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Forests
Special Issues
Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management
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Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Operations and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 February 2025 | Viewed by 6746

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Vasile Rǎzvan Câmpu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Transilvania University of Braşov, Şirul Beethoven No. 1, 500123 Braşov, Romania
Interests: forest harvesting; mechanization; time consumption, productivity and labor safety and health in forest operations; ecological effects of timber harvesting on forest ecosystems; wood scaling; wood quality evaluation methods
Dr. Jiří Dvořák

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forestry Technologies and Construction, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 6 Suchdol, 165 21 Prague, Czech Republic
Interests: forest harvesting; forest mechanization; ergonomics and occupational safety; utilization of biomass
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Rudolf Alexandru Derczeni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Transilvania University of Braşov, Şirul Beethoven No. 1, 500123 Braşov, Romania
Interests: forest harvesting; mechanization; productivity, labor safety and health in forest operations; damages during harvesting operations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Considering the ecological, economic and social role of forests in today’s world, where the population has exceeded 8 billion inhabitants, forest harvesting can only be sustainable, maintaining a balance between the environment, society and economy. Forest harvesting management comprises multiple objectives that must ensure good wood valuing under profitable economic conditions, while attempting to meet the requirements imposed by the sustainable management of forest resources and targets established for each tree stand. Under these circumstances, forest operations must be planned, organized and studied in a way that maximizes production while guaranteeing the health and safety of workers and exerting a minimum negative impact on forest ecosystems at the cost level accepted by society.

Therefore, this Special Issue encourages the dissemination of research results concerning, but not limited to, the following aspects:

  • Innovative planning, machines, technology and work methods in forest operations;
  • Time and productivity studies in forest operations under different conditions, including steep terrains and storm damage;
  • Labour safety and health in forest operations;
  • The impact of forest operations on components of the forest ecosystem (soil, residual stand, soil, water and air pollution);
  • Evaluation of the volumes of wood debris, timber losses and wood consumption resulting from forest harvesting operations.

Prof. Dr. Vasile Rǎzvan Câmpu
Dr. Jiří Dvořák
Dr. Rudolf Alexandru Derczeni
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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 2600 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

  • sustainable harvesting
  • forest operations
  • environmental impacts
  • mechanization
  • time and productivity studies
  • labor safety and health
  • wood debris
  • timber losses

