ShortCUTS No.3, 2011 by Skogforsk

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

THEME GROWTH

THE FORESTS CAN YIELD MORE NEW DATA SOURCES:

SMARTER PLANNING

ORDINARY PLANTS

DOUBLE THE GROWTH MORE EFFICIENT LOGGING | DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCES 2012 | SEED PUCK THANK YOU FOR 60 ÖRE | COST AND REVENUES 2010 | MOBILE SENSORS

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SMARTER PLANNING – MORE EFFICIENT LOGGING “Airborne laser scanning produces an excellent 3D model of the terrain, but it also provides detailed information about the standing forest,” says Petrus Jönsson. “And harvesters now provide very detailed data about the wood.” New technology is currently revolutionising pre-logging planning (read more on page 6). Skogforsk is therefore starting the Logging Planning project, aimed at improving eﬃciency of both logging and terrain transport. “After considering accessibility, the wood ﬂow in the logging area can be optimised for all assortments,” says Petrus Jönsson. “The program suggests possible routes for both base roads and strip roads in the terrain. The machines can complete operations as close to the landing as possible. And if the harvester is working faster than the forwarder, balance can be attained by the harvester starting in an area with greater volume.”

CONTACT: Petrus Jönsson, petrus.jonsson@skogforsk.se Tel: 018-18 85 73

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The program suggests possible routes for both base roads and strip roads

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

TEST OF MOBILE SENSORS

ON LOCATION:

GRINDUGA 23 AUGUST 12:26 Skogforsk’s forest machine instructor Anders Mörk has adjusted the crane controls for forwarder operator Niclas Nåtfors, Grinduga Skogsentreprenad AB. They are now testing the results. There will be a longer feature on so called “reco-driving” in the next issue of ShortCuts.

ShortCUTS | 3 | 2011

Mobile sensors are already available for vehicles in the form of backing radar or parking sensors. But they can also be useful in data collection – such as by continually recording stand volume before and after thinning. Skogforsk is now investigating the potential, by testing laser scanners together with FOI (the Swedish Defence Research Agency) and SLU. The project is funded by Brattåsstiftelsen. CONTACT: Andreas Barth andreas.barth@skogforsk.se Tel: 018-18 85 37

An old Volvo serves as a ‘forest machine’ when Skogforsk scans the wood volume 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: Västerås 15-16 February: Jönköping 22-23 February: Umeå 29 Feb-1 March: Östersund

RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY

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COSTS AND REVENUES 2010

FORESTRY COSTS STILL RISING In 2010, forestry costs increased by four percent compared with 2009. The increase depended on actual cost increases and the amount and content of various forestry measures carried out during the year. The increase was greatest in northern Sweden. The joint questionnaire carried out by Skogforsk and the Swedish National Forestry Agency in 2010 showed that the cost of regeneration logging increased by two percent, and for thinning by three percent. If scariﬁcation, planting and cleaning are taken into account, the cost of forest management per hectare was the same as in 2009. The cost increases may now be levelling out. “In the past year, increases have slowed for most major cost items,” says Skogforsk analyst, Torbjörn Brunberg.

FORESTRY COSTS 140

CPI

120 100 80 60 40 20 0

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

The diagram above shows the relative trend for forestry costs 1996-2010. The green line shows the 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.

READ MORE: Resultat no 4/2011 - order from skogforsk.se CONTACT: Torbjörn Brunberg torbjorn.brunberg@skogforsk.se Tel: 018-18 85 63

SEED PUCK The ‘seed puck’, developed by innovator Anders Landström, can be described simply as ready-planted seed. It comprises a small puck-shaped clump of peat, generously fertilised and containing a single bred seed. For the ﬁfth consecutive year, Skogforsk has been commissioned by Sveaskog to conduct trials. In forest sowing, approximately 30-60 percent of the seeds germinate, but using the peat puck the result is 40-80 percent. The puck has also proved to be reasonably resilient if it is planted wrongly. It could pave the way for mechanical regeneration. Much of the beneﬁt derives from the plant establishing itself rapidly. The puck gives the seed a good start, corresponding to a half to one years growth compared with conventional seeds. After one year, plants grown from peat pucks are approximately 35 percent higher. “One big advantage is that the method does not require many seeds,” says Ulfstand Wennström, who is evaluating the puck. There is a shortage of bred seeds and ordinary forest sowing requires approximately 40 000 - 60 000 seeds.

