Special Issue "Mechanization, Wood Production and Environmental Sustainability in Forest Operations"
A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 December 2021.
Special Issue Editors
Interests: forest mechanization; productivity; sustainability of forest operation; tree growth and wood quality; energy use of forest biomass; safety and health
Interests: forest mechanization; green mechanization; productivity; sustainability of forest operation; energy use of forest biomass; safety and health
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Interests: forest mechanization; productivity; NDT evaluation and wood quality; measuring wood properties; wood technology; wood engineering; urban forestry; agro-forestry biomass; sustainable agro-forestry management
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
A lot of forest resources still show the signs related to their past use, often characterized by occasionally unregulated large-scale interventions, which have, on one hand, led to the reduction of forest area and, on the other hand, provoked damaging effects on the composition and the structure of the forests.
It is, therefore, necessary to implement a renewed, dynamic, and rational management of forests in order to guarantee an overall improvement in terms of productivity, structure and functions. The need to implement a sustainable forest management, with a particular attention toward loggings, which are often disregarded everywhere due to the high costs, lies among the most decisive aspects to deal with.
Loggings represent, in fact, an important component of forestry planning and forest management. The importance of this component derives not only from the economic aspects resulting from the exploitation of a renewable resources such as wood, but above all from the wider environmental, ecological, and employment implications of this activity.
The use of machinery and the application of useful technologies, including remote-sensing and ICT, and tools within the entire forest-wood production chain represent a focus point that enables increasing forest system complexity and improving timber assortment availability. These objectives could be reached only if machinery is properly used according to the contexts in which it works. The issue is not about machines themselves, but it concerns the way in which they are employed.
This Special Issue, aiming at enhancing the knowledge related to forestry management, welcomes contributions dealing with the sustainability of forest operations, the mechanization of forest utilization, as well as the effects that these latter have on the quantity and quality of timber and on professionals working in this sector, with a particular interest toward productivity, innovation, efficiency, environmental performance, and safety.
Prof. Giuseppe ZimbalattiDr. Bruno Bernardi
Dr. Andrea Rosario Proto
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- mechanization
- forest operations
- productivity
- technical, economic, and environmental performance
- sustainable management
- wood quality
- health and safety
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
(1)Title: Performance of Mechanized Pit-Drilling in Poplar Planting: Results of Two Operational Options
Authors: Tiberiu Marogel-Popa 1, Marina Viorela Marcu 1* and Stelian Alexandru Borz 1
Affiliation: 1 Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Brasov, Şirul Beethoven 1, 500123, Brasov, Romania; [email protected] (T.M.P.); [email protected] (M.V.M.); [email protected] (S.A.B.)
(2)Title: Life Cycle Assessment of Logging in Corsican Pine Artificial High Forests: A Case Study
Authors: Bruno Bernardi1, Giorgio Macrì1, Giacomo Falcone*, Teodora Stillitano1, Souraya Benalia1, Anna Irene De Luca1
Affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Loc. Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria ,Italy
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the environmental performances during logging of a Corsican pine high forest (Pinus nigra Arn., var. calabrica ssp. Laricio P.), an indigenous conifer widely used in reforesting programmes carried out in Calabria during the period 1958-1978. The mechanization of forestry operation plays an important role to increase work productivity and reducing production costs. However, the new forestry challenges also include the environmental issues. This study aims at assessing various logging scenarios, considering technical, economic and environmental aspect. In fact the finally choice on the better work systems to choose should be based on all these aspects. In the present research, the work system adopted to all logging operations is the “Full Tree System (FTS). Felling and processing operations were carried out using a medium-sized chainsaw while extraction of the processed material was carried out using four different methods: i) by farm tractor equipped with a winch; ii) by skidder equipped with winch; iii) by skidder equipped with a log grapple and iv) by forwarder. Also for branchwood use, different scenarios were considered. The methodology was based on technical and production cost analysis, while to evaluate the environmental performance the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was applied. The selected functional unit (FU) is referred to 1 hour of logging operations. This choice allowed the researchers to make an objective assessment of each individual logging scenario. However, to assess the result usefulness, further analyses, were performed using an alternative FU consisting in 1 m3 of roundwood. The study's outcomes show how, the most suitable logging system is complex and depends on the considered impact category. In light of the results, it is difficult to state a univocal outcome due to the heterogeneity of the studied harvesting sites, which represent a real reflection of forestry management complexity.