Scholarly record

CLEARCUT FELLING STOCK DETERMINATION COSTS, PRECISION AND TIME CONSUMPTION IN HYLOCOMIOSA - CASE STUDY IN MIDDLE PART OF LATVIA

Edgars Dubrovskis

Abstract

Forests are the national wealth of Latvia that is to be preserved and multiplied to meet the ecological, economic and social needs of society. Latvian residents with the forest has always linked the economic, cultural and emotional bonds that have developed over centuries. Forest performs essential ecological and social functions at both national and international level, and providing adequate growing and cutting stock measurements, we can estimate different growth factor influence. Historically this data delivered from fieldwork in the forest measuring wood amount with different tools. Currently, in the private forestry sector in Latvia wood stock in stands mostly calculated from DBH measurements with electronic forest callipers, as method that is more precise. In state forests where forest areas are larger, sample plot basal area measurements are used. This research initialized with the aim to understand is there a difference between two traditional and in Latvia used growing and felling stock acquisition methods - measuring basal area using Bitterlich relascope and each tree DBH with an electronic forest calliper will be considered in this study analysing the main three directions - accuracy of measurements, costs and time consumption. The felling estimates were compared with the harvester production files that were accepted as a benchmark. Empirical data was collected in 26 sample plots in six different mixture stands in Hylocomiosa forest type in middle part of Latvia. Basal area measurement time consumption and costs are significantly lower but accuracy is in same level (p<0.05) compared to DBH measurements in the same stands. Different stand mixture affects work quality and speed that why costs for different stands need to differ.

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