ShortCUTS No.3, 2011

ShortCuts

MORE EFFICIENT LOGGING | DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCES 2012 | SEED PUCK

THANK YOU FOR 60 ÖRE | COST AND REVENUES 2010 | MOBILE SENSORS

ORDINARY PLANTS

DOUBLE THE GROWTH

FROM SKOGFORSK. NO 3 | 2011 | RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY

THEME GROWTH

THE FORESTS CAN YIELD MORENEW DATA SOURCES:

SMARTER PLANNING

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“Airborne laser scanning produces anexcellent 3D model of the terrain, but italso provides detailed information aboutthe standing forest,” says Petrus Jöns-son. “And harvesters now provide verydetailed data about the wood.”

New technology is currently revolutio-nising pre-logging planning (read moreon page 6). Skogforsk is therefore star-ting the Logging Planning project, aimedat improving efficiency of both loggingand terrain transport.

“After considering accessibility, thewood flow in the logging area can be op-timised for all assortments,” says PetrusJönsson. “The program suggests pos-sible routes for both base roads and striproads in the terrain. The machines cancomplete operations as close to the lan-ding as possible. And if the harvester isworking faster than the forwarder, ba-lance can be attained by the harvesterstarting in an area with greater volume.”

CONTACT: Petrus Jönsson, [email protected]: 018-18 85 73

SMARTER PLANNING– MORE EFFICIENT LOGGING

ON LOCATION:

GRINDUGA23 AUGUST12:26Skogforsk’s forest machine instruc-tor Anders Mörk has adjusted thecrane controls for forwarder opera-tor Niclas Nåtfors, Grinduga Skogs-entreprenad AB. They are nowtesting the results. There will be alonger feature on so called “reco-dri-ving” in the next issue of ShortCuts.

Petrus Jönsson and Sima Mohtashami continue planning. Hans Andersson, Skogssällskapet (left) follows the results.

Mobile sensors are already available forvehicles in the form of backing radar orparking sensors. But they can also beuseful in data collection – such as bycontinually recording stand volume be-fore and after thinning. Skogforsk is nowinvestigating the potential, by testinglaser scanners together with FOI (theSwedish Defence Research Agency) andSLU. The project is funded by Brattås-stiftelsen.

CONTACT: Andreas [email protected]: 018-18 85 37

TEST OF MOBILE SENSORS

’’The program suggests possibleroutes for both base roads and strip roads

An old Volvo serves as a ‘forest machine’ when Skogforsk scans the wood vo-lume using a laser.

SKOGFORSK’S DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCES 2012

The Swedish forestry's largest conference series makes a return, and this time you can influence the topics of discussion. Read more at skogforsk.se.

8-9 February: Västerås15-16 February: Jönköping22-23 February: Umeå29 Feb-1 March: Östersund

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’’

THANK YOUFOR YOUR 60 ÖRE!“When you give 60 öre toSkogforsk, you are helping tomake forestry more compe-titive and sustainable.Twelve öre goes to plantbreeding that helps to develop trees that grow better and are more tolerant.”

This was the message to the 2,000 fo-rest owners who visited the Skogforskstand at Skogsnolia for a cup of coffeeand to hear the latest forestry news.

“Plant breeding is a profitable invest-ment. For 12 öre, our breeders ensurethat the forest owners get back 17 kro-nor plus interest,” explained researchstation manager Ola Rosvall to the visi-tors.

Sixty öre per felled cubic metre inSweden goes to financing of Skogforsk.

The ‘seed puck’, developed by innova-tor Anders Landström, can be describedsimply as ready-planted seed. It compri-ses a small puck-shaped clump of peat,generously fertilised and containing asingle bred seed. For the fifth consecu-tive year, Skogforsk has been commissio-ned by Sveaskog to conduct trials.

In forest sowing, approxima-tely 30-60 percent of the seedsgerminate, but using the peatpuck the result is 40-80 percent.The puck has also proved to bereasonably resilient if it is plantedwrongly. It could pave the way for me-chanical regeneration.

Much of the benefit derives from theplant establishing itself rapidly. The puckgives the seed a good start, correspon-ding to a half to one years growth com-pared with conventional seeds. Afterone year, plants grown from peat pucksare approximately 35 percent higher.

