Estimating costs of salvage logging for large-scale burned forest lands: A case study on Turkey's Mediterranean coast

Different forest fires causing different degrees of effects occur in fire-sensitive forests due to various reasons such as climate change.Useful as well as harmful aspects of forest fires are a multi-disciplinary research topic.Geographical information systems(GIS)and remote sensing(RS)methods offer a number of benefits for researchers and operators in the field of forest fire research.The present study analyses timber pricing based on forest contractor demands of post-salvage logging processes.The effect of timber obtained from compartment units on producers’pricing policy was modelled.Sapadere forest fire area(2500 ha)located in Antalya in Turkey was selected as the main study area.Topography parameters(aspect,slope and slope position),stand types(diameter class and crown closure),and burn severity were analyzed together using GIS and R software packages.A multi-linear regression model(R^(2)=0.752)demonstrated that factors that had the most impact on pricing were slope position,aspect,stand age,crown closure and burn severity.This model can be used to estimate salvage logging prices in Calabrian pine(Pinus brutia Ten.)stands with similar parameters.Forest administrators and contractors may readily address the unit price of timber by estimating approximate costs in a given forest area for which they are going to bid.This will help reduce operational planning times of harvesting procedures in burned stands.

An Economic Analysis of Incorporating Biomass Thinning into Loblolly Pine Plantations in Alabama

The objective of this study was to perform breakeven analysis of a stumpage biomass price that would induce landowners to modify their management regimes to incorporate an early thinning for biomass products. Following the biomass thinning, traditional harvest of pulpwood and timber products would be conducted. The feasibility analysis of incorporating biomass thinning as a potential product for a biomass market was examined for Piedmont and Coastal Plain site scenarios in Alabama. We compared our proposed biomass thinning regime with a traditional management regime. In the Piedmont site scenario, the minimum biomass breakeven prices were lower than current pulpwood prices ranging from $4.75 to $7.87/ton depending on the discount rates applied (5%, 7%, and 9%). However, the minimum breakeven prices were higher than pulpwood prices at all discount rates for the Coastal Plain site scenario. A benefit of early thinning improved sawtimber proportion in the final harvest of products based on PTEADA 4.0 simulations. Increases in sawtimber prices allow for lower biomass breakeven prices. Minimum biomass breakeven prices decreased by 13%, 30% and 70% when timber price increases were 20%, 50% and 100%, respectively, under a 7% discount rate for the Piedmont site scenario.

Algorithm Derivation of Winter Facies Wind Protection of Shelterbelts Structural Parameters and Wind Permeability Coefficient

To solve the problem in the absence of permeability algorithm in China’s forestry industry standard "Technical Specification for Oasis Shelter Belt Construction(LY/T 1682—2006)",by defining and calculating the forest structural parameters-porosityβ,stumpage surface porosity S",stumpage volume porosity V’,aboveground surface area density C,aboveground bulk density W,the relations among these structural parameters and their relations with wind permeability coefficientα,shelterbelt width D and mean diameter of branch d were calculated,which is expressed as:W=V’/D=dC/4 =dS’/4D=-πdlnβ/4D = -0.1πZdlnα/D.It is proofed that the main structural parameters have homogeneity and different structural parameters are of inheritance and consistency on the nature,there is no exclusivity in the strict sense,and is convertible under certain conditions,which is convenient for evaluating the wind-resistance effect of shelterbelt. A set of computational formulas for wind effect evaluation of farmland shelterbelt in dry and sandy area in northern China is derived.