Effects of forest management on the physical and hydrological properties of an Umbrisol in the Sierra Madre Occidental

Introduction: Land uses associated with anthropogenic activities affect soil quality negatively. Objective: To determine the effect of regeneration cuts on the physical and hydrological properties of an Umbrisol. Materials and methods: In each stand (parent trees [PT], clear cutting, selection, regenerated area [post-fire] and reference [R]), in situ tests were performed and four samples composed of soil by depth (0 to 20 cm and 20 to 40 cm) were collected. Data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and ANOVA tests. The physical variables (apparent density [AD], porosity, silt, leaf litter and humus, mechanical resistance to penetration [MRP], sand and clay) and hydrological variables (infiltration, field capacity, permanent wilt point, available water and permeability) were related by means of the Spearman correlation coefficient. Results and discussion: Differences were significant (P ≤ 0.01) in MRP, sand and clay in the forest stand factor. For the depth factor, all the variables were similar, except for the MRP; its increase in clear cutting was higher than 100 %, with respect to R. The interaction was only significant (P ≤ 0.01) for the sand percentage. The Kruskal-Wallis test (P ≤ 0.05) indicated that infiltration, humus and litter were lower in clear cutting. There is a significant negative correlation (P ≤ 0.01) of AD with permeability, porosity, clay and sand. PT and clear cuttings increased AD (24.28 and 37.58 %) and MRP (32.59 and 222.22 %), with respect to R. Conclusion: PT and selection cuts did not cause significant variations in properties such as those of a total cut (clear cutting).