Trafficability Prediction Using Depth-to-Water Maps: the Status of Application in Northern and Central European Forestry

Purpose of Review Mechanized logging operations with ground-based equipment commonly represent European production forestry but are well-known to potentially cause soil impacts through various forms of soil disturbances, especially on wet soils with low bearing capacity. In times of changing climate, with shorter periods of frozen soils, heavy rain fall events in spring and autumn and frequent needs for salvage logging, forestry stakeholders face increasingly unfavourable conditions to conduct low-impact operations. Thus, more than ever, planning tools such as trafficability maps are required to ensure efficient forest operations at reduced environmental impact. This paper aims to describe the status quo of existence and implementation of such tools applied in forest operations across Europe. In addition, focus is given to the availability and accessibility of data relevant for such predictions. Recent Findings A commonly identified method to support the planning and execution of machine-based operations is given by the prediction of areas with low bearing capacity due to wet soil conditions. Both the topographic wetness index (TWI) and the depth-to-water algorithm (DTW) are used to identify wet areas and to produce trafficability maps, based on spatial information. Summary The required input data is commonly available among governmental institutions and in some countries already further processed to have topography-derived trafficability maps and respective enabling technologies at hand. Particularly the Nordic countries are ahead within this process and currently pave the way to further transfer static trafficability maps into dynamic ones, including additional site-specific information received from detailed forest inventories. Yet, it is hoped that a broader adoption of these information by forest managers throughout Europe will take place to enhance sustainable forest operations.

Implementation of Forestry Best Management Practices and Sediment Delivery in Three Regions of North Carolina and Virginia

Forestry best management practices (BMPs) were created in response to the Clean Water Act of 1972 to protect water quality from nonpoint source pollutants such as sediment. The objectives of this study were to quantify the relationship between BMP implementation and sediment delivery on 58 recently harvested sites across three physiographic regions and five forest operational features. BMP implementation rates, erosion rates, sediment delivery ratios, and sediment masses were calculated at 183 silt fences functioning as sediment traps adjacent to streams in Virginia and North Carolina. Major access system features, including stream crossings, skid trails, and haul roads, typically delivered the greatest sediment mass to streams and had the highest sediment delivery ratios on a per feature basis. When accounting for sediment mass delivered and area in each feature, harvest area accounted for approximately 70% of sediment delivered to streams for all regions. Most features had proportionally higher erosion rates than sediment masses collected at silt fences, indicating that most erosion generated by forest operations is being trapped by either harvest areas or streamside management zones. For most features and regions, as BMP implementation increased, erosion rates and the sediment masses delivered to streams decreased. Study Implications Forestry best management practices (BMPs) are designed to mitigate the amount of sediment entering streams and affecting other aquatic features as a result of forest operations. In this study, a significant inverse relationship between BMP implementation and the amount of sediment delivered to streams was found, indicating that increasing levels of BMP implementation reduces sediment delivery. Most of the erosion caused by forest operations is being trapped before it is delivered to streams. This research highlights the importance of leaving streamside management zones along streams and minimizing the extent of bare soil and area in temporary and permanent roads.

Forest roads planning and management in terms of Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework

Adaptation to climate change as well as the increasing demand for a new approach in post fire socioecological resilience and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in forest management requires a different way of thinking of forest roads planning, in terms of Social-Ecological Systems (SES) Framework. Social-ecological systems are complex, adaptive and emphasize that social and ecological systems are linked through feedback mechanisms, and that both display resilience and complexity. In this frame, it is important to clarify the considerable dynamic elements for the future development of forest roads planning and management that promote natural, socio-economic, and cultural well-being. The main objective of this paper is to identify important new challenges concerning the forest roads planning and management and to propose a conceptual paradigm towards SES in a continuing changing climate, social needs and environmental conditions. Hence, a newly developed concept under the prism of SES forest roads planning, is presented. Eight key performance areas to ensure the forest operations as SES include: (i) nature’s services; (ii) ergonomics; (iii) environmental economics; (iv) quality optimization of products and production based on NBS; (v) the use as evacuation routes; (vi) access to renewable energy sources; (vii) people and society; and (viii) resilience. The conceptual frame of SES provides a close to nature perspective which addresses the ongoing and foreseeable challenges that the global forest ecosystems face, based on harmonized forest operations performance across economic, environmental and social sustainability. In this new concept, we demonstrate how these eight interconnected principles interact to each other and are related to forest operations achieving Nature Based Solutions in forest management and climate change mitigation.

