Mechanical site preparation (MSP) is widely used in forestry to improve plantation success. Although it is known to alter soil properties, its direct effects on soil structure have rarely been described. The cultivation profile is a visual soil evaluation (VSE) method developed in agricultural research to analyse the impacts of cultivation practices on soil structure. The objective of the study was to adapt the method to forest plantations in order to analyse the effects of MSP on soil quality. Cultivation profiles were performed in six experimental plantation sites located in Northern France. The method made it possible to compare the impacts on soil structure of three MSP methods. It provided a schematic representation of the soil structural quality and a quantitative estimation of the volume of soil favourable to seedling root growth. It also highlighted unexpected negative effects of some MSP methods on soil structure, such as the creation of small cavities, the presence of compacted soil volumes due to wheel tracks or smeared soil volumes due to tool pass, and the pseudogleisation of soil zones due to changes in water circulation in the soil. The relevance and limitations of VSE methods in the context of forest plantation as well as the expected future development of the methods are discussed.

中文翻译：

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栽培剖面：一种适用于人工林机械整地影响分析的土壤结构视觉评价方法

机械整地 (MSP) 广泛用于林业以提高种植成功率。尽管已知它会改变土壤特性，但很少描述其对土壤结构的直接影响。栽培剖面是一种在农业研究中开发的视觉土壤评估 (VSE) 方法，用于分析栽培实践对土壤结构的影响。该研究的目的是将该方法应用于人工林，以分析 MSP 对土壤质量的影响。栽培概况在位于法国北部的六个试验种植园进行。该方法可以比较三种 MSP 方法对土壤结构的影响。它提供了土壤结构质量的示意图和有利于幼苗根系生长的土壤体积的定量估计。它还强调了一些 MSP 方法对土壤结构的意想不到的负面影响，例如产生小洞，由于轮迹而存在压实的土壤体积或由于工具通过而造成的泥土体积的存在，以及由于变化引起的土壤区域的伪胶化在土壤中的水循环中。讨论了 VSE 方法在人工林背景下的相关性和局限性以及这些方法的预期未来发展。