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

Prof. Giuseppe Zimbalatti
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Agraria, Università "Mediterranea" di Reggio Calabria. Feo di Vito 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Interests: forest mechanization; productivity; sustainability of forest operation; tree growth and wood quality; energy use of forest biomass; safety and health
Dr. Bruno Bernardi
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Agraria, Università "Mediterranea" di Reggio Calabria. Feo di Vito 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
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
Dr. Andrea R. Proto
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agraria, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
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 Zimbalatti
Dr. Bruno Bernardi
Dr. Andrea Rosario Proto
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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Article
Models for the Evaluation of Productivity and Costs of Mechanized Felling on Poplar Short Rotation Coppice in Italy
Forests 2021, 12(7), 954; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070954 - 19 Jul 2021
Viewed by 379
Abstract
The forest biomass, as a renewable energy source, can significantly contribute to the progressive replacement of fossil fuels in energy production, with a positive final balance in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. One of the different sources of woody biomass supply is represented [...] Read more.
The forest biomass, as a renewable energy source, can significantly contribute to the progressive replacement of fossil fuels in energy production, with a positive final balance in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. One of the different sources of woody biomass supply is represented by short rotation coppices (SRC) plantations, currently present in various European countries for a total of about fifty thousand hectares. In Italy, part of the SRC surface has been converted into other more profitable crops, both the low levels reached by the woodchips market price and the scarce availability of specific public incentives. In this study, the authors expose the results of the models for evaluating work time, productivity, and costs of the felling operation on SRC poplar plantations with 8- and 11-year-old trees. The aim is to evaluate the economic sustainability in the use of advanced mechanization on these plantations. The machine was a crawler excavator equipped with a shear head. In the 11-year-old plantation, the productivity estimation model returned a range of 1.09–18.93 Mg h−1 (average 5.56 ± 3.88 SD) when the weight variation of the trees was 20–491 kgw (average 100.41 ± 87.48 SD). In the 8-year-old poplar, the range was 1.02–11.60 Mg h−1 (average 3.80 ± 1.71 SD), for weight variation of 17–137 kgw (average 50.57 ± 18.82 SD). The consequent variation in unit cost was EUR 2.82–51.63 Mg−1 and EUR 4.05–49.65 Mg−1, corresponding to EUR 1252.17–3463.78 ha−1 and EUR 922.49–2545.11 ha−1 for 11- and 8-year-old trees, respectively. Full article
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Article
Enhancing Working Posture Comparability in Forest Operations by the Use of Similarity Metrics
Forests 2021, 12(7), 926; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070926 - 15 Jul 2021
Viewed by 335
Abstract
Forest operations are well known in exposing their workers to many risk factors, and they often require ergonomic interventions for improvement. In this regard, evaluation of biomechanical exposure has gained a lot of interest due to the concerning scientific results repeatedly showing the [...] Read more.
Forest operations are well known in exposing their workers to many risk factors, and they often require ergonomic interventions for improvement. In this regard, evaluation of biomechanical exposure has gained a lot of interest due to the concerning scientific results repeatedly showing the association between poor working postures and the development of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Due to its simplicity, easy understanding, cost affordability, and the capability to evaluate the whole body, the OWAS method has been commonly used in postural evaluation of forestry work, being able to map the experimental observations in a final action category, in the form of a postural risk index (PRI), which helps designing or taking actions for ergonomic improvement. However, postural comparability is both relevant and important when, for instance, one tries to improve a work method or to introduce a new technology. Unfortunately, the PRI metric holds a rather low capability to characterize the changes brought by such factors in terms of postural dissimilarity or similarity, making it difficult to accurately follow the changes. For this reason, we introduce in the postural analysis, test and discuss herein two commonly used similarity metrics as specific to plant sociology and other ecology-related sciences, namely the Sørensen’s quotient of similarity (hereafter QS) and the Canberra metric (hereafter CM); their selection was based on their mathematical capabilities of dealing with data at two resolutions, namely species and individuals. Three case studies were setup to show the differences between QS, CM, and PRI and their usefulness for postural analysis while, for a better understanding, the results were described and discussed by analogy to the living world. As the technology of automating data collection and processing for postural analysis is in progress, the utility of similarity metrics in postural assessment and comparison could be further expanded so as to map a given work sequence in the time domain against best-fit postural profiles. The main conclusion of this study is that the PRI is useful for action-taking while the similarity metrics are useful for pairwise postural change evaluations and comparison. Full article
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Article
Comparison of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Beech and Walnut Wood from Iran and Georgian Beech
Forests 2021, 12(6), 801; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12060801 - 18 Jun 2021
Viewed by 534
Abstract
Beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) forests in Iran are one of the most important sources of the hardwood species used for lumber, furniture, and interior object design due to its hardness, wear resistance, strength, and excellent bending capabilities. Furthermore, Iran is third most [...] Read more.
Beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) forests in Iran are one of the most important sources of the hardwood species used for lumber, furniture, and interior object design due to its hardness, wear resistance, strength, and excellent bending capabilities. Furthermore, Iran is third most important country for walnut wood production after China and United States. Therefore, in this study, we compared specific mechanical properties between beech wood obtained from Sangdeh (Iran) and Georgia and four different kinds of walnut woods in Iran. Physical and mechanical tests were performed according to ISO 3129 (2012) and ASTM (D143-14) standards. The moisture content of all samples was 12% during mechanical tests. The mean dry density of Sangdeh and Georgian beech obtained was 0.61 and 0.65 g/cm3, respectively, while the mean dry density of Noor, Shahrekord, Mashhad, and Mako walnut woods measured 0.62, 0.59, 0.62, and 0.57 g/cm3, respectively. The results showed significant differences among the properties of the Sangdeh and Georgian species and the four different walnut tree woods. Overall, the obtained strengths of Georgian timber were higher than that of the Iranian beech, which was attributed to the higher density of Georgian timber. Furthermore, due to the higher density of the walnut species in the Noor and Mashhad regions, the measured mechanical strengths of these trees were higher than those of other walnut species. The obtained results provide relevant information to determinate the future applications of each wood source. Full article
Article
Evaluation of Salvage Logging Productivity and Costs in the Sensitive Forests of Bulgaria
Forests 2021, 12(3), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12030309 - 07 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 528
Abstract
Steep terrain harvesting can only be implemented by a limited set of operational alternatives; therefore, it is important to be efficient in such conditions, in order to avoid incurring high costs. Harvesting abiotically-disturbed forests (salvage harvests caused by wet snow), which is becoming [...] Read more.
Steep terrain harvesting can only be implemented by a limited set of operational alternatives; therefore, it is important to be efficient in such conditions, in order to avoid incurring high costs. Harvesting abiotically-disturbed forests (salvage harvests caused by wet snow), which is becoming common these days, can significantly impact the operational efficiency of extraction operations. This study was implemented in order to evaluate the performance of truck-mounted uphill cable yarding operations in salvage logging deployed in coniferous stands. A time study was used to estimate the productivity and yarding costs, and predictive models were developed in order to relate the time consumption and productivity to the relevant operational factors, including the degree of wood damage. The average operational conditions were characterized by an extraction distance of 101 m and a lateral yarding distance of 18 m, resulting in a productivity rate of 20.1 m3 h−1. In response to different kind of delays, the productivity rate decreased to 12.8 m3 h−1. Under the prevailing conditions, lateral yarding accounted for 32% of the gross work cycle time, and for 50% of the delay-free work cycle time of the machine. Decreasing the lateral yarding distance and increasing the payload volume to the maximum capacity of the machine would eventually lead to a yarding productivity of close to 30 m3 per SMH (scheduled machine hour). The calculation of the gross costs of uphill yarding showed that the labor costs (35.7%) were slightly higher than the fixed costs (32.9%), and twice as high compared to the variable costs (17.7%). The remote control of the carriage, mechanical slack-pulling mechanisms, and radio-controlled chokers are just some of the improvements that would have led to increments in operational efficiency. Full article
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Article
Processing Small-Sized Trees at Landing by a Double-Grip Machine: A Case Study on Productivity, Cardiovascular Workload and Exposure to Noise
Forests 2021, 12(2), 213; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12020213 - 12 Feb 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 508
Abstract
To be characterized as sustainable, forest operations need to be studied and validated from many points of view, including their productivity, ergonomics and costs. In most of these areas, performance enhancement was found to be sustained by the development and use of mechanization, [...] Read more.
