Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada

We used models to project forest carbon stocks for a series of harvesting scenarios for 29 boreal forest management units totalling 23.3 million ha in Ontario, Canada. Scenarios evaluated for 2020 to 2050 ranged from a no harvesting option to annual harvesting of 2% of the total merchantable volume present in 2020. For each scenario, we estimated the following carbon quantities: (a) forest ecosystem carbon stocks, (b) sum of carbon stocks in forest ecosystem and harvested wood products (HWP) minus emissions associated with HWP production and decomposition, and (c) net greenhouse gas (GHG) effects of harvesting estimated as (b) combined with emissions avoided by substituting HWP for non-wood materials. The average of each carbon quantity for 2020 to 2050 was linearly dependent on the annual harvest volume. The developed relationships were used to estimate harvest volumes for which the three carbon quantities would equal equilibrium forest ecosystem carbon stocks for a pre-suppression natural disturbance cycle. These estimates indicate the range of harvest volumes for which resulting carbon stocks would equal or exceed those in an unmanaged forest. Also discussed are possible criteria for determining annual harvest volume.

A Warming World Threatens Colombia’s Coffee Future

Colombia is the second-largest producer of Arabica coffee, but changing climate, soil, and precipitation patterns are already altering the harvest volume, production techniques, and even the taste of coffee.

Harvest volumes and carbon stocks in boreal forests of Ontario, Canada

We used models to project forest carbon stocks for a series of harvesting scenarios for 29 boreal forest management units totalling 23.3 million ha in Ontario, Canada. Scenarios evaluated for 2020 to 2050 ranged from a no harvesting option to annual harvesting of 2% of the total merchantable volume present in 2020. For each scenario, we estimated the following carbon quantities: (a) forest ecosystem carbon stocks, (b) sum of carbon stocks in forest ecosystem and harvested wood products (HWP) minus emissions associated with HWP production and decomposition, and (c) net greenhouse gas (GHG) effects of harvesting estimated as (b) combined with emissions avoided by substituting HWP for non-wood materials. The average of each carbon quantity for 2020 to 2050 was linearly dependent on the annual harvest volume. The developed relationships were used to estimate harvest volumes for which the three carbon quantities would equal equilibrium forest ecosystem carbon stocks for a pre-suppression natural disturbance cycle. These estimates indicate the range of harvest volumes for which resulting carbon stocks would equal or exceed those in an unmanaged forest. Also discussed are possible criteria for determining annual harvest volume.

Using Mixed Integer Goal Programming in Final Yield Harvest Planning: A Case Study from the Mediterranean Region of Turkey

A mixed integer goal programming model is developed to address the regeneration planning problems of even-aged forests in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The unique aspect of the goal programming formulation is to minimize deviations in scheduled wood product volumes and the size of harvest areas within each time period, as these are important goals for the management area. About 98% of the forests in Turkey are considered even-aged, and 2% are uneven-aged. Therefore, an age class method is used for the planning of even-aged forests. For the areas where this method is applied, reaching the optimal age class structure is the first priority. This involves implementing final harvests (clearcuts) to regenerate an amount of forest area into each age class. To meet the local market’s needs, forest enterprises also require the final yield to be fairly equal each year. Further, it is desired that the harvest area (regeneration area) is relatively equal each year, to address operational considerations. A linear goal programming model is developed to address the problem. The minimization of deviations from both the harvest area and harvest volume targets are incorporated as goals in the objective function of the model. Several scenarios are solved using the extended version of Lingo 16. A scenario with weights of 0.8 for area and 0.2 for volume produces the best results. Here, the total deviation for 20 years is 3.8 ha in area and 2889 m3 in volume. In the actual regeneration plan, the area deviation for 10 years is 54.72 ha (6.2% of total regeneration area), and the volume deviation is 20,472 m3 (9.8% of harvest volume). The model described through this study can be developed further and integrated into forest management planning software and processes used for the planning of even-aged forests in the Mediterranean region.

Determining the value of standing timber for harvest planning optimization

Forest managers conducting sustainable forest management are guided by the principles of sustainable use of natural resources, which involve the need for long and short-term planning in organizational units of the State Forests. Plans often differ from reality by the time individual treatments and cuts are to be performed. For economic reasons, it is important to optimize harvest planning, not only focusing on the volume of timber to be harvested, but also the price differences of individual tree species and sort types of wood. The purpose of this study was to present methods evaluating standing timber and to assess their usefulness in optimizing the harvest volume using linear programming. Stands designated to be cut were evaluated using transaction value methods, i.e. “the stumpage value method” M1, the “consumption value” method M2, as well as the net present value (NPV) method M3. The research material was obtained from the State Forests Information System (SILP) for the Marcule Forest District covering the years 2014–2018. The stand values were determined at the beginning and end of the 10-year planning period. We observed that the stand value (standing timber) differed significantly between method M2 as compared to method M1. the value of stands determined by method M3, on the other hand, decreased as the discount rate increased. In the process of optimizing the selection of stands for felling, economic criteria should also be taken into account and this is a direct measure of obtainable standing timber in terms of the cutting possibility in the given planning period. In stands where one species dominates, a simplified method of determining the value (M1) can be used, whereas in stands with significant species diversity, method M2 provides a significantly more accurate value for the cutting timber. However, if harvest volume optimization using linear programming methods is to take longer time periods into account, e.g. 30 years (three 10-year economic planning periods), the most reasonable method for determining the value of stands is the net present value method M3.

