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This study was designed to investigate the reduction of road noise by vegetation along the ring road of Thessaloniki. Road noise was measured at two sites, one through a belt of trees and the other on a grass-covered ground. A total of 245 measurements were taken from each site over a two-month period and expressed as differences in L Aeq . Also measurements of the number of vehicles per minute, the type of vehicles and analytic description of vegetation were taken at both sites. The results showed higher noise reductions through the belt of trees than over the grass-covered ground. According to the results of this research the largest reduction, 6 dB, was seen in the Pinus brutia belt of trees, 60 m away from the road. This noise reduction is considered satisfactory due to the tree belts extending on both sides of the ring road. © 2011 Institute of Noise Control Engineering.

After a wildfire in a Pinus halepensis Mill. forest, in northern Greece, the burned trees were logged and the logs were removed either by mechanical or animal traction. The effects of logging and log removal methods on soil and vegetation recovery were evaluated comparing the logged sites with a burned but unlogged site and the unburned forest. Fire and logging did not affect the soil pH and caused only a short-term reduction in organic matter content. Two years after the fire, the highest rates of soil loss were observed in the logged area where mules were used for log removal. Soil moisture showed some differences between treatments during the first year after fire but then values were similar. Logging and particularly the use of skidders for log removal caused an initial increase in the amount of exposed bare ground but later when vegetation cover increased differences were minimized. The main woody species showed a species specific response to the treatments and while seeder species were favoured in the unlogged sites the same was not true for the respouters. In general, the growth and survival of pine seedlings was not affected by treatments.

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