To be characterized as sustainable, forest operations need to be studied and validated from many points of view, including their productivity, ergonomics and costs. In most of these areas, performance enhancement was found to be sustained by the development and use of mechanization, including that of landing operations done to process small-sized trees. For these, an affordable and sustainable alternative could be that of using double-grip processors. However, there is a lack of information characterizing their capability and performance, which was one of the main reasons for carrying on this study. Observational data were collected over four operational days for a HYPRO 775 double-grip processor to estimate the productivity, exposure to noise and cardio-vascular workload in processing small-sized trees at landing. Miniaturized dataloggers and video recording were used to document close to 28 h spent at the workplace and 15 h of operation, respectively. A time study was used to estimate the productive performance and the commonly used metrics were computed to evaluate the exposure to noise and cardio-vascular workload. A delay-free work cycle was framed around a processed tree and it took, on average, ca. 45 s. Based on 901 processed trees (average height of ca. 12 m and average breast height diameter of ca. 12 cm), the net productivity rate was estimated at ca. 65 trees per hour (ca. 224 logs of 2.4 m produced per hour). While the cardiovascular activity indicated light work, exposure to noise seems to be a concerning problem to be addressed in the future, given the figures found (A-weighted sound pressure level higher than 85 dB(A) and the sound pressure level normalized for a nominal day of 92.79 dB(A)). This becomes even more important as this study found a machine utilization rate of ca. 60%, therefore an extension of productive time could increase the exposure to noise. We conclude that double-grip processors represent a valuable technical alternative in processing small-sized trees at landing if supplementary precautions would be taken against exposure to noise. These may rest very well in the awareness and behavior of the operators as well as in wearing protective equipment. Full article
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Article
Comparison of Selected Terramechanical Test Procedures and Cartographic Indices to Predict Rutting Caused by Machine Traffic during a Cut-to-Length Thinning Operation
Forests 2021, 12(2), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12020113 - 20 Jan 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 416
Abstract
Timber harvesting operations using heavy forest machinery frequently results in severe soil compaction and displacement, threatening sustainable forest management. An accurate prediction of trafficability, considering actual operating conditions, minimizes these impacts and can be facilitated by various predictive tools. Within this study, we [...] Read more.
Timber harvesting operations using heavy forest machinery frequently results in severe soil compaction and displacement, threatening sustainable forest management. An accurate prediction of trafficability, considering actual operating conditions, minimizes these impacts and can be facilitated by various predictive tools. Within this study, we validated the accuracy of four terramechanical parameters, including Cone Index (MPa, Penetrologger), penetration depth (cm, Penetrologger), cone penetration (cm blow−1, dual-mass dynamic cone penetrometer) and shear strength (kPa, vane meter), and additionally two cartographic indices (topographic wetness index and depth-to-water). Measurements applying the four terramechanical approaches were performed at 47 transects along newly assigned machine operating trails in two broadleaved dominated mixed stands. After the CTL thinning operation was completed, measurement results and cartographic indices were correlated against rut depth. Under the rather dry soil conditions (29 ± 9 vol%), total rut depth ranged between 2.2 and 11.6 cm, and was clearly predicted by rut depth after a single pass of the harvester, which was used for further validations. The results indicated the easy-to-measure penetration depth as the most accurate approach to predict rut depth, considering coefficients of correlation (rP = 0.44). Moreover, cone penetration (rP = 0.34) provided reliable results. Surprisingly, no response between rut depth and Cone Index was observed, although it is commonly used to assess trafficability. The relatively low moisture conditions probably inhibited a correlation between rutting and moisture content. Consistently, cartographic indices could not be used to predict rutting. Rut depth after the harvester pass was a reliable predictor for total rut depth after 2–5 passes (rP = 0.50). Rarely used parameters, such as cone penetration or shear strength, outcompeted the highly reputed Cone Index, emphasizing further investigations of applied tools. Full article
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Article
Integrating Offline Object Tracking, Signal Processing, and Artificial Intelligence to Classify Relevant Events in Sawmilling Operations
Forests 2020, 11(12), 1333; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11121333 - 15 Dec 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 450
Abstract
Sawmilling operations are typically one of the most important cells of the wood supply chain as they take the log assortments as inputs to which they add value by processing lumber and other semi-finite products. For this kind of operations, and especially for [...] Read more.
