<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In Europe, salvage-logging is a common management activity to partially recover economic value from wind disturbed forests. In the near future, wind damage to forests is predicted to increase due to climate change. Therefore, an economic assessment of wind damage effects on recovered timber value is useful information in the decision-making process. In this study, we aim to assess the influence of different stem damage heights on the monetary value of recovered timber. We simulated stem breakage at three heights for the Scots pine (<italic>Pinus sylvestris</italic> L.): 3, 5, and 7 m. For comparison, we used an uprooted tree without stem breakage. Our results revealed that the most negative influence on the recovered timber value was stem breakage at 3 m, which decreased the monetary value by 35%. The stem breakage at 5 and 7 m decreased the recovered timber value by 9–10%. Over the analysed period (2006–2017), no significant differences in the monetary value of the recovered timber were found between uprooted lumber and stems with breakage at 5 and 7 m. The price fluctuations in the market have a significant influence on the recovered timber value, which might cause a larger decrease in monetary value than stem breakage.</p></abstract>

In Europe, salvage-logging is a common management activity to partially recover economic value from wind disturbed forests. In the near future, wind damage to forests is predicted to increase due to climate change. Therefore, an economic assessment of wind damage effects on recovered timber value is useful information in the decision-making process. In this study, we aim to assess the influence of different stem damage heights on the monetary value of recovered timber. We simulated stem breakage at three heights for the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.): 3, 5, and 7 m. For comparison, we used an uprooted tree without stem breakage. Our results revealed that the most negative influence on the recovered timber value was stem breakage at 3 m, which decreased the monetary value by 35%. The stem breakage at 5 and 7 m decreased the recovered timber value by 9–10%. Over the analysed period (2006–2017), no significant differences in the monetary value of the recovered timber were found between uprooted lumber and stems with breakage at 5 and 7 m. The price fluctuations in the market have a significant influence on the recovered timber value, which might cause a larger decrease in monetary value than stem breakage.

Wind-induced stem breakage height effect on potentially recovered timber value: case study of the Scots pine (<italic>Pinus sylvestris</italic> L.) in Latvia

Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies

Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”

Forestry Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Wind-induced stem breakage height effect on potentially recovered timber value: case study of the Scots pine ( L.) in Latvia

In Europe, salvage-logging is a common management activity to partially recover economic value from wind disturbed forests. In the near future, wind damage to...

Wind-induced stem breakage height effect on potentially recovered timber value: case study of the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Latvia

Published Online: May 13, 2019

Page range: 24 - 32

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fsmu-2018-0009

Keywords
forest disturbance, wind damage, post-disturbance management, salvage logging, timber value

© 2018 Edgars Dubrovskis et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Wind-induced stem breakage height effect on potentially recovered timber value: case study of the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Latvia

Published Online: May 13, 2019

Page range: 24 - 32

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fsmu-2018-0009

Keywordsforest disturbance, wind damage, post-disturbance management, salvage logging, timber value

© 2018 Edgars Dubrovskis et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
forest disturbance, wind damage, post-disturbance management, salvage logging, timber value