Bone Marrow Harvest Volume and CD34+ Cell Count in Pediatric Sibling Donors: A Single Centre Retrospective Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only treatment modality offering cure or long-term survival for many hematologic malignancies, and non-malignant diseases in children. HLA-matched siblings are considered the best donors because of reduced risks of transplant-related complications and better clinical outcome. According to the National Marrow Donor Program Guidelines, the maximum amount of bone marrow harvest is limited to 20ml/kg donor's body weight. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the optimal bone marrow harvest volume in pediatric donors needed to obtain the desired CD34+ cell count. METHODS: We reviewed medical charts of 553 pediatric (age at harvest <18 years) sibling donors who were harvested for bone marrow from Jan 2007 to Dec 2017 at our institution for pediatric (age at infusion < 14 years) transplant naïve recipients in order to examine the volume harvested per donor's weight, the percentage of harvests that reached the minimum desired CD34+ cell count of ≥3.0X10^6 per Kg of recipient weight, harvest related hospitalization days and side effects related to the procedure and the impact of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) priming on CD34 count of harvested bone marrow. RESULTS: 288 out of 553 donors were male. 155 (28%) were below 5 years of age at harvest, 189 (34.2%) were between 5-10 and remaining 209 (37.8%) were 10 years and above, with a median of 8.4 years (range: 0.2-17.9). Primary indication for transplant among 131 (23.7%) of our pediatric recipients were Malignant Disorders, Non-Malignant Disorders in 214 (38.7%) and Primary Immunodeficiency and Histiocytic Disorders in 208 (37.6%). GCSF priming was carried out in 219 (39.6%) donors. The minimum desired CD34+ cell count of ≥3.0X10^6 per Kg of recipient weight was reached in 517 (93.5%) harvests. Post infusion Absolute Neutrophil Counts (ANC) recovery within Day+28 was recorded among 472 (85.4%) of the transplant naïve recipients, while in 72 (13%) cases ANC never recovered and in remaining 9 (1.6%) time to recovery was beyond Day+28. ANC recovery within Day+28 was significantly associated with CD34+ cell dose of ≥3.0X10^6 per Kg of recipient weight (n=441, 93.4% vs. 31, 6.6%; P-Value<0.001). Median CD34+ cells (X10^6) collected per Kg of donor weight were significantly higher among donors younger than 5 years of age when compared to those 10 and beyond (P-Value <0.001) with a median harvested volume of 13.7, 12.0 and 8.3 mL/Kg (P-Value<0.001, Table 1). On the same note, median CD34+ cells collected per donor weight were significantly higher among donors primed with GCSF in contrast to those who did not (6.02 X10^6 vs. 3.1 X10^6, P-value <0.001). 54 (9.8%) of our donors required PRBC transfusion; among whom 34 (63%) were below 5 years of age at harvest, 15 (27.8%) 5-10 years and remaining 5 (9.3%) were 10 and above (P-Value<0.001). 2 (0.5%) donors were hospitalized for four days, 12 (3.2%) for three, 201 (54.3%) for two and 155 (42%) for one day only. No significant side effects were noted among our donor population. CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed that CD34 cell count were significantly higher among younger donors. The use of Higher CD34 cell dose is significantly associated with engraftment. Priming with G-CSF had significant impact on CD34+ cell count. These large data confirm the suggestion that the volume of bone marrow harvested can be decreased among younger donors without significantly changing the overall CD34 cell count. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Greenhouse gas emission effect of suspending slash pile burning in Ontario's managed forests

Ontario has made a commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15, 37, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2020, 2030, and 2050, respectively. Ontario's forest managers can contribute to meeting these targets by implementing changes to forestry practices that either reduce emissions from operations or increase carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems and harvested wood products. We present an analysis of the effects on GHG emissions resulting from suspending the current management practice of slash pile burning (burning harvest residue in the forest without energy recovery). The analysis was performed for each of Ontario's forest management units (FMU) with assumed suspension of slash pile burning for four different periods: 2016–2025, 2016–2050, 2016–2075, and 2016–2100. Annual and cumulative avoided emissions from suspending slash pile burning that would have occurred with current practices were estimated from planned harvest volume and area adjusted to reflect harvesting levels from 1990 to 2009, data on slash pile burning from 2008 to 2013, and emission factors for combustion and decay of wood estimated from the literature. Suspending slash pile burning was estimated to reduce GHG emissions by year 2100 in all four no-burn scenarios, with cumulative GHG emission reductions estimated at -0.7, -4.5, -14.1, and -33.4 Mt CO2eq (million tonnes of CO2 equivalent), respectively. At the same time, suspending slash pile burning for the above-listed four periods resulted in losses of forest area by 2100 estimated at 7200, 24000, 40800, and 57800, respectively. The accuracy of these projections is affected by uncertainty in estimates of several components of the analysis, of which the primary one is the historical rate of slash pile burning. Improvement in measuring and reporting procedures is needed to obtain more reliable estimates of the amount of slash burned.

Spatially constrained harvest scheduling for strip allocation under Moore and Neumann neighbourhood adjacency

Adjacency constraints can be represented by Moore or Neumann neighbourhood adjacency, depending upon how candidate neighbours are assigned at corners adjacent to the target cell. Considering Moore and Neumann neighbourhood adjacency, we investigate the effect of strip cutting under a shelterwood management scheme with adjacency requirements among strips. We compare the effect of creating a strip window within a management unit with the same spatially constrained problem without a strip window. The management scheme comparison is considered as a spatially constrained harvest scheduling problem, which is solved with CPLEX software using an exact solution method. Our experimental analysis shows that the inclusion of additional spatial consideration by strip window creation in the management scheme results in a reduction of the total harvest volume by almost 13% under Moore neighbourhood adjacency, while it has a small effect under Neumann neighbourhood adjacency.