Multi-functional forest machine modernization

A new layout of a multifunctional logging machine, created on the basis of the Amkodor 2631 forwarder by retrofitting its trailer with a caterpillar mechanism, is considered. A diagram of the designed layout of a multifunctional forestry machine is presented. Preliminary calculation of the optimal contact patch of the retrofitted module of the designed machine layout is presented. The description of possible technical solutions during its operation is stated. The proposed layout allows you to expand the technical and operational indicators of the forestry machine.

The Benefits of Local Forest Recreation in Austria and Its Dependence on Naturalness and Quietude

The benefits of local recreation in the State-owned forests in Austria (i.e., about 15% of all Austrian forests) are ascertained in this paper. A representative survey of households dealt with their local recreation, perceptions of and disturbances in forests. Total annual benefits of local recreation activities in State-owned forests, such as walking, hiking, cycling and wildlife observation, amount to about EUR 500 per person. Based on the respondents’ valuation of the degree of naturalness and quietude, as well as the options of forest management, the current management increases recreation benefits by EUR 13 per person through increased naturalness, and EUR 1.30 per person and year through increased quietude. Emphasis was placed on the benefits of the current management regime of multifunctional forestry compared to the benefits of a baseline scenario that was drafted specifically for this study, assuming higher levels of lumbering up to the limits allowed by existing nature conservation and forestry laws. The results suggest that forest management has a higher impact on recreational benefits through the naturalness of forests than through reducing artificial noise. A more sustainable forest management could further increase the benefits people derive from both naturalness and lower levels of artificial noise.

Multifunctional Forestry and Interaction with Site Quality

Several studies have shown the economic value of various ecosystem services provided by the forest. However, the economic value of how site-specific ecological conditions interact with other functions provided by the forest, such as timber value and carbon sequestration, has been less studied. As a result, this paper constructs a numerical discrete dynamic optimization model to estimate the economic value of site quality, taking into account its interaction with timber value and carbon sequestration, in Swedish forests. Analytical results show that the inclusion of the interaction of site quality with forest growth affects the optimal volume of harvest per year, compared to the case without consideration of site quality. The empirical results show that net present value, when considering timber values plus carbon sequestration and site quality interaction, is higher than the case where only timber and carbon sequestration were considered. However, the calculated net present value is sensitive to, in particular, the price of carbon sequestration and discount rate.

Aspects of Forest Management in the Maintaining of Forest Environment

Forest management is a scientific discipline designed to develop methods of maintaining forest areas and to ensure the sustainable development of forest resources in terms and conditions of multifunctional forestry. This is a branch of practical forestry which deals with inventorying and assessing the state of forests, defines economic tasks and draws up a program of nature conservation for forest districts. The paper presents legal conditions related to the concept of forest management plan, as well as issues related to the area division, planning economic indications and their role for the forest environment. Authors present a forecast of impact of a forest management plan on the forest environment and the Natura 2000 sites.

Der Schweizer Wald und seine Biodiversität: LiDAR ermöglicht neue Waldstrukturanalysen

The Swiss forest and its biodiversity: LiDAR allows for novel forest structure assessments Availability of comprehensive biodiversity maps and standlevel habitat management recommendations to forest services is often limited, despite the need for such information for multifunctional forestry. Here, we combined forest structural parameters derived from nation-wide available Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data with parameters describing climate, topography and soil pH, to analyse and spatially predict the species richness of different taxa on two different scales. Vascular plants, bryophytes and land snails were analysed on the stand scale (900 m2), where we also identified target variables for habitat management by using data from the National Forest Inventory. On the landscape scale (1 km2), we analysed vascular plants, butterflies and breeding birds with a tight association to forests. LiDAR-derived forest structure parameters were consistently important predictors of species richness across taxa. Species richness patterns tended to be taxon-specific with low spatial congruence across taxa. The habitat quality for many forest land snail species, for example, increased with increasing proportions of trees from the genera Fraxinus, Tilia, Ulmus and Acer, or with increasing overstory cover and deadwood volume. Many butterfly species, on the other hand, responded positively to a heterogeneous understory. This study shows that important structural parameters for forest biodiversity can be derived area-wide and across large regions by using LiDAR. The growing availability of LiDAR data thus provides very useful information for conserving and promoting biodiversity in multifunctional forestry.