Results of wheeling tests deliver new scientific evidence: brief look to results from France

When planning and undertaking logging operations in the plains, French forest companies are often confronted with multiple challenges related to soil bearing capacity and respective sensitiveness towards compaction and rutting. Soil-risk mitigation requires strong engagement from both forest managers and logging operators, from early and macro planning to the final site evaluation after haulage. The need for knowledge-based and open dialog is present every step of the way, in addition …

Diving deeper to precision forestry: new results of economical unit size out now!

Precision forestry as a practice to plan and implement forest operations has been discussed and studied a lot lately, but is it economically wise thing to do? Our latest deliverable about precision forestry gathers together results from different sites where it was applied. The simulations done in the study pointed out that the precision forestry option where the forest stand may be planted with two different species is a very …

New EFFORTE newsletter is out!

New EFFORTE newsletter (issue 2(/2018) is finally out! The issue focusses on silviculture and silvicultural operations, and also some preliminary results and discussions from the latest project meeting in Zürich are presented. Get also your calendar ready and mark the dates of EFFORTE final seminar to it – welcome to Helsinki on 17-19 June 2019! More information will be shared on the website during the spring. Click here to see …

Preliminary results and final steps of the project discussed in Zürich

EFFORTE project group held a meeting at Agroscope research institute in Zürich, Switzerland on November 2018. Year 2019 will be the final year for the project, as it approaches its end on August. Next year will be also a very busy one, since most of the results are to come and there is a lot to communicate – both to academia and to industry. At the meeting all work packages …

Sprout control of hardwoods by uprooting

Vigorous regrowth of deciduous stump sprouts after early pre-commercial thinning (PCT) causes a need of later pre-commercial thinning in order to ensure better growing conditions for more valuable coniferous trees. Uprooting improves efficiency of young stand management by preventing sprouting and minimizing the number of repeated operations. Dilemma of repeated cutting in young stand management Traditionally young stand management is done motor-manually by clearing saw in two phases: early PCT …

What is boom-corridor thinning (BCT) and what added values could it bring to forestry?

Boom-corridor thinning (BCT) is a harvesting operation method that increases efficiency and cost-effectiveness by thinning strips in young dense stands of a defined size with boom-tip harvesting technology. Different boom corridor patterns and how they are applied give different degree of selective tree selection. For example, using a fan-shaped pattern (see Figure), “laid out” by the decision of the operator, will give higher degree of tree selection than of using …

Efficiency of white-rot fungus in the sprout control

The costs of young stand management keep increasing and labor continues to shrink. Young stand management rely on mechanical cutting as use of chemical herbicides are restricted by forest certification. Alternative – effective and environmentally friendly – biocontrol methods have been studied to prevent vigorous regrowth of stump sprouts. By effective sprout control second pre-commercial thinning (PCT) is not needed which improves cost-efficiency of young stand management. New methods to …

Five new info packages present e.g. how to tackle the problems of pre-commercial thinning, how to equip forest machines to prevent soil damages and much more!

D1.1 Database and models regarding soil type specific bearing capacity and hydraulic transfer properties This report focuses on material and method descriptions for a number of individual studies that are done within WP1, while all the models developed within EFFORTE will be published later. The report includes two sections: 1. Database set up in France on 12 plots to adapt an existing soil type specific hydrological model named PASTIS to …

EFFORTE from A to Z in Impact magazine – getting the message of sustainable and efficient forestry across in EU

Impact is a series of high-quality, open access science reports designed to boost the dissemination of research impact. The publication features content from the world’s leading research agencies, policy groups, universities and research projects – and EFFORTE recently joined that group. Forestry issues – for example the discussions about carbon sinks and LULUCF regulation – are constantly in the spotlight in Europe and especially in countries, where forests cover a …

Forest soils under the spotlight during French seminar on 25 June

What is the impact of the intensification of timber harvesting on forest soils and what are the good management practices to be implemented? 80 participants from forest companies, research organizations and NGOs debated those questions at the seminar day on 25 June 2018 in Paris, France. The program of the day included presentations by representatives of Ademe, the Ministry of Agriculture, FCBA and INRA, the National Forestry Office (ONF), the …