CONTACT: Ulfstand Wennström ulfstand.wennstrom@skofgorsk.se Tel: 090-203 33 72

THANK YOU FOR YOUR 60 ÖRE! “When you give 60 öre to Skogforsk, you are helping to make forestry more competitive and sustainable. Twelve öre goes to plant breeding that helps to develop trees that grow better and are more tolerant.” This was the message to the 2,000 forest owners who visited the Skogforsk stand at Skogsnolia for a cup of coffee and to hear the latest forestry news. “Plant breeding is a profitable investment. For 12 öre, our breeders ensure that the forest owners get back 17 kronor plus interest,” explained research station manager Ola Rosvall to the visitors. Sixty öre per felled cubic metre in Sweden goes to financing of Skogforsk.

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For 12 öre, our breeders ensure that the forest owners get back 17 kronor plus interest. ShortCUTS | 3 | 2011

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THEME | GROWTH

THE FOREST HAS MORE 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 trees are reliable absorbers of sunlight. At the same time I wouldn’t like to be thought of as a ‘missionary for good forest management’. My task and that of research is to produce data to form the basis of decisions in the sector and in society, not to conduct propaganda on one issue or another.” Text carl henrik palmér | Photo sverker johansson | bitzer@live.se Throughout his professional career Ola has worked with growth issues in Swedish forests. He started by conducting research into fertilisers, and then worked with forest plant breeding in Sävar outside Umeå. His irresistible combination of expertise, charm and enthusiasm has contributed to the implementation the new Swedish plantation programme and encouraged forestry companies and forest owner associations to invest money in reliable and fast-growing trees. New tree species is another of his areas of interest, in particular the lodgepole pine, but he has also worked with larch, the black spruce and, indeed, any species that could grow in Norrland. Now he looks back on a period in which the forestry sector’s interest in growth issues has been like a roller coaster ride. ”I was around during the after-

math of the recession in the 1960s and pessimism about the future. This was followed by the oil crisis and wood slump in the 1970s, and these led to a noticeable increase in interest in forest production. Cutting ditches in and applying fertilisers to the large boggy areas were discussed, and there was a major investment in the lodgepole pine.” New interest in productivity

In the 1990s the environmental issues grew strongly, and forest growth was pushed into the shadows. ”That’s why I almost laughed when our then course and conference officer, Mia Iwarsson Wide, in 2003 suggested that the next Development Conference should include a talk on the subject of ‘How to increase growth in the forest’. Who is interested in growth today, I wondered.” ”But we produced quite an im-

pressive catalogue,” says Ola. “If you put together all possible measures, our analyses showed that the forest could offer much more – growth could be increased by 40 percent in

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If we are to become better users of the forest, we need to conduct many experiments with many different aims – and give them the time needed so we can draw the right conclusions.”

the long term, perhaps a century. OK, that’s a best-case scenario if all measures are implemented, and done correctly, but we could perhaps realistically reckon with half the potential... even that’s a lot!” The course officer proved to have good intuition about trends at that time. In 2004 more and more people started to discuss a future wood shortage. The Swedish Forestry Agency’s wood balance indicated this future shortage, the forestry industry gradually started to need more wood, at the same time as natural values started to cost more in relation to logging potential. And then came the threat of Russian customs duties on wood – the door to the Russian wood shed was closing. Many studies

The speech at the Development Conference had great impact. Skogforsk was awarded several major projects by the forestry sector. The companies wanted to know how they could increase growth in the particular conditions in their forests. “LRF, the Federation of Forest Owners, was the first, then we did analyses for Holmen, the Church and - most recently – Sveaskog.” says Ola. In the studies, two initiatives stand out: genetic breeding – the genetically best seeds from the best seed orchards today produce forests that will grow 15 percent better than the local provenance – and the lodgepole pine, which when grown under the most favourable conditions in Norrland grows 40 percent better than conventional pine. “But measures such as improved plantations, less elk-related damage and ditch clearing also improve growth. We’re perhaps only talking about one or a few percent per initiative, but together this amounts to a lot,” emphasises Ola Rosvall. Best investment

Skogforsk has now supplemented the models with financial calculations that show which of the current investments in forest management lead to the biggest increase in current forest value. “Here too, breeding and the lodgeRESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY

pole pine stand out. There’s virtually no difference in cost between planting a seedling grown from a genetically bred seed compared with a normal plant, but there is much to gain. And a lodgepole pine plant costs no more than a normal pine plant, but grows much better.” “Forest fertilisation increases the number of cubic metres rapidly, but the total effect is less and the financial calculations show that fertilisation is a comparatively costly measure.” New tree species for a new climate

