parameters of earthwork and thus also economic costs.

H. Hasangholipour

Papers

Evaluate and develop an existing forest road network base on environmental factors.