INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF MOTOR SAWS WITH AN ELECTRIC DRIVE IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS OF INTENSIVE FORESTRY

Проведены экспериментальные исследования оценки производительности чистого пиления в зимний период в условиях учебно-опытного лесхоза УГKТУ в пос. Северка. Производительность чистого пиления определялась в процессе раскряжевки осиновых образцов с помощью аккумуляторной пилы STIHL MSA 220 со съемным аккумулятором AP 300S. В соответствии с планированием эксперимента были получены данные о среднем времени пропила tср с фиксацией среднего диаметра пропила Dср. После обработки результатов эксперимента были найдены значения средней производительности чистого пиления Пчп. В качестве источника питания применялся аккумулятор AP 300S. В результате расчетов для бесперебойной работы при 7-часовой рабочей смене рабочему потребуется 4 заряженных аккумулятора. Для более эффективной работы предлагается использовать современные ранцевые аккумуляторы, которые устанавливаются в специальном ортопедическом жилете с наплечной и поясной фиксацией на спине работника. На основе результатов собственных исследований авторами предложен альтернативный источник электрического тока в условиях лесного мастерского участка. В качестве приоритетных для условий Урала можно рекомендовать солнечные панели или термогенераторы, работающие на основе принципа Пельтье. Наиболее эффективным зарядным устройством для восстановления работоспособности аккумуляторных батарей может быть рекомендована энергетическая тепловая колонна, оснащенная электронными термогенераторами. The performance of clean sawing was determined during the bucking of aspen samples using a STIHL MSA 220 battery saw with a removable AP 300S battery. In accordance with the planning of the experiment, data were obtained on the average time of cutting tsr with the fixation of the average diameter of the cut Dsr. After processing the results of the experiment, the values of the average productivity of pure sawn Ppp were obtained. The AP 300S battery was used as a power source. As a result of calculations, for uninterrupted operation during a 7-hour work shift, the worker will need 4 charged batteries. For more efficient work, it is proposed to use modern backpack batteries, which are installed in a special orthopedic vest with shoulder and waist fixation on the employee’s back. Based on the results of their own research, the authors proposed an alternative source of electric current in the conditions of a forest workshop site. As a priority for the conditions of the Urals, we can recommend solar panels or thermal generators operating on the basis of the Peltier principle. An energy heat column equipped with electronic thermogenerators can be recommended as the most effective charger for restoring the operability of batteries.

Improving the Efficiency of Multifunctional Machines for Intensive Forestry

The method of intensification of forestry by means of integrated mechanization of forestry and logging operations is considered. It is proposed to use manipulator-type machines, such as harvesters, forwarders and excavators, as a technical basis. Improving the efficiency of manipulator-type machines can be achieved through using a set of optional interchangeable equipment. This will allow to create crops by planting seedlings with open and closed root systems, to carry out soil cultivation, seed sowing, thinning of young plants and to carry out pest control, mulching of skidding tracks after major work in the logging site, as well as earthworks during the construction of forest roads. The use of optional interchangeable equipment transforms a manipulator-type machine into a multifunctional machine. It has been shown that the purchase of optional equipment for forestry and logging is a cost-effective investment even for a small amount of works. Intensive forestry is primarily based on the measures of mature and overmature stands cutting, forest tending, and reforestation. Several technological schemes with the use of the multifunctional machine for felling both in the harvester and feller buncher modes are offered. In the latter option, tree length bucking and branch pruning ensure the concentration of all logging residues at the upper depot and create favorable conditions for their processing into raw material for biofuel production and reduce woodwaste in cutting areas. An option of using small size equipment for hauling trees into the area of operation of a multifunctional machine with an installed harvester head is offered when performing selective felling using wide-strip technology of harvesting. Preliminary preparation of the cutting area with small sized equipment (harvesting of small-sized, dead and fallen trees) is proposed. This will significantly reduce the damage to plantation components and provide a greater degree of preservation of the natural environment during the main work of the multifunctional machine. Its use in the most favorable terms due to the work execution on a quarter-block scheme, reducing the number of downtime due to naturalproduction conditions and the number of relocations and, accordingly, increasing the number of machine hours, will minimize total costs of the range of forestry and harvesting works.

Forest multifunctionality is not resilient to intensive forestry

There is ample evidence that intensive management of ecosystems causes declines in biodiversity as well as in multiple ecosystem services, i.e., in multifunctionality. However, less is known about the permanence and reversibility of these responses. To gain insight into whether multifunctionality can be sustained under intensive management, we developed a framework building on the concept of resilience: a system’s ability to avoid displacement and to return or transform to a desired state. We applied it to test the ability of forest multifunctionality to persist during and recover from intensive management for timber production in a boreal forest. Using forest growth simulations and multiobjective optimization, we created alternative future paths where the forest was managed for maximal timber production, for forest multifunctionality, or first maximal timber production and then multifunctionality. We show that forest multifunctionality is substantially diminished under intensive forestry and recovers the slower, the longer intensive forestry has been continued. Intensive forestry thus not only reduces forest multifunctionality but hinders its recovery should management goals change, i.e., weakens its resilience. The results suggest a need to adjust ecosystem management according to long-term sustainability goals already today.

Keeping pace with forestry: Multi-scale conservation in a changing production forest matrix

The multi-scale approach to conserving forest biodiversity has been used in Sweden since the 1980s, a period defined by increased reserve area and conservation actions within production forests. However, two thousand forest-associated species remain on Sweden’s red-list, and Sweden’s 2020 goals for sustainable forests are not being met. We argue that ongoing changes in the production forest matrix require more consideration, and that multi-scale conservation must be adapted to, and integrated with, production forest development. To make this case, we summarize trends in habitat provision by Sweden’s protected and production forests, and the variety of ways silviculture can affect biodiversity. We discuss how different forestry trajectories affect the type and extent of conservation approaches needed to secure biodiversity, and suggest leverage points for aiding the adoption of diversified silviculture. Sweden’s long-term experience with multi-scale conservation and intensive forestry provides insights for other countries trying to conserve species within production landscapes.