A new chapter will be opening soon. In the autumn Ola will become a consultant and will then be working on, for example, exotic tree species. The overriding question is how we can increase acceptance of the new tree species that we may need in a new climate in the future. “New tree species – it’s not just about trees and forestry,” he says. ”It’s just as much a matter of politics and psychology, so I’ll be working with, for example, historians and philosophers.” “When producing data on which to base decisions, it’s not enough with a few individual field trials on a few single hectares, which has been the case so far,” explains Ola. “We must create large experimental plantations with species such as Douglas fir and Sitka spruce. Not until then can all stakeholders get a realistic idea about the production, ecology and recreational value of various species. And it’s always an experiment in itself to focus on a new tree species on a large scale, so it’s important to develop an adaptive strategy for managing uncertainty and risk.” Long-term ﬁeld trials

“If I dare to offer some concluding advice to the forestry, it would be to continue working with long-term field trials – and keep them going even if interest in growth should drop. Because if we are to become better users of the forest, we need to conduct many experiments with many different aims – and give them the time needed so we can draw the right conclusions. And we mustn’t lose the tempo in plant breeding – there’s still a lot to gain.”

ShortCUTS | 3 | 2011

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PLANNING

”MORE EFFICIENT PLANNING LESS GROUND DAMAGE AND CHEAPER LOGGING” The purpose of the project run by Skogforsk and KTH is to see – before even visiting the logging site – whether a logging directive can be produced that planners and contractors can use as an initial aid in planning.

The background is that forestry has

problems with damage to ground and water. For example, the Swedish National Forest Agency has shown that on no less than 20 percent of loggings in the Svealand region, no consideration is taken to ground and water – and the forestry's own studies show the same. ”Our hypothesis is that the worst damage can actually be avoided if we have documentation that already rejects the riskier options for forest transport,” says Petrus Jönsson, who works with forest engineering at Skogforsk. “This documentation would nevertheless provide reliable and trustworthy information that the route of the proposed base roads is very efficient.” Accurate data

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The computer showed that a base road could be built here instead, which reduces the transport distance by nearly 700 metres.

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”We have used the best sources of data available about forest and terrain conditions,” says his colleague Sima Mohtashami, a recent engineering graduate from KTH. “And this is data that will soon be available for much of the country.” Soil maps from SGU (the Geological Survey of Sweden) provide information about whether the ground comprises, for example, solid moraine or damp peat. The maps are available in high resolution for onethird of Sweden, and in lower resolution for the rest of the country. Laser-scanned forest and ground data produces an accurate data model of the logging district in 3D. Lantmäteriet, the Swedish mapping authority, has recently started laser scanning of the entire country. In this project, the company Foran Remote Sensing was an essential partner to provide laser data and terrain models. ”We compile all the data and classify the entire logging district,” explains Sima Mohtashami. “We divide the area into squares and give each one a cost index. Flat areas of solid RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY

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Take this route instead! Sima Mohtashami and Petrus Jönsson show Hans Andersson from the Swedish Forest Society Foundation that the soil map is correct – there is indeed a bridge of solid ground across the fen.

A bit too close. The base road cuts down into the fen. The most eﬃcient choice of route, but it causes more damage.

ground are allocated a low cost index, while wet areas or steep slopes are put into a high cost index class. The model then proposes the routes of base roads over the area at the lowest cost possible – and the result is a map showing a network of transport routes for the forwarder. The proposal minimises damage to ground and water – for example, the routes avoid all wet areas – and makes life easier for the operator, who should not need to operate the machine on steep slopes.”

Data collection. The machine’s computer records coordinates over the route tracks. Diﬀerent choice. The forwarder takes a short cut at the edge of the alder fen – the computer proposes a base road near the top of the ridge.

Field trial

We find ourselves on the test site, one of the logging areas of the Skogssällskapet Foundation in Östergötland. Sima has her laptop showing the results of the analysis. Petrus Jönsson is holding a GPS and we can see what the computer’s road proposal looks like in reality – and compare this with the routes chosen by the machine operators. They have not seen the computer analysis, and drive as they normally do. Sima has not been here before. But she nevertheless points down to an alder fen that cuts off the logging district from the landing, so the forwarder must take a circuitous route. ”The soil map indicates that a bridge could be built at the narrowest point. We’d love to see if that’s right!” And, sure enough, it is correct. There is actually a narrow piece of solid ground between the alder trees RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY

that could be reinforced with a log bridge. ”The computer showed that a base road could be built across here instead,” says Sima Mohtashami. “By doing so, we’d reduce the transport distance in this part of the site by nearly 700 metres. And because the laser scanning shows there are approximately 2,000 solid cubic metres down here, we would earn SEK 32,000 by building the road here instead.” Believes in the concept

