Comparing the characteristics of boom-corridor and selectively thinned stands of Scots pine and birch

Nuutinen, Yrjö; Miina, Jari; Saksa, Timo; Bergström, Dan; Routa, Johanna

doi:10.14214/sf.10462

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…This has a clear effect on stand-level optimum and financial performance, as well [46]. The latter (spatial distribution) refers to sufficient dominant and co-dominant crop trees left growing in the FCT, and the spatial arrangement which either contributes to or debilitates that, depending on the applied thinning method in FCT [61]. Further, forest management (e.g., in a form of alternative thinning profiles) has a clear impact on abiotic and biotic risks related to forestry [66].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profitability of the First Commercial Thinning, a Simulation Study in Northern Finland

Ahtikoski

Laitila

Hilli³

et al. 2021

Forests

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Despite positive signals from increasing growing stock volumes and improved roundwood trade, first commercial thinnings (FCTs) tend to be a bottleneck in Finnish forest management and forestry. The reasons are many, but probably the most crucial would be the lack of simultaneous economic incentives for participating agents, i.e., private forest owners and forest machine contractors. This is due to poor stand characteristics in most FCT cases: low cutting removal with small average stem size. There are five predetermined management options: (1) Industrial wood thinning with only two timber assortments, pulpwood and saw logs, (2) Integrated procurement of industrial and energy wood, (3) Energy wood thinning solely consisting of delimbed stems, (4) Whole-tree energy wood thinning with an energy price of 3 € m−3 and (5) Whole-tree energy wood thinning with energy price of 8 € m−3, that were applied for six separate forest stands located in Northern Finland, and derived from a database representing stands with an urgent need for FCT. Then, a two-phase financial analysis consisting of stand-level optimization (private forest owners) and profitability assessment (contractor) was conducted in order to find out whether there would be simultaneous economic incentives for both participants of FCT. The stand-level optimization revealed the financially best management options for a private forest owner, and then, for a contractor, the profitability assessment exposed the profit (or loss) associated with the particular management option. In brief, our results demonstrated that conducting either an industrial wood thinning (1) or an integrated procurement (2) resulted in a positive economic incentive for both the private forest owner and the contractor in all six cases (stands). Further, applying energy wood thinning with delimbed stems (3) would even generate a financial loss for the contractor, given the roadside prices applied in this study

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profitability of the First Commercial Thinning, a Simulation Study in Northern Finland

Ahtikoski

Laitila

Hilli³

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…In that particular context, the possibility of having complete systematized thinning operations became a topic of interest [1]. When it comes to the first commercial thinning specifically, forest owners are still often reluctant to perform systematized thinning due to the high cost of harvest operations and the low income derived from it [9]. The importance of finding a more cost-efficient thinning method is, therefore, as prevalent now as it was decades ago, a fact shown by various other studies [1,[9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When it comes to the first commercial thinning specifically, forest owners are still often reluctant to perform systematized thinning due to the high cost of harvest operations and the low income derived from it [9]. The importance of finding a more cost-efficient thinning method is, therefore, as prevalent now as it was decades ago, a fact shown by various other studies [1,[9][10][11]. In their study, for example, the authors of [12] showed that mechanized line thinning increased productivity and enabled low-cost thinning operations in comparison to conventional single-tree selection thinning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Select or Not? Comparing the Impact of Selective and Schematic Thinning on Scots Pine Tree Growth and Stand Structure

Segtowich

Huuskonen

Fahlvik

et al. 2023

Forests

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The first commercial thinning usually entails a high cost in harvest operations and a low resulting income. From a practical forestry perspective, a schematic spatial selection might be more efficient than a selective approach. Therefore, this study aimed to compare basal area, total and standing volumes, and periodic annual increment (PAI), as well as stand structure, between different thinning designs (selective and schematic thinning) and strategies (thinning once or more than once) over a long-term monitoring period of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) plantations in Sweden. We also evaluated the relevancy of distance-dependent competition indices (CIs) in individual tree growth models by comparing growth model predictions with the use of distance-dependent and distance-independent CIs. Despite higher heterogeneity in schematically thinned stands, there were no significant differences in standing and total volumes (m3·ha−1) among treatments in the short or long term. Although the inclusion of a distance-dependent CI improved the model slightly, distance-independent models predicted diameter growth just as effectively. Schematic thinning could be a viable option for a first commercial thinning or one-time thinning if, at least, one more thinning is included in the management plan, or if the motivating interest is mainly volume.

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“…With BCT, the trees are felled by a linear movement of the harvester's booms along narrow, up to 2 m wide, corridors, instead of selecting individual trees to be cut, as in ST [14]. BCT increases harvester productivity by 16% compared with ST in young and dense small-diameter-tree stands [15], while simultaneously fulfilling future production goals [16,17]. Witzell et al [18] has suggested that BCT could also promote higher biodiversity indexes than ST.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Impacts of Boom-Corridor and Selectively Thinned Small-Diameter-Tree Forests

et al. 2022

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European forest stands of small-diameter trees can provide industries with biomass as an alternative to fossil use. Small-tree harvesting is costly using conventional methods but using accumulating felling heads (AFH) in combination with a novel boom-corridor thinning (BCT) technique can increase harvester productivity and supply cost efficiency. This method has great potential to reduce costs, but its environmental impact compared with selective thinning (ST) needs to be determined. The objectives of this study were therefore to quantify and compare tree and soil damage as well as air, water and soil emissions for both BCT and ST in various European small-diameter-tree forests. Trials were performed in 84 study units (42 replications per thinning technique) across four countries. Damaged trees (with a diameter at breast height ≥ 7 cm) were measured after thinning and after forwarding. Harvesting emissions were calculated from a life cycle assessment. The percentage of remaining trees that had been damaged by the harvesting processes was 13% and 19% for BCT and ST, respectively, and the difference was significant. BCT exhibited the lowest emissions in all environmental impact categories considered, in all countries. Greenhouse gas emissions were on average 17% lower for BCT. BCT in small-diameter-tree stands therefore reduces the environmental impact of thinning operations compared with conventional methods, and results in less damage to the remaining trees.

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Comparing the characteristics of boom-corridor and selectively thinned stands of Scots pine and birch

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

Profitability of the First Commercial Thinning, a Simulation Study in Northern Finland

Profitability of the First Commercial Thinning, a Simulation Study in Northern Finland

Select or Not? Comparing the Impact of Selective and Schematic Thinning on Scots Pine Tree Growth and Stand Structure

Environmental Impacts of Boom-Corridor and Selectively Thinned Small-Diameter-Tree Forests

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