“One big advantage is that the methoddoes not require many seeds,” says Ulf-stand Wennström, who is evaluating thepuck. There is a shortage of bred seedsand ordinary forest sowing requires ap-proximately 40 000 - 60 000 seeds.

SEED PUCKFORESTRY COSTSSTILL RISINGIn 2010, forestry costs increased by fourpercent compared with 2009. The in-crease depended on actual cost increa-ses and the amount and content ofvarious forestry measures carried outduring the year. The increase was grea-test in northern Sweden.

The joint questionnaire carried out bySkogforsk and the Swedish National Fo-restry Agency in 2010 showed that thecost of regeneration logging increasedby two percent, and for thinning bythree percent. If scarification, plantingand cleaning are taken into account, thecost of forest management per hectarewas the same as in 2009.

The cost increases may now be level-ling out.

“In the past year, increases have slo-wed for most major cost items,” saysSkogforsk analyst, Torbjörn Brunberg.

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

CPI

READ MORE: Resultat no 4/2011- order from skogforsk.se

CONTACT: Torbjörn [email protected]: 018-18 85 63

The diagram above shows the relative trend forforestry costs 1996-2010. The green line showsthe trend for the consumer price index, CPI. Forestry costs include the total costs of logging,forest management, roads, etc, and have been increasing since the start of the 2000s.

COSTS AND REVENUES 2010

FORESTRY COSTS

CONTACT: UlfstandWennströ[email protected]: 090-203 33 72

For 12 öre, our breeders ensure that the forestowners get back 17 kronor plus interest.

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THE FOREST HASMORE TO YIELD”I believe in the green concept,” says Ola Rosvall, research manager at Skogforsk. “We’re increasingly turning to photosynthesis as fossil energy is being phased out. And treesare reliable absorbers of sunlight. At the same time I wouldn’t like to be thought of as a ‘mis-sionary for good forest management’. My task and that of research is to produce data to formthe basis of decisions in the sector and in society, not to conduct propaganda on one issue oranother.” Text carl henrik palmér | Photo sverker johansson | [email protected]

Throughout his professional careerOla has worked with growth issues inSwedish forests. He started by con-ducting research into fertilisers, andthen worked with forest plant bree-ding in Sävar outside Umeå. His irre-sistible combination of expertise,charm and enthusiasm has contribu-ted to the implementation the newSwedish plantation programme andencouraged forestry companies andforest owner associations to investmoney in reliable and fast-growingtrees.

New tree species is another of hisareas of interest, in particular the lod-gepole pine, but he has also workedwith larch, the black spruce and, in-deed, any species that could grow inNorrland. Now he looks back on aperiod in which the forestry sector’sinterest in growth issues has been likea roller coaster ride.

”I was around during the after-

math of the recession in the 1960sand pessimism about the future. Thiswas followed by the oil crisis andwood slump in the 1970s, and theseled to a noticeable increase in interestin forest production. Cutting ditchesin and applying fertilisers to the largeboggy areas were discussed, and therewas a major investment in the lodge-pole pine.”

New interest in productivity

In the 1990s the environmental is-sues grew strongly, and forest growthwas pushed into the shadows.

”That’s why I almost laughedwhen our then course and conferenceofficer, Mia Iwarsson Wide, in 2003suggested that the next DevelopmentConference should include a talk onthe subject of ‘How to increasegrowth in the forest’. Who is interes-ted in growth today, I wondered.”

”But we produced quite an im-

pressive catalogue,” says Ola. “If youput together all possible measures,our analyses showed that the forestcould offer much more – growthcould be increased by 40 percent in

THEME | GROWTH

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’’ the long term, perhaps a century.OK, that’s a best-case scenario if allmeasures are implemented, and donecorrectly, but we could perhaps rea-listically reckon with half the poten-tial... even that’s a lot!”

The course officer proved to havegood intuition about trends at thattime. In 2004 more and more peoplestarted to discuss a future wood shor-tage. The Swedish Forestry Agency’swood balance indicated this futureshortage, the forestry industry gradu-ally started to need more wood, atthe same time as natural values star-ted to cost more in relation to log-ging potential. And then came thethreat of Russian customs duties onwood – the door to the Russianwood shed was closing.

