Reference Terms
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Logging
Logging is the process in which trees are felled (cut down) usually as part of a timber harvest. Timber is harvested to supply raw material for the wood products industry including logs for sawmills and pulp wood for the pulp and paper industry. Logging can also remove wood for forest management goals. Logging is a controversial due to its environmental and aesthetic impacts. Logging impacts the environment in two ways, the timber harvest itself, that is, the removal of trees from the forest, and secondly by the disturbance caused by logging operations. Removal of trees alters species composition, the structure of the forest, and can cause nutrient depletion. Harvesting also can lead to habitat loss, prominently in high-value, ecologically sensitive lands. Loss of trees adjacent to streams can increase water temperatures. Harvesting adjacent to streams can increase sedimentation and turbidity in streams, lowering water quality and degrading riparian habitat.
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