Methods of Protection Forest Soils during Logging Operations (Review)

Public opinion has become increasingly critical of current logging methods and technologies, and there is a demand for standards to guide the operations of environmentally impactful industries. For many years, numerous researchers have studied the impact of logging on forest soils, revealing that there is a high risk of damaging forest soil during forest operations and terrain transport. Here we analyse and review a total of 105 publications in this area. This large body of work demonstrates the scientific interest that this field has attracted. Despite this, important areas of uncertainty concerning the impact of forest harvesting still remain. In particular, changes in soil conditions can affect soil properties in ways that are not well understood, with possible impacts on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils as well as the structure of the soil cover. While it is difficult to fully eliminate the negative impact of forest operations on forest soils, their adverse environmental consequences should be minimised because soil plays a vital role in tree regeneration and helps determine the productivity of future forest stands. Some of the most frequently cited measures and effective technological solutions to minimize damage to forest soils involve taking terrain and different technical solutions into account when organising logging operations. Potentially helpful technical solutions include selecting machines and mechanisms suitable for the site conditions, using larger and/or low-pressure tyres, using tyre pressure control, using anti-skid tracks, using track belts, meliorating wet areas, and using logging machinery incorporating global positioning systems and geographic information systems. Planning measures that can help minimize soil damage include choosing a suitable wood harvesting system and technology, accounting for seasonal factors when planning logging operations, planning networks of roads and trails in advance, leaving wood residues or mats on soil surface, training forest specialists, and reducing the number of machine passes over skid trails and strip roads. Despite active interest in applying sparing methods of wood harvesting, uptake of measures designed to reduce negative impacts on forest soils after logging has been limited. This may be due to a lack of scientific and technical information and the high cost of implementing best management practices. Moreover, economic factors and production plans may require wood harvesting throughout the year, irrespective of conditions. For citation: Ilintsev A.S., Nakvasina E.N., Högbom L. Methods of Protection Forest Soils during Logging Operations (Review). Lesnoy Zhurnal [Russian Forestry Journal], 2021, no. 5, pp. 92–116. DOI: 10.37482/0536-1036-2021-5-92-116

How Will COVID-19 Change Forestry Education? A Study of US Forest Operations Instructors

The COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic affected nearly every aspect of higher education. It has been particularly disruptive to forest operations courses that rely heavily on field experiences. Dodson and Blinn (2021) surveyed US forest operations instructors at four-year institutions granting SAF-accredited forestry degrees to understand how they rapidly modified courses during spring 2020 to accommodate a move to fully remote instruction. Through an online survey and interviews, a follow-up study was conducted to understand how courses were modified when instructors had time to prepare and what, if any, of those modifications are likely to be retained upon a return to in-person instruction. Two main themes emerged from the survey and interviews: instructors will expand the range of tools and methods used to convey course content, and they have a renewed respect for the importance of field experience and personal interactions. Study Implications COVID-19 has affected academic instruction and workforce readiness. A broadening of instructors’ digital skill sets and resources, pedagogical modifications, and a renewed appreciation of field experiences and interactions with students will have a positive influence on instruction in the future. The professional preparation of graduates suffered during the pandemic because of a marked decrease in field time and personal interaction between and among faculty and students. Employers need to anticipate that additional training in field methods and application of forestry concepts to real-world situations may be necessary for new employees who were educated during the pandemic.