Many studies

The speech at the DevelopmentConference had great impact. Skog-forsk was awarded several major pro-jects by the forestry sector. Thecompanies wanted to know how theycould increase growth in the particu-lar conditions in their forests.

“LRF, the Federation of ForestOwners, was the first, then we didanalyses for Holmen, the Churchand - most recently – Sveaskog.” saysOla.

In the studies, two initiatives standout: genetic breeding – the geneti-cally best seeds from the best seed or-chards today produce forests that willgrow 15 percent better than the localprovenance – and the lodgepole pine,which when grown under the mostfavourable conditions in Norrlandgrows 40 percent better than conven-tional pine.

“But measures such as improvedplantations, less elk-related damageand ditch clearing also improvegrowth. We’re perhaps only talkingabout one or a few percent per initia-tive, but together this amounts to alot,” emphasises Ola Rosvall.

Best investment

Skogforsk has now supplemented themodels with financial calculationsthat show which of the current in-vestments in forest management leadto the biggest increase in current fo-rest value.

“Here too, breeding and the lodge-

pole pine stand out. There’s virtuallyno difference in cost between plan-ting a seedling grown from a geneti-cally bred seed compared with anormal plant, but there is much togain. And a lodgepole pine plantcosts no more than a normal pineplant, but grows much better.”

“Forest fertilisation increases thenumber of cubic metres rapidly, butthe total effect is less and the financialcalculations show that fertilisation is acomparatively costly measure.”

New tree species for a new climate

A new chapter will be opening soon.In the autumn Ola will become aconsultant and will then be workingon, for example, exotic tree species.The overriding question is how wecan increase acceptance of the newtree species that we may need in anew climate in the future.

“New tree species – it’s not justabout trees and forestry,” he says. ”It’sjust as much a matter of politics andpsychology, so I’ll be working with,for example, historians and philosop-hers.”

“When producing data on whichto base decisions, it’s not enoughwith a few individual field trials on afew single hectares, which has beenthe case so far,” explains Ola.

“We must create large experimen-tal plantations with species such asDouglas fir and Sitka spruce. Notuntil then can all stakeholders get arealistic idea about the production,ecology and recreational value of va-rious species. And it’s always an expe-riment in itself to focus on a new treespecies on a large scale, so it’s impor-tant to develop an adaptive strategyfor managing uncertainty and risk.”

Long-term field trials

“If I dare to offer some concludingadvice to the forestry, it would be tocontinue working with long-termfield trials – and keep them goingeven if interest in growth shoulddrop. Because if we are to becomebetter users of the forest, we need toconduct many experiments withmany different aims – and give themthe time needed so we can draw theright conclusions. And we mustn’tlose the tempo in plant breeding –there’s still a lot to gain.”

If we are to become better users of the forest, we need to con-duct many experimentswith many differentaims – and give themthe time needed so wecan draw the rightconclusions.”

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”MORE EFFICIENT PLANNINGLESS GROUND DAMAGE AND CHEAPER LOGGING”

’’The computer showed that abase road could be built hereinstead, which reduces thetransport distance by nearly700 metres.

The background is that forestry hasproblems with damage to groundand water. For example, the SwedishNational Forest Agency has shownthat on no less than 20 percent ofloggings in the Svealand region, noconsideration is taken to ground andwater – and the forestry's own stu-dies show the same.

”Our hypothesis is that the worstdamage can actually be avoided if wehave documentation that already re-jects the riskier options for foresttransport,” says Petrus Jönsson, whoworks with forest engineering atSkogforsk. “This documentationwould nevertheless provide reliableand trustworthy information that theroute of the proposed base roads isvery efficient.”

Accurate data”We have used the best sources ofdata available about forest and terrainconditions,” says his colleague SimaMohtashami, a recent engineeringgraduate from KTH. “And this isdata that will soon be available formuch of the country.”