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3861 KiB  
Article
Predicting Operational Events in Mechanized Weed Control Operations by Offline Multi-Modal Data and Machine Learning Provides Highly Accurate Classification in Time Domain
by Stelian Alexandru Borz and Andrea Rosario Proto
Forests 2024, 15(11), 2019; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15112019 - 15 Nov 2024
Viewed by 410
Abstract
Monitoring of operations has become a critical activity in forestry, aiming to provide the data required by planning and production management. Conventional methods, on the other hand, come at a high expense of resources. A neural network was trained, validated, and tested in [...] Read more.
Monitoring of operations has become a critical activity in forestry, aiming to provide the data required by planning and production management. Conventional methods, on the other hand, come at a high expense of resources. A neural network was trained, validated, and tested in this study based on multi-modal data to classify relevant operational events in mechanized weed control operations. The architecture of a neural network was tuned in terms of the number of hidden layers and neurons, and the regularization term was set at various values to obtain optimally tuned models for three data modalities: triaxial acceleration data coupled with speed extracted from GNSS signals (AS), triaxial acceleration (A), and speed alone (S). In the training and validation phase, the models based on AS and A achieved a very high classification accuracy, accounting for 92 to 93% when considering four relevant events. In the testing phase, which was run on unseen data, the classification accuracy reached figures of 91 to 92%, indicating a good generalization ability of the models. The results point out that multimodal data are able to provide the features for distinguishing events and add spatial context to the monitored operations, standing as a suitable solution for offline, partly automated monitoring. Future studies are required to see how the capabilities of online, real-time technologies such as deep learning coupled with computer vision can add more context and improve classification performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management)
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23 pages, 7957 KiB  
Article
Loading Round Wood in Forestry Trucks and Forestry Platforms: A Case Study for Romania
by Elena Camelia Mușat, Gheorghiță Lucian Abutnăriței, Dumitrel Daniel Hogea, Lucian Denis Miu, Vasile Nicolae Avram, Ștefan Saicu and Rudolf Alexandru Derczeni
Forests 2024, 15(9), 1646; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15091646 - 18 Sep 2024
Viewed by 642
Abstract
Wood, as the main product of the forest, must be brought from the forest to various beneficiaries by various vehicles. The choice of a particular type of vehicle should consider the characteristics of the area from which the wood is loaded, the wood-storage [...] Read more.
Wood, as the main product of the forest, must be brought from the forest to various beneficiaries by various vehicles. The choice of a particular type of vehicle should consider the characteristics of the area from which the wood is loaded, the wood-storage yard, and the availability of a certain model. Besides this, the assortments and quantities of wood to be transported influence, to a large extent, the type of vehicle, which has consequences for transport efficiency and productivity. The aim of the paper was to evaluate the wood-loading process in various types of transport vehicles in terms of time consumption for each working phase and the factors that can affect productivity. The research was carried out in four counties of Romania and addressed the loading of wood in different forestry trucks and platforms, with or without trailers. Transport distances were documented in Brasov County based on 200 transport documents. To evaluate the transport distances in the case of wood intended for contractors, field measurements were carried out in three different are as managed by the private Lignum Forest District (Bacău County). The study of the loading process and productivity estimation at loading was carried out in three locations, namely Bacău County, Sibiu County, and Caraș-Sever in County. To observe whether there are differences in the loading of tree lengths from the harvesting area in various types of vehicles (forestry trucks—ATF—and forestry platforms—APF), research was carried out in Caraș-Sever in County. After processing the data, it was found that in the forests managed by the state and in the forests owned by the local public administrations, the fuelwood reaches mainly locals, and the working wood reaches some wood processing companies. For forestry trucks (ATFs), the loading time was somewhat constant, while for forestry platforms (APF), it varied, with differences observed from the first to the last loading. Following the evaluation of the work-element phases specific to the operation of loading round wood into vehicles, it was found that, sometimes, significant importance is given to the working elements as phases of preparation of the wooden material that can be carried out before the loading process, in order to load it. To eliminate delays in the loading process, it is recommended that logs are prepared before loading, which will increase productivity and it will decrease the risk of accidents for workers who perform these tasks during the loading process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management)
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22 pages, 4662 KiB  
Article
Subsidies for Forest Environment and Climate: A Viable Solution for Forest Conservation in Romania?
by Iulian A. Bratu, Vasile R. Câmpu, Ruben Budău, Mirela A. Stanciu and Cristian M. Enescu
Forests 2024, 15(9), 1533; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15091533 - 30 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 837
Abstract
The conservation of biodiversity and forest ecosystems from the perspective of increasingly pronounced climate changes represents a priority objective for present and future society. In recent decades, alongside traditional conservation methods, innovative tools such as PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) have been introduced [...] Read more.
The conservation of biodiversity and forest ecosystems from the perspective of increasingly pronounced climate changes represents a priority objective for present and future society. In recent decades, alongside traditional conservation methods, innovative tools such as PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) have been introduced to support biodiversity conservation. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of financial mechanisms for forest ecosystem conservation from the perspective of voluntary adoption by forest owners of additional conservation measures beyond those required by national environmental legislation. Through the conceptual literature review, 6069 articles were analyzed, which described the general context of the application of PES, the aims and objectives related to climate and environmental issues, the beneficiaries, as well as the legislative conditions, and the research direction in the last 7 years. The study aims to provide relevant information regarding the viability and potential impact of PES on achieving the goal of forest ecosystem conservation in Romania, during the period 2017–2023. We identified 904 cases involving 887 entities that have committed to the program for the voluntary adoption of additional measures. It has been stated that a PES approach can lead to increased efficiency in conservation actions. Following the temporal analysis of the number of applications, it was observed that in the first sessions there was a low number of applications, which means very high reluctance of the potential beneficiaries of PES, but once the first program was implemented, their interest increased. The study found a strong correlation between payments and the areas and number of plots under commitment, while there was a less strong correlation with the geographical region. Based on the data obtained, the potential impact of PES in Romania was evaluated at the social level, quantified in the number of applications submitted, and at the economic level, with the amount of money paid to applicants. The environmental impact was measured by analyzing the areas included in the subsidy mechanism and identifying the minimum 20% of the eligible areas, totally exempt from forestry interventions, which produce effects on forests, soil, water and environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management)
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24 pages, 3408 KiB  
Article
