Methodology of Calculating the Number of Trees Based on ALS Data for Forestry Applications for the Area of Samławki Forest District

Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) is a technology often used to study forest areas. The main area of application of ALS in forests is collecting data to determine the height of individual trees and entire stands, tree density and stand biomass. The content of the ALS data is also classified, i.e., registered objects are identified, including the species affiliation of individual trees. Important information for forest districts includes other parameters related to the structure and share of stands and the number of trees in the forest district. The main goal of this study was to propose the new ALS data processing methodology for detecting single trees in the Samławki Forest District. The idea of the proposed methodology is to indicate a free and accessible solution for any user (at least in Poland). This new ALS data processing methodology contributes to research on the use of ALS data in forest districts to maintain up-to-date and accurate stand statistics. This methodology was based on free data from the geoportal.gov.pl portal and free software, which allowed to minimize the costs of preparing data for the needs of forestry activities. In cooperation with the Samławki Forest District, the proposed methodology was used to detect the number and heights of trees for two forest addresses 13b and 30a, and then to calculate the volume of stands. As a result, the volume of the analyzed stands was calculated, obtaining values differing from the nominal ones included in the FMP (Forest Management Plan) by about 25% and 5%, respectively, for larch and oak.

The damage caused by wind in middle-aged Scots pine stands on permanent thinning experimental plots

In July 2002, the very strong hurricane appeared in northern Poland, which caused destruction of forest cover of area more than 10,000 ha. The permanent thinning research plot in a 53-year-old pine stand located in Myszyniec forest district (150 km north of Warsaw) was lying on the edge of damaged area. The following treatments were tested on this plot: 1) control plot (without thinning); 2) schematic cut in 20-year-old stand, selective thinning to 40 years, then thinning from below; 3) schematic cut in 20-year-old stand, then selective thinning; 4) selective thinning in young stand (20–40 years), then thinning from below and 5) selective thinning all the time. A significant part of this plot was completely destroyed and in the other part of the plot, some trees survived. A small part of the plot resisted the wind attack. An analysis of the amount of destroyed trees (measured by basal area) showed no differences between particular silvicultural treatments. The level of damage differed between particular parts of the plot. Another plot located in Ostrów Mazowiecka forest district (100 km NE of Warsaw) with the same thinning treatments was touched by heavy wind in July 2011 when the stand was 62 years old. Unlike the hurricane of 2002, this storm did not destroy the experimental plot which was located outside the zone of heaviest calamity. Therefore, damage on this plot had point and group character. Although on particular measurement units, share of broken or fallen trees did not exceed 10% of total basal area, it can be observed that the lowest level of damage was noticed on plots with selective thinning in young age and thinning from below in older stand.

Can standardisation of the unit costs of wood extraction be applied in the financial system of the State Forests?

The paper presents a method for grouping forest districts that are characterised by similar natural and forest conditions and the results of standardisation of wood extraction costs for forest districts and regional directorates of the State Forests. The adopted standard costs referred to the costs which determine the reasonable level of costs necessary to perform a specific management task in the given natural, forest and economic conditions of forest districts. Forest districts were grouped based on the forest habitat types and the land diversity index (Wtri), which were determined with statistical methods to be the factors that shape wood extraction costs. In order to determine the standard unit costs of wood extraction, source materials for the year 2017 have been used, which had been obtained from the State Forests Information System for all forest districts in the country. The method of standardising wood extraction unit costs on the basis of forest district groups with similar natural and forest conditions was reduced in 2017 to the designation of eight uniform forest district groups in terms of forest habitat type structure and Wtri index. Standard unit costs of wood extraction, determined on the basis of the methodology presented in the paper, should be used in the State Forests’ financial system.

Community-based forest management in the forest District of Kediri: cultivation of pineapple and turmeric under forest stands

Community-based forest management (CBFM) is a forest management system that is carried out by communities and forest companies with a mutual benefit principle.One of them is to bring benefits to the community from the plants cultivated. Each combination of plants yields a different income.The research aims (a) to calculate the profit of pineapple and turmeric cultivation under forest stands in the Forest District of Kediri, (b) to calculate the profit sharing between communities and companies, and (c) the value of forest product fees of pineapple and turmeric. Data were collected through observation and interviews and employ benefit-cost analysis. Shared profit was calculated based on cooperation agreements and the fee was calculated based on the prevailing tariff. The results of the study showed (1) the profit of the pineapple business was IDR 18,800,000 per ha per season, of which IDR 12,635,000 was for the community, IDR 5,415,000 was for the company’s profit share IDR 750,000 was for forest product fees. (2) the profit of the turmeric business was IDR 13.600.000 per ha per season, of which IDR 9,205,000 was for the community, IDR 3,945,000 was for the company profit share, and IDR 450,000 was for forest product fees.