Soil maps from SGU (the Geologi-cal Survey of Sweden) provide infor-mation about whether the groundcomprises, for example, solid mo-raine or damp peat. The maps areavailable in high resolution for one-third of Sweden, and in lower resolu-tion for the rest of the country.Laser-scanned forest and ground dataproduces an accurate data model ofthe logging district in 3D. Lantmäte-riet, the Swedish mapping authority,has recently started laser scanning ofthe entire country.

In this project, the company ForanRemote Sensing was an essentialpartner to provide laser data and ter-rain models.

”We compile all the data and clas-sify the entire logging district,” expla-ins Sima Mohtashami. “We dividethe area into squares and give eachone a cost index. Flat areas of solid

PLANNING

The purpose of the project run by Skogforsk and KTH is to see – before evenvisiting the logging site – whether a logging directive can be produced thatplanners and contractors can use as an initial aid in planning.

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ground are allocated a low costindex, while wet areas or steep slopesare put into a high cost index class.The model then proposes the routesof base roads over the area at the lo-west cost possible – and the result is amap showing a network of transportroutes for the forwarder. The propo-sal minimises damage to ground andwater – for example, the routes avoidall wet areas – and makes life easierfor the operator, who should notneed to operate the machine on steepslopes.”

Field trialWe find ourselves on the test site,one of the logging areas of the Skogs-sällskapet Foundation in Östergöt-land. Sima has her laptop showingthe results of the analysis. PetrusJönsson is holding a GPS and we cansee what the computer’s road propo-sal looks like in reality – and com-pare this with the routes chosen bythe machine operators. They havenot seen the computer analysis, anddrive as they normally do.

Sima has not been here before. Butshe nevertheless points down to analder fen that cuts off the logging dis-trict from the landing, so the forwar-der must take a circuitous route.

”The soil map indicates that abridge could be built at the narrowestpoint. We’d love to see if that’s right!”

And, sure enough, it is correct.There is actually a narrow piece ofsolid ground between the alder trees

that could be reinforced with a logbridge.

”The computer showed that a baseroad could be built across here in-stead,” says Sima Mohtashami. “Bydoing so, we’d reduce the transportdistance in this part of the site by ne-arly 700 metres. And because the laserscanning shows there are approxima-tely 2,000 solid cubic metres downhere, we would earn SEK 32,000 bybuilding the road here instead.”

Believes in the conceptHans Andersson nods in agreement.He works with development atSkogssällskapet, and is carefully mo-nitoring the project it is funding. Hebelieves in the concept of an initial,well-analysed planning proposal towork from.

”Usually both planner and opera-tor are faced with a dilemma that re-

quires extra movements and measu-rements – should we take the woodto the road to the north or the one tothe west? Is the ground strongenough to support the forwarder? Isthe sideways slope too steep on theside of the knoll? Naturally, everyt-hing that can help us speed up thereconnaissance work in the field andmake better decisions is welcome.

”In the next version the operatorwill be able to consider how to we-ight the various factors, such as slopeor ground support,” explains SimaMohtashami. “Then we do the sameas is done in Google Map – the lan-ding provides the startpoint and theendpoints are various edges of thelogging site. A number of proposalsare then given for suitable baseroads.”

Different choices”In this site, there was very little dif-ference between our route choice andthat of the machine operators,” ex-plains Petrus Jönsson. ”The compu-ter’s proposal in practice correspondsexactly to the routes of their baseroads. But they’ve cut the corner a bittoo much at the edge of the alderfen, and a lot of soil and humus willbe washed out into the fen nextspring… and possibly on to the lake.We would have driven up on theridge. It would have been more ex-pensive because it is somewhatlonger, but we would have reduceddamage to the water.”

Data collection.The machine’scomputer recordscoordinates overthe route tracks.

Take this route instead! SimaMohtashami andPetrus Jönssonshow Hans An-dersson from theSwedish ForestSociety Founda-tion that the soilmap is correct –there is indeed abridge of solidground across thefen.

A bit too close. The base road cuts downinto the fen. The most efficient choice ofroute, but it causes more damage.

Different choice. The forwarder takes ashort cut at the edge of the alder fen – thecomputer proposes a base road near thetop of the ridge.