Timber Extraction by Farm Tractors in Low-Removal-Intensity Continuous Cover Forestry: A Simulation of Operational Performance and Fuel Consumption
by Gabriel Osei Forkuo, Marina Viorela Marcu, Eugen Iordache and Stelian Alexandru Borz
Forests 2024, 15(8), 1422; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15081422 - 13 Aug 2024
Viewed by 738
Abstract
Farm tractors represent a possible option for forwarding operations in continuous cover forestry, given the generally lower removal intensities, relatively high dispersion of timber, and heightened concerns regarding the environmental impact of operations. This study evaluated the performance of a farm tractor fitted [...] Read more.
Farm tractors represent a possible option for forwarding operations in continuous cover forestry, given the generally lower removal intensities, relatively high dispersion of timber, and heightened concerns regarding the environmental impact of operations. This study evaluated the performance of a farm tractor fitted with an externally operated crane and a bunk for forwarding operations, using field-documented data on operational speed, production, and fuel use, as well as data from high-resolution video recordings for a detailed time-and-motion study. Using this knowledge, performance simulations were run based on extraction distance and log size, to describe the variability in fuel use, cycle time, and productivity, and to estimate the operational cost. The results of the simulation showed important differences in operational speed across different work elements, involving machine movement. Although the extraction distance had effects, log size was found as the important factor driving the variability in cycle time, productivity, fuel use, and cost. The differences in performance based on the variability in extraction distance and log size may serve as a guideline for operational planning, costing, and environmental assessment regarding emissions under various operating conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management)
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24 pages, 13312 KiB  
Article
A Multi-Criterion Evaluation Process for Determining Cost-Effective Harvesting Systems in Fragmented Boreal Forests
by Léo Painchaud and Luc LeBel
Forests 2024, 15(6), 1046; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15061046 - 17 Jun 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 912
Abstract
Nordic forests, like those found in Canada, used to consist of large and relatively homogeneous mature stands. Such a spatial pattern allows for harvest operations to be highly concentrated, minimizing procurement costs. However, the growing fragmentation of these forests makes planning difficult and [...] Read more.
Nordic forests, like those found in Canada, used to consist of large and relatively homogeneous mature stands. Such a spatial pattern allows for harvest operations to be highly concentrated, minimizing procurement costs. However, the growing fragmentation of these forests makes planning difficult and increases the costs of road building and machinery relocation. While operational solutions have been developed in regions with small harvest areas, their transferability to different settings is unknown. Finding the most suitable combination of equipment for a given context is challenging considering the multitude of possibilities. The objective of this study is to identify, from all possible options, a subset of harvest systems expected to perform well in fragmented boreal forests. The results from this research are two-fold. First, a comprehensive review of forest machines and harvest systems is provided. Second, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methodology is proposed to evaluate the alternatives. In a boreal forest context, the conventional harvester-forwarder system (CTL) was ranked among the best solutions, along with mild adaptations of the usual configurations. Several whole-tree (WT) system configurations were also highly ranked. While the results are specific to the case studied, the review and selection methodology can serve in different operational contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management)
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10 pages, 2209 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Residual Stand Damage after Thinning with Different Levels of Mechanization
by Eunjai Lee, Sang-Tae Lee, Ho-Seong Mun, Sanghoon Chung and Jae-Heun Oh
Forests 2024, 15(5), 794; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15050794 - 30 Apr 2024
Viewed by 854
Abstract
Thinning is a silvicultural process in which trees are both harvested selectively and systematically removed from a stand to enhance forest management and ecosystem dynamics. However, this practice is challenged by the mechanical damage to residual trees, and the nature of this damage, [...] Read more.
Thinning is a silvicultural process in which trees are both harvested selectively and systematically removed from a stand to enhance forest management and ecosystem dynamics. However, this practice is challenged by the mechanical damage to residual trees, and the nature of this damage, particularly on stand damage during mechanized row-thinning and manual selective thinning, in South Korea is unknown. Therefore, objectives of this study were to compare stand damage levels and wound characteristics between three different thinning operations: manual selective, manual row-, and mechanized row-thinning. After thinning, 12%, 15%, and 10% of the residual damaged trees were observed in manual selective, manual row-, and mechanized row-thinning, respectively. Both types of row-thinning predominantly demonstrated damages at the stem and butt region, whereas in manual selective thinning, the most of the damages occurred on the roots. Manual selective thinning exhibited a slightly larger average wound size (207 cm2) compared to mechanized row- (181 cm2) and manual row-thinning (165 cm2). The wound sizes on the stem in mechanized row-thinning were significantly higher than manual selective (p < 0.05). These results may be helpful in understanding exposure to damage among different thinning types and in managing its occurrence in future practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management)
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18 pages, 5628 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Cut-to-Length Harvesting Methods in Tree Plantations in Brazil
by Teijo Palander, Antti Pasi, Annamari Laurèn and Heikki Ovaskainen
Forests 2024, 15(4), 666; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15040666 - 7 Apr 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1523
Abstract
The aim of this research was to determine the most productive tree-cutting methods, and the factors influencing them, in flat and sloping terrains in tree plantations in Brazil. The study utilized drone-captured video material from harvesting operations in eucalyptus and pine plantations. In [...] Read more.
The aim of this research was to determine the most productive tree-cutting methods, and the factors influencing them, in flat and sloping terrains in tree plantations in Brazil. The study utilized drone-captured video material from harvesting operations in eucalyptus and pine plantations. In both terrains, two cutting methods were compared, differing in the felling to the side method used: either at the edge or inside of the harvesting front. In addition, on flat terrain, the efficiency of forward felling was studied in relation to the aforementioned cutting methods. In sloping terrain, the machines were also equipped with a winch assistance system. The time study data of the harvesting work were processed using a video analysis tool developed for the research. The output data of the cut trees were collected with the automatic measuring system of the harvester. Statistical tests were used to determine the most productive cutting methods by analyzing differences in productivity. With an average tree size of 0.3 m3, cutting productivity was 45 m3/E0h in pine cuttings and 55 m3/E0h in eucalyptus cuttings. The average cutting productivity on flat terrain was about 11 m3/E0h higher than on sloping terrain, mainly due to the time spent attaching the winch assistance system, which was a necessary phase of the work on sloping terrain. The research results suggest that it would be most productive to use sideways felling inside the harvesting front method. However, the need for further research is evident, if we want to precisely identify the factors and work phases in the tree-cutting cycle affecting differences in the productivity of the harvesting chain in tree plantations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Forest Operations Planning and Management)
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