Physical and chemical characteristics of eroded sediments from soils with forest plantations

Abstract

The effect of timber cutting on the physico-chemical characteristics of eroded sediments was studied in a Pinus radiata plantation on soils derived from metamorphic rocks, in a mountain watershed of the Coastal Mountain Range (IX Region). Statistically different particle size distributions were found between eroded sediment and the original soil. Most of the eroded sediments consisted of particles with sizes corresponding to fine and very fine silt (2-16 μm). The chemical enrichment ratios of the eroded sediments were generally greater than one, indicating that the lost material is of high nutritive quality.