Carbon smart forestry under climate change

Carbon smart forestry under climate change In the fight against climate change, forestry needs to contribute to carbon sink and a low carbon-emitting society. Forests sequester carbon and simultaneously release carbon during forest operations. Our ambition is to achieve an integrated picture of carbon sink and source; to adapt forest management for different climate and management regimes. CARE4C strives to develop carbon-smart forest management systems for adaptation and mitigation in view of climate change. The CARE4C Project runs from January 2018 to December 2022.

Značilnosti opravljanja sečnje in spravila v zasebnih gozdovih v Sloveniji

A survey conducted in 2019 covered 544 randomly selected forest owners. More than half of the forest owners own a forest estate ranging from 1 to 4.99 ha. For 62 % of respondents, the primary purpose of forest management is to harvest wood for their own needs. In 2015%2019, 71 % of respondents carried out felling and skidding in their forests. In total, approximately 50,000 m3 of wood was felled (24 m3 /ha or 141 m3 per holding). The largest volumes were felled by private owners with small forest holdings (up to 0.99 ha), on average 41.4 m3 /ha. There were statistically significant differences between the size of the forest holding and the average volume of annual felling. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences in felling intensity between male and female forest owners. The survey found that professional contractors carried out 41 % of felling and harvesting. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the size of the private forest estate and the method of performing forest operations. The results showed that the largest share of private owners who carry out all felling and skidding with the help of hired contractors is in the size class of forest holdings from 5 to 9.99 ha. The study did not confirm statistically significant differences in the intensity of felling between male and female private forest owners.

Enhancing Working Posture Comparability in Forest Operations by the Use of Similarity Metrics

Forest operations are well known in exposing their workers to many risk factors, and they often require ergonomic interventions for improvement. In this regard, evaluation of biomechanical exposure has gained a lot of interest due to the concerning scientific results repeatedly showing the association between poor working postures and the development of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Due to its simplicity, easy understanding, cost affordability, and the capability to evaluate the whole body, the OWAS method has been commonly used in postural evaluation of forestry work, being able to map the experimental observations in a final action category, in the form of a postural risk index (PRI), which helps designing or taking actions for ergonomic improvement. However, postural comparability is both relevant and important when, for instance, one tries to improve a work method or to introduce a new technology. Unfortunately, the PRI metric holds a rather low capability to characterize the changes brought by such factors in terms of postural dissimilarity or similarity, making it difficult to accurately follow the changes. For this reason, we introduce in the postural analysis, test and discuss herein two commonly used similarity metrics as specific to plant sociology and other ecology-related sciences, namely the Sørensen’s quotient of similarity (hereafter QS) and the Canberra metric (hereafter CM); their selection was based on their mathematical capabilities of dealing with data at two resolutions, namely species and individuals. Three case studies were setup to show the differences between QS, CM, and PRI and their usefulness for postural analysis while, for a better understanding, the results were described and discussed by analogy to the living world. As the technology of automating data collection and processing for postural analysis is in progress, the utility of similarity metrics in postural assessment and comparison could be further expanded so as to map a given work sequence in the time domain against best-fit postural profiles. The main conclusion of this study is that the PRI is useful for action-taking while the similarity metrics are useful for pairwise postural change evaluations and comparison.

Optimized locations of landings in forest operations

In recent years, increasing attention has been drawn to improving productivity in logging operations while reducing negative impact on soil and water. The position of landings and extraction routes is crucial in these efforts having a huge impact on sustainable forwarder passages. We propose a two-phase approach to identify the best possible landing locations integrated with log extraction route design. The first phase identifies potential landing zones adjacent to forest roads. It considers practical restrictions such as slopes, stoniness and more. The second phase uses an optimization model to evaluate the potential impact of aggregated zones, selecting one or two complete landings. This model is a relaxation of a formulation for an extraction route design; it is used to minimise a weighted objective of the total driving distance, avoid steep terrains and impact on soil and water. The proposed approach has been tested on harvest areas in Southern Sweden. The results not only show the potential to identify feasible landing zones but also identify a shorter driving distance and hence lower contractual cost with optimized positioning. The possibility to increase efficiency in forest operations by performing scenario analysis and thus forwarding distances with different landing sites is among the results.