Hans Andersson nods in agreement. He works with development at Skogssällskapet, and is carefully monitoring the project it is funding. He believes in the concept of an initial, well-analysed planning proposal to work from. ”Usually both planner and operator are faced with a dilemma that re-

quires extra movements and measurements – should we take the wood to the road to the north or the one to the west? Is the ground strong enough to support the forwarder? Is the sideways slope too steep on the side of the knoll? Naturally, everything that can help us speed up the reconnaissance work in the field and make better decisions is welcome. ”In the next version the operator will be able to consider how to weight the various factors, such as slope or ground support,” explains Sima Mohtashami. “Then we do the same as is done in Google Map – the landing provides the startpoint and the endpoints are various edges of the logging site. A number of proposals are then given for suitable base roads.” Diﬀerent choices

”In this site, there was very little difference between our route choice and that of the machine operators,” explains Petrus Jönsson. ”The computer’s proposal in practice corresponds exactly to the routes of their base roads. But they’ve cut the corner a bit too much at the edge of the alder fen, and a lot of soil and humus will be washed out into the fen next spring… and possibly on to the lake. We would have driven up on the ridge. It would have been more expensive because it is somewhat longer, but we would have reduced damage to the water.” ShortCUTS | 3 | 2011

Text and photo | sverker johansson | bitzer@live.se

THEME | GROWTH

Height (cm)

ORDINARY PLANTS TWICE THE GROWTH

But is nutrient watering an option in an ordinary plantation?

”No, but we can come some of the way anyway,” says Karin Johansson. “Inverse scarification can significantly increase growth when humus and mineral earth are mixed – the plant’s roots can then more easily absorb the nutrients. In our experiments, the plants that were not watered with nutrients had reached nearly two metres in five years – that’s still a really, really good result!”

UPPSALA (Head Oﬃce) Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden Phone: +46 18 188500 EKEBO Ekebo 2250, SE-268 90 Svalöv, Sweden Phone: +46 418 471300 UMEÅ P.O. Box 3, SE-918 21 Sävar, Sweden. Phone: +46 90 2033350 www.skogforsk.se

P+1 P+1 NB

Mini

TR NB

Mini NB

250

200

150

2.5 metres in five years. This

is how much an ordinary spruce plant from an orchard grows under optimal conditions. However, a spruce planted under normal conditions would only have reached half the height in the same time. But how much of the optimal growth could realistically be attained on an ordinary cutover? ”I think we could improve growth by up to 50 percent in the first five years,” says Karin Johansson. She and her colleagues have tested limits of plant growth under ideal conditions – using inverse scarification, frost protection and nutrient watering.

300

100

Years after planting

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

Do they maintain their head start?

”Yes, the head start they get in the first years is retained throughout the rotation. Ideally, we’d like to find a certain way of ensuring a flying start,” says Karin Johansson. “Many spruce plantations start to grow very slowly, and the plants find it hard to become established. And the longer the period the plants are small, the longer they are exposed to frost, pine weevils, competition from other vegetation, and grazing by wild animals.” In the field trial, the plants watered with nutrients increased their diameter quickly. Already after a year, their average

RESEARCH PROGRAMMES WOOD UTILIZATION Lars Wilhelmsson lars.wilhelmsson@skogforsk.se. Phone: +46 18 188555 FOREST TECHNOLOGY Magnus Thor magnus.thor@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188596 LOGISTICS Gert Andersson, gert.andersson@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188567

root neck diameter was 8 mm. This helps them withstand the pine weevil. But how do we achieve this without nutrient watering? That’s the next challenge. Perhaps the answer is in a more well-balanced plant. ”We could certainly squeeze out some more growth if we plant seedlings with a specifically balanced root-shoot ratio,” explains Karin Johansson. “One way is to ensure that the plants have very fine roots in order to secure the supply of a greater needle mass.” But Karin Johansson also calls for high quality in the ‘plant chain’, i.e. all activities on the chain between the seed or-

FOREST BIOENERGY Rolf Björheden rolf.bjorheden@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188509 TREE BREEDING NORTH

Bengt Andersson bengt.andersson@skogforsk.se Ph: +46 90 2033358 TREE BREEDING SOUTH Bo Karlsson bo.karlsson@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 418 471305

chard and planting in the forest. ”The person preparing the ground must follow up the work, the plants mustn’t stand sweating in the boxes, and the planters must know where to plant the seedling. Training and follow up are very important.”

5 key factors for fast-growing plants ■ Inverse scariﬁcation ■ Vigorous plants ■ Correct planting site ■ Plenty of water and nutrients ■ Protection from frost, pine

weevils and other wildlife

SILVICULTURE

Lars-Göran Sundblad lars-goran.sundblad@skogforsk.se. Ph: +46 90 2033369 ENVIRONMENT Jan-Olov Weslien jan-olov.weslien@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188505