Assessing forest availability for wood supply in Europe

Alberdi, Iciar; Bender, Susann; Riedel, Thomas; Avitable, V.; Boriaud, O.; Bošeľa, Michal; Camia, Andrea; Cañellas, Isabel; Rego, Francisco; Fischer, Christoph; Freudenschuß, Alexandra; Fridman, Jonas; Gasparini, Patrizia; Gschwantner, Thomas; Guerrero, Silvia; Kjartansson, Bjarki; Kučera, Miloš; Lanz, Adrian; Marin, Gheorghe; Mubareka, Sarah; Notarangelo, Monica; Nunes, Leónia; Pesty, B.; Pikula, T.; Redmond, John; Rizzo, Maria; Šebeň, Vladimír; Snorrason, Arnór; Tomter, Stein Michael; Hernández, Laura

doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2019.102032

Cited by 28 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…For example, Berendt et al (2017) estimate that the area suitable for conventional forwarder extraction in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, will decrease from 40% to 19% due to climate change induced forest structure change and unfavorable conditions, especially on sensitive soils with limited bearing capacity. Such limitations impede the implementation of sustainable forest operations (Marchi et al 2018), and thus threaten efficient resource supply chains for the establishment of a forest-based bio-economy within the fulfillment of the United Nations 'Sustainable Development Goals" (Alberdi et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a traction-assist winch on wheel slippage and machine induced soil disturbance in flat terrain

Schönauer

Holzfeind

Hoffmann

et al. 2020

International Journal of Forest Engineering

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Recently, forest operations are facing unfavorable climatic conditions more frequently. In Central Europe, machine trafficability and induced soil disturbances are negatively affected by periods of high precipitation and less intensive frost during ground-based harvesting operations. Winch-assist technology is assumed to reduce soil disturbance by forest machines in steep terrain. Still, the potential positive effects of winches to assist traction of forest machines in flat terrain have rarely been surveyed. In this study, a field trial was conducted in flat terrain (slope < 5%). There, a forwarder with an integrated traction-assist was monitored during six consecutive machine passes on a permanent machine operating trail. The first section of the machine operating trail was passed without traction-assist, the remaining section with traction-assist, resulting in two treatment groups. To assess soil impacts, three test plots were positioned per treatment group. Within these plots, pre-and post-operational soil bulk density, soil displacement and rutting were determined. Additionally, wheel slippage and cable tensile force were examined, using incremental rotary encoders and a flexible tensile force measurement kit, respectively. It was observed, that wheel slippage responded inversely with tensile force. Traction-assist technology reduced wheel slippage from 5.3 ± 11.9% to 0.37 ± 10.19% along the section of the machine operating trail, as compared to results from the unassisted section. Although wheel slippage was significantly reduced, no mitigating effect by the usage of traction-assist technology on soil disturbance could be observed, probably due to the low volumetric water content of 27%.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a traction-assist winch on wheel slippage and machine induced soil disturbance in flat terrain

Schönauer

Holzfeind

Hoffmann

et al. 2020

International Journal of Forest Engineering

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“…National forest inventories are the main data source for forest monitoring data presented in international programs such as the Global Forest Resource Assessment by the FAO and the assessment of the state of European forests (SOEF) [94]. However, the literature clearly indicates a great need for harmonization in the field of national forest inventories (NFI) [41,95,96]. A comprehensive study by Gschwantner et al [41] shows great diversity regarding the criteria of country-specific national forest inventories.…”

Section: Limitations Of Current Approach and Way Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Timber Footprint of the German Bioeconomy—State of the Art and Past Development

et al. 2021

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The article gives a comprehensive overview of the roundwood equivalents (RE) consumed in the German bioeconomy from Germany and abroad between 1995 and 2015, i.e., the Timber Footprint of final Consumption (TFPcon). The calculation is based on an adapted version of Exiobase 3.4. The sustainability of roundwood procurement for the TFPcon is assessed. A systematic embedding of the tree compartments considered in the TFP in the context of national forest inventories and material flow analysis is presented. The results show that, in 2015, the total volume of the TFPcon of Germany is 90 Mm3 (slightly above the 1995 level) and is composed of 61% coniferous and 39% non-coniferous wood. Germany is strongly dependent on roundwood sourced from abroad and thus was a net importer of RE in 2015. Among the 17 countries with the largest supply of RE for the TFPcon, around one third very likely include large shares of roundwood procured from deforestation or clear-cutting. The self-sufficiency rate in 2015 was only 76%. It would be possible to increase domestic roundwood production by 8–41% (mainly in the hardwood sector) without exceeding the sustainability limits as defined in the WEHAM scenarios.

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“…Other evaluations focus on the extraction distance to the nearest road; this is a quick method yielding a spatially explicit result, but it looks at the extraction process in a simplified way, even if the straight-line distance to the nearest road is complemented with the vertical distance, ignoring soil properties and local steepness (Caliskan and Karahalil 2017;Laschi et al 2016). Determining optimal extraction methods at sample plots allows to study the characteristics of each plot in detail, but the results cannot be transferred to the surrounding area if the terrain is variable and the road network irregular (Alberdi 2020). A number of studies have analysed either the extraction method (Caliskan and Karahalil 2017;Kuhmaier and Stampfer 2010;Suvinen 2006;Zambelli et al 2012) or the hauling route (Akay and Kakol 2014), but not both at the same time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatially explicit assessment of forest road suitability for timber extraction and hauling in Switzerland

2021

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Efficient forest management, and wood production in particular, requires a forest road network of appropriate density and bearing capacity. The road network affects the choice of a suitable extraction method and the length of the transport route from the forest, while the road standard defines the truck type that can be used.We evaluate the forest road network’s economic suitability for harvesting operations in the entire Swiss forest, an area of about 13,000 km2 covering a range of topographies, based on the Swiss National Forest Inventory’s (NFI) forest road dataset. This dataset is based on information from an interview survey with the local forest services and includes all forest roads in Switzerland capable of carrying trucks. Extraction options and hauling routes are analysed together; thus, the entire logging process is examined.Model results include maps of the most suitable extraction method; extraction costs; hauling costs; and a suitability map based on a combination of the results. While the larger part of the Swiss forest is classified as “suitable” for economic harvesting operations, significant portions also fall into the “limited suitability” and “not suitable” categories. Our analysis provides an objective, country-wide, spatially explicit assessment of timber accessibility. The resulting suitability map helps identify areas where timber harvesting is economic using the current forest road network, and where it is not. The model results can be used in road network planning and management, for example, by comparing road-network re-design scenarios, and compared to the spatial distribution of available wood volume.

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Assessing forest availability for wood supply in Europe

Cited by 28 publications

References 14 publications

Effect of a traction-assist winch on wheel slippage and machine induced soil disturbance in flat terrain

Effect of a traction-assist winch on wheel slippage and machine induced soil disturbance in flat terrain

The Timber Footprint of the German Bioeconomy—State of the Art and Past Development

Spatially explicit assessment of forest road suitability for timber extraction and hauling in Switzerland

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