Salehi Ali, PhD.

The objective of this study was to compare forest soil bulk density values obtained through
conventional sampling methods such as the volumetric ring (VR: diameter 5 cm, length 10 cm)
and paraffin sealed clod (PSC), with a variation of the VR, where rectangular boxes (RB) of
four different dimensions were used. Sampling transects were established on a machine operating
trail located in a beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) stand in Northern Iran. At each
transect, three soil samples were collected at three different locations. Samples from different
methods were spaced by a 50 cm distance to avoid direct interactions. The soil class of our
study area was Combisols according to the WRB classification with a clay texture. Soil bulk
density differed significantly between the three sampling methods. The lowest values were
obtained with the RB (average 1.25 g cm-3), followed by the VR (average 1.40 g cm-3), and
lastly the PSC (average 1.52 g cm-3). The values obtained with four variations of the RB
method ranged from 1.22 to 1.28 g cm-3 and were not found significantly different. When soil
bulk density was calculated after the removal of the weight and volume of roots included in
the samples, the values were determined to be higher than before but with the same range of
magnitude. The lowest coefficient of variation was found for RB4 (CV=2.3%), while the highest
values were observed for VR and RB1 (CV=5.7%).