Effect of Stem Snapping on Aspen Timber Assortment Recovery in Hemiboreal Forests
1
Latvian State Forest Research Institute, Silava, Rīgas Street 111, LV-2169 Salaspils, Latvia
2
Faculty of Biology, University of Latvia, Jelgavas Street 1, LV-1004 Rīga, Latvia
3
Forestry Faculty, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Liela 2, LV-3001 Jelgava, Latvia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Forests 2021, 12(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12010028
Received: 16 November 2020 / Revised: 21 December 2020 / Accepted: 24 December 2020 / Published: 28 December 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Wind on Trees)
Post-disturbance salvage logging mitigates economic loss after windthrow, and the value of salvaged timber is strongly linked to its quality and dimensions. We studied the occurrence of wind-induced damage of aspen in the hemiboreal forests of Latvia based on data from the National Forest Inventory and additional measurements. Individual tree data from three re-measurement periods were linked to follow a tree condition (live, broken, uprooted) and to link tree characteristics to a respective snag. Three linear models were developed to assess factors affecting the snapping height. An assortment outcome was calculated for undamaged and salvaged trees using the bucking algorithm, and timber value was calculated at three price levels. Wind-induced damage occurred for 3.4–3.6% of aspen trees, and among these, 45.8–46.6% were broken. The mean height of the broken trees was 27.3 ± 0.9 m, and it was significantly higher (both p < 0.01) compared to the height of undamaged and uprooted trees. The tested models indicated tree height as the main explanatory variable for relative snapping height, with higher trees having a lower point of the stem breakage. The other significant factor was the forest type group, indicating that trees growing on dry mineral soils had lower relative snapping height than trees growing on drained mineral soils. Stem breakage significantly (p < 0.001) reduced the volume of assortments, as compared to the volume of undamaged trees. Relative volume loss of sawlogs showed a logarithmic trend with a steep increase up to snapping height of 6 m, and it correlated tightly (r = 0.83, p < 0.001) with relative value loss of the total stem. Timber value loss had a strong, positive relation to tree diameter at breast height and fluctuated by 0.4% among different price levels. The mean volume reduction was 37.7% for sawlogs, 11.0% for pallet blocks, and 8.9% for technological wood.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
wind damage; stem breakage; Populus tremula; timber value reduction; windthrow
▼
Show Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Čakša, L.; Šēnhofa, S.; Šņepsts, G.; Elferts, D.; Liepa, L.; Jansons, Ā. Effect of Stem Snapping on Aspen Timber Assortment Recovery in Hemiboreal Forests. Forests 2021, 12, 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12010028
AMA Style
Čakša L, Šēnhofa S, Šņepsts G, Elferts D, Liepa L, Jansons Ā. Effect of Stem Snapping on Aspen Timber Assortment Recovery in Hemiboreal Forests. Forests. 2021; 12(1):28. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12010028
Chicago/Turabian StyleČakša, Linda; Šēnhofa, Silva; Šņepsts, Guntars; Elferts, Didzis; Liepa, Līga; Jansons, Āris. 2021. "Effect of Stem Snapping on Aspen Timber Assortment Recovery in Hemiboreal Forests" Forests 12, no. 1: 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12010028
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Search more from Scilit