RESEARCH PROGRAMMESWOOD UTILIZATION Lars [email protected]. Phone: +46 18 188555FOREST TECHNOLOGY Magnus [email protected]: +46 18 188596LOGISTICS Gert Andersson, [email protected] Phone: +46 18 188567

FOREST BIOENERGY Rolf Bjö[email protected]: +46 18 188509TREE BREEDING NORTHBengt Andersson [email protected]: +46 90 2033358TREE BREEDING SOUTH Bo [email protected]: +46 418 471305

SILVICULTURELars-Göran Sundblad [email protected]: +46 90 2033369ENVIRONMENT Jan-Olov Weslien [email protected]: +46 18 188505

UPPSALA (Head Office) Uppsala Science Park,SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden Phone: +46 18 188500

EKEBO Ekebo 2250, SE-268 90 Svalöv, SwedenPhone: +46 418 471300

UMEÅ P.O. Box 3, SE-918 21 Sävar, Sweden.Phone: +46 90 2033350

www.skogforsk.seEditor in chief: Jan Fryk | Form: Pagarango | Editor: Bitzer | ISSN: 2000-2726 | Photos: Sverker Johansson unless otherwise statedTranslated by: Leslie Walke, CommunicAID | Printed by: Gävle Offset, 2011

2.5 metres in five years. Thisis how much an ordinary spruceplant from an orchard growsunder optimal conditions. Ho-wever, a spruce planted undernormal conditions would onlyhave reached half the height inthe same time. But how muchof the optimal growth couldrealistically be attained on anordinary cutover?

”I think we could improvegrowth by up to 50 percent inthe first five years,” says Karin Jo-hansson. She and her colleagueshave tested limits of plant growthunder ideal conditions – usinginverse scarification, frost protec-tion and nutrient watering.

But is nutrient watering an op-tion in an ordinary plantation?”No, but we can come some ofthe way anyway,” says Karin Jo-hansson. “Inverse scarificationcan significantly increasegrowth when humus and mine-ral earth are mixed – the plant’sroots can then more easily ab-sorb the nutrients. In our expe-riments, the plants that werenot watered with nutrients hadreached nearly two metres infive years – that’s still a really,really good result!”

Do they maintain their headstart?”Yes, the head start they get inthe first years is retainedthroughout the rotation.Ideally, we’d like to find a cer-tain way of ensuring a flyingstart,” says Karin Johansson.“Many spruce plantations startto grow very slowly, and theplants find it hard to becomeestablished. And the longer theperiod the plants are small, thelonger they are exposed to frost,pine weevils, competition fromother vegetation, and grazing bywild animals.”

In the field trial, the plantswatered with nutrients increa-sed their diameter quickly. Al-ready after a year, their average

root neck diameter was 8 mm.This helps them withstand thepine weevil. But how do weachieve this without nutrientwatering? That’s the next chal-lenge. Perhaps the answer is in amore well-balanced plant.

”We could certainly squeezeout some more growth if weplant seedlings with a specifi-cally balanced root-shoot ratio,”explains Karin Johansson. “Oneway is to ensure that the plantshave very fine roots in order tosecure the supply of a greaterneedle mass.”

But Karin Johansson alsocalls for high quality in the‘plant chain’, i.e. all activities onthe chain between the seed or-

chard and planting in the forest.”The person preparing the

ground must follow up thework, the plants mustn’t standsweating in the boxes, and theplanters must know where toplant the seedling. Training andfollow up are very important.”

THEME | GROWTH

ORDINARY PLANTSTWICE THE GROWTH

Text and photo | sverker johansson | [email protected]

300

250

200

150

100

50

Years after planting

Height (cm)

P+1

P+1 NB

TR

TR NB

Mini

Mini NB

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Onward and upward. Height development in plug plants (P), containerisedplants (TR) and miniplants (Mini) with and without nutrient watering (NB). The average height in the ordinary plantations close to the experimental sitewas 120 cm for plug and containerised plants, and 50 cm for miniplants.

5 key factors forfast-growing plants

■ Inverse scarification■ Vigorous plants■ Correct planting site■ Plenty of water and nutrients■ Protection from frost, pine

weevils and other wildlife