Impact and productivity of harvesting while retaining young understorey spruces in final cutting of downy birch (Betula pubescens)

Niemistö, Pentti; Korpunen, Heikki; Laurén, Ari; Salomäki, Marika; Uusitalo, Jori

doi:10.14214/sf.67

Cited by 22 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…Although our results showed low benefits of thinnings, the goals other than economic gain may be relevant reasons for them, such as regeneration of spruce via undergrowth Niemistö et al 2012) or landscaping or multiple use aspects. On the most nutrient-rich sites with a high production potential, when the quality of the downy birch stands is exceptionally high it may also be possible to produce saw or veneer timber besides pulpwood and energy wood.…”

Section: To Thin or Not To Thincontrasting

confidence: 55%

From useless thickets to valuable resource? – Financial performance of downy birch management on drained peatlands

Niemistö¹,

Kojola²,

Ahtikoski³

et al. 2017

Silva Fenn.

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Highlights• The most profitable management regimes for pulpwood and energy wood production in dense downy birch stands on drained peatlands include no thinnings, but final cutting at the stand age of 40-45 years as whole-tree harvesting, or as integrated harvesting of pulpwood and delimbed energy wood stems about 10 years later depending on applicable harvesting method.• A competitive management regime is early precommercial thinning at 4 m dominant height to a density of 2500 stems per hectare and production of pulpwood with a rotation of 55-65 years. Equal profitability is achieved with or without traditional first thinning, which can thus be included for other reasons, for example to improve regeneration of spruce. AbstractDowny birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) stands on drained peatlands are often considered useless because they typically do not yield good-quality sawn timber. However, covering an area of ca. 0.5 million hectares and with total yields of up to 250 m 3 ha -1 , downy birch stands on peatlands in Finland have a potential for pulpwood and/or energy wood production. We examined the financial performance of alternative management regimes (with or without thinnings, different thinning intensities, several rotation lengths) combined with alternative harvesting methods (pulpwood, energy wood, or integrated, energy wood being delimbed stems or whole trees). We used data from 19 experimental stands, monitored for 20-30 years. For harvesting removals we considered both actual thinning removals and final-cutting removals with alternative timings that were based on the monitoring data. We assessed the profitability as a combination of the net present value of the birch generation and the bare land value of future generations of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). The most profitable management was growing without thinnings until wholetree final cutting at the stand age of 40-45 years with an advanced multi-tree harvesting method. In contrast, the standard method in whole-tree final cutting resulted in the lowest profitability, and an integrated method with the energy wood as delimbed stems was the best of the standard methods. Thinnings were unprofitable especially when aiming to produce energy wood, whereas aiming for pulpwood, light precommercial thinning was competitive. Commercial thinning at the traditional "pulpwood stage" had little effect on profitability. The best stand age for final cutting was 40-65 years -earlier for very dense stands and whole-tree energy wood harvesting with advanced method, later for precommercially thinned stands and pulpwood harvesting.

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Section: To Thin or Not To Thincontrasting

confidence: 55%

From useless thickets to valuable resource? – Financial performance of downy birch management on drained peatlands

Niemistö¹,

Kojola²,

Ahtikoski³

et al. 2017

Silva Fenn.

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“…[55]). The tool was developed using Microsoft Visual Basic language in the Microsoft Excel software.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Salvage Logging Productivity and Costs in Windthrown Norway Spruce-Dominated Forests

Kärhä

Anttonen

Poikela

et al. 2018

Forests

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Different abiotic and biotic disturbances are expected to become more common in the future due to a warming climate. Globally, post-disturbance salvage logging is becoming more predominant to recover economic value from timber in disturbed forests. This study collected comparative time-study data and analyzed the productivity of cutting for windfalls in clear cuttings and determined the cutting costs of windfalls. Furthermore, the logging (i.e., cutting and forwarding) costs of wind-damaged trees and those of undamaged standing Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) trees in clear cuts were calculated in Finland. The results revealed that the cutting productivity of windfalls was 19-33% lower than that of undamaged stems. The cutting costs of windthrown stems with a volume of 0.3-1.5 m 3 were 35-64% higher and the logging costs of windfalls were 10-30% higher than those of undamaged standing stems. The study provided new understanding regarding the productivity and costs of salvage logging operations under Finnish conditions. Even if the logging of windfalls is expensive and laborious, salvage logging operations are important for forest stands and their health to minimize post-disaster damage outbreaks in coniferous forests, such as the damage caused by bark beetles-mainly Ips typographus L.