Peculiarities of growth, development and climate-stabilizing significance of pine plantations of the Ukrainian Carpathians

Peculiarities of growth and development of pine forest plantations in the Ukrainian Carpathians by forestry districts: Precarpathian, Mountain Carpathian and Transcarpathian plains and foothills are determined. Mathematical dependences of pine growth and development on age, height and diameter are offered. According to the obtained mathematical empirical dependences, it was established that Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) grows and develops better in the Mountain Carpathian forest district. In the Mountain Carpathian Forestry County, the growth of pine is dominated by 2% for the Precarpathian forest district, and in Transcarpathian plains and foothills by 1%. By completeness in the Gorge of Cocarpathian forestry County, the diameter of the pine is higher than the Carpathian forest county on the 3%, and the Transcarpathian plains and the foothills — 1%. Using the Microsoft Excel data analysis package, correlation matrices were constructed and regression and variance analysis of such indicators as: age, height, diameter, phytomass — wood, bark, and crown was performed. Mathematical equations were obtained, which made it possible to establish the biological productivity of Pinus sylvestris L. Using the obtained empirical equations according to the methods of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, 2015), G. Matthews (1993) and I.Ya. Liepa (1980) established the carbon-absorbing and oxygen-forming capacity of pine tree plantations at the age of 70 on an area of 1 ha. It is determined that on the area of 1 ha pine plantations absorb the most carbon — 88.9 tons, and produce oxygen — 262.2 tons in the Mountain Carpathian Forestry District, in the Precarpathian Forestry District 76.0 tons of carbon and 224.1 tons of oxygen, in the Transcarpathian plains and foothills Scots pine absorbs 69.5 tons of carbon and produces 204.9 tons of oxygen. The amount of CO2 emissions into the environment in the conditions of the Ukrainian Carpathians is analyzed, it was established that pine forests reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32%.

Multivariate Analysis of the Brinell Hardness of Silver Birch (Betula pendula Roth.) Wood in Poland

An analysis was undertaken of the Brinell hardness of silver birch wood and its dependence on stand location, tree age, tree thickness and forest habitat type, and the interactions between these factors. Wood was obtained from 12 forest districts throughout Poland, from trees aged approximately 30, 50, and 70 years. A total of 51 study plots was established, from which 306 trees were taken. Hardness was measured on three surfaces (transverse, radial, and tangential sections) for 4777 samples, giving a total of 14,331 measurements. It was shown that the hardness of silver birch wood in Poland is significantly influenced by location, tree age, tree thickness, and habitat type, and by interactions between those factors. Habitat type was not shown to affect radial hardness, except in the case of Giżycko forest district. For the whole of the analysed material, the mean hardness on a transverse section was calculated as 66.26 MPa, corresponding to a very hard wood on Mörath’s scale, whereas the values for the longitudinal sections (radial 44.06 MPa, tangential 44.02 MPa) correspond to a soft wood.

Planktonic communities in a small post-peat reservoir (Ustka Forest District, Poland)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the present state of a small (area of 0.2 ha), shallow (mean depth of 2 m) and approximately 30-year-old post-peat reservoir located in Bruskowskie Bagno, a Baltic raised mire in northern Poland. The study was conducted during all seasons of the year (August 2019–July 2020). The reservoir was characterised by a yellow to brown water colour, low pH (5.4) and quite low conductivity (40.4 μS cm-1), which are the main features of dystrophic water bodies. Similar to natural, dystrophic lakes and ponds, the phytoplankton was mainly composed of mixotrophic species like Dinobryon sp. and Gonyostomum semen. The only numerous non-flagellate group within the phytoplankton was desmids, which indicated that the water was influenced by the mire. The reservoir was characterised by a high abundance of ciliates (annual mean of 55.6 cells ml-1) and a very high abundance of rotifers (annual mean of 3.72 ind. ml-1). Among ciliates, the most important were prostomatids, accounting for 53% of the mean annual ciliate abundance. The results of our study indicate that artificial, approximately 30-year-old, post-peat reservoir resembled a natural dystrophic water body.