Sawmilling operations are typically one of the most important cells of the wood supply chain as they take the log assortments as inputs to which they add value by processing lumber and other semi-finite products. For this kind of operations, and especially for those developed at a small scale, long-term monitoring data is a prerequisite to make decisions, to increase the operational efficiency and to enable the precision of operations. In many cases, however, collection and handling of such data is limited to a set of options which may come at high costs. In this study, a low-cost solution integrating offline object tracking, signal processing and artificial intelligence was tested to evaluate its capability to correctly classify in the time domain the events specific to the monitoring of wood sawmilling operations. Discrete scalar signals produced from media files by tracking functionalities of the Kinovea® software (13,000 frames) were used to derive a differential signal, then a filtering-to-the-root procedure was applied to them. Both, the raw and filtered signals were used as inputs in the training of an artificial neural network at two levels of operational detail: fully and essentially documented data. While the addition of the derived signal made sense because it improved the outcomes of classification (recall of 92–97%) filtered signals were found to add less contribution to the classification accuracy. The use of essentially documented data has improved substantially the classification outcomes and it could be an excellent solution in monitoring applications requiring a basic level of detail. The tested system could represent a good and cheap solution to monitor sawmilling facilities aiming to develop our understanding on their technical efficiency. Full article
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Review

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Review
A Literature Review on Cable Extraction Practices of South Korea: 1990–2020
Forests 2021, 12(7), 908; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070908 - 12 Jul 2021
Viewed by 492
Abstract
Cable yarding technology remains the most effective operation in steep terrain harvesting systems; however, it has limitations and challenges. Using cable yarders (tractor-, truck-, and excavator-based) to extract tree lengths and whole trees has been common since the late 20th century in South [...] Read more.
Cable yarding technology remains the most effective operation in steep terrain harvesting systems; however, it has limitations and challenges. Using cable yarders (tractor-, truck-, and excavator-based) to extract tree lengths and whole trees has been common since the late 20th century in South Korea, and cable yarding operations were developed in the late 1800s in the United States and Europe. Machine potential and limitations must be understood to ensure the widespread use of technology, strong cooperation, and optimal selection of machinery size. We reviewed the literature on tower yarder performances from 1990–2021 to determine the alteration of yarders and its productivity pattern and obtained 23 papers; <2 publications per year discussed the determination of cable yarding productivity. We selected independent variables (e.g., silvicultural treatment, harvesting method, and cycle log volume) for cable yarding that would likely affect productivity. Data were analyzed to compare productivities under silvicultural treatment, the harvesting method, and yarding direction and identify the interaction mechanical power (i.e., lifting capacity and machine power), yarding distance, and slope. Cable yarder productivity rates generally depended on the silvicultural treatment, harvesting method, and yarding direction, particularly in clear-cut, tree-length, and uphill yarding operation activities. The lifting capacity, machine power, and slope had no significant correlation with yarders’ productivity, particularly in thinning operations, whereas, in clear-cut productivity, it was influenced by these variables. The results contribute to improving operation activities for cable yarding systems and towards future research directions. Full article
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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.

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