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“…III. In case of the beech stand we can see that the structure of the shares of the operational phases resembles mostly the structure achieved by Niemistö (2012) and partially by Ovaskainen (2004), although the authors acquired data in spruce and pine stands. The share of the "Time of processing the tree" (t´A 124 ) is caused by the thickness of branches and a larger share of trees with two tree tops, which can be expected in beech stands of this age.…”

Section: F) T´: Time Of Inoperation Dose and Shimentioning

confidence: 74%

Productivity of a John Deere Harvester Unit in Deciduous Stands

Slugeň¹,

Peniaško²,

Messingerová³

et al. 2014

Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun.

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The aim of the presented paper was to determine the productivity of a John Deere 1070D harvester in deciduous coppices of Quercus petraea and Fagus sylvatica, in thinnings over 50 years of age. The research area was located in Tribeč mountain ridge, western Slovakia. The terrain incline did not exceed 20%. The productivity of the harvester in oak stands was 9.97 m .PMH −1 (productive machine hour). The productivity of the harvester was infl uenced by a large portion of passes of the harvester, which constituted 23.47% of the time of the operating cycle. The large number of passes was caused by the fact that the operator did not respect the technologic process and a high portion of tree extraction (8.45%). Furthermore the productivity was decreased by frequent failures of the machine and downtimes, which could be prevented by proper and regular maintenance. The productivity in beech stands was 6.36 m .PMH −1 with downtimes included. Lower productivity was caused by the numerous and thick branches and frequent presence of trees with multiple tree tops, ergo unsuitable structure of the stand. Absence of a worker with a chainsaw was considered to be a disadvantage, because this worker is o en a necessity when harvesters operate in deciduous stands.Keywords: forest harvester, forwarder, performance, deciduous stand, Broadleaved thinnings INRODUCTIONAt present ecologization and scientifi c development is necessary in every fi eld, including forestry. In logging the former is ensured by application of integrated technologies, mostly by employing multioperational machinery. Although harvester units (harvester + forwarder) are more expensive in comparison with the classical technology, we need to take the added value of lower damage to the remaining stand, which will show in better assortment quality in the main harvest, into account. We should also take the health of forests into account. This is nowadays, when the share of incidental felling is more than 60% (Zelená správa, 2010), interesting. Application of this technology in the deciduous stands carries additional demands on the quality of the exploitation's management and technological preparation of the logging process with emphasis on the selection of appropriate stands. To enable a correct decision on which stand is appropriate and which is not for this technology. It is necessary to create a framework based on empirical data from actual harvests. The aim of this paper is to determine the productive parameters of harvesters in deciduous stands of Quercus petraea and Fagus sylvatica in thinnings over 50 years. Based on results of our measurements it is possible to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the applied technology in context of selected logging practice. We can then use these measurements in future planning of harvest-silviculture measures with use of harvester technology.

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Impact and productivity of harvesting while retaining young understorey spruces in final cutting of downy birch (Betula pubescens)

Cited by 22 publications

References 13 publications

From useless thickets to valuable resource? – Financial performance of downy birch management on drained peatlands

From useless thickets to valuable resource? – Financial performance of downy birch management on drained peatlands

Evaluation of Salvage Logging Productivity and Costs in Windthrown Norway Spruce-Dominated Forests

Productivity of a John Deere Harvester Unit in Deciduous Stands

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