FOR200H1 Lecture 10: Lecture 10 December 7 2015 Forest Management
26 May 2018
School
Course
Professor
1
Lecture 10 December 7 2015 Forest Management
Lecture 8 (when he was sick) not apart of exam. (November 23rd 2015).
This Wednesday, which would normally be a make up class, no new material will be
presented. It is an opportunity to ask questions about the course, with regards to the exam
etc.
__________________________________________
Intensive lecture on forest management
Spent most of class on conservation but the reality is that a large portion of Canada’s
forest is apart of timber harvesting land base (the managed forest). These forests are
found in Canada where forest companies have received tenure to log these forests (crown
land). Companies will log these forests and will pay a fee back to the government for the
right to log.
In edition to the logging of crown forests, there are parts of this country that are privately
owned. For example in Nova Scotia 46% of the forests are privately owned. This is sort
of an anomaly. We are focusing on logging on crown land (territorial, provincial, federal
land).
This is indigenous territory, no matter what if it is crown land. The crown had gotten into
treaties with indigenous people. That being said, this doesn’t mean that indigenous people
gave up their land willingly.
Today we will be talking in a very technical and practical manner in how we log a forest.
When we talk about the removal of trees from land we are talking about forest harvesting.
It is a general term: Forest Harvesting
A general term for the removal of biomass from the forest for utilization; comprising
cutting, sometimes further initial processing (topping and trimming), and extraction.
It involves a number of different steps. Whole tree logging is when the entire tree is
utilization, typically what they are doing is they run the tree through a machine… using
chipped up wood and also sawdust. If we do whole tree logging, it doesn’t matter if we
are taking the twigs, everything can be utilized.
Traditionally we use manual methods: Manual harvesting
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
2
You would have people in the wood processing trees, trimming the tree. Logging felling
the trees, trimming the trees, eventually those trees are bucked (cut into pieces of wood of
a certain length), and then they get loaded onto a truck then sent to the mill.
Today the process is largely mechanical harvesting, however it does depend on the
typography of the land. As we have mechanized forestry it has become safer for the
loggers, it has become cheaper (reducing labor costs) however as a consequence there is a
lot less people working in the forests (less jobs for people).
Risks associated with harvesting:
• Biggest risk is that when we log the forests we are opening the canopy, increasing
light, temperature, wind speed, and decreasing relative humidity. You radically
change the conditions of the forests. If you are species and you are adapted to this
variables, and when they change within minutes (hours) it will have a large affect
and create stress on the organism. Some species can survive in the alterations.
• All the nutrients are found in the biomass if you take those trees of those sites you
are taking nutrients out of the forest. You are actually creating conditions that can
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
3
create erosions, land slides…if there is rainfall for example, the nutrients may fall
off and fall into forests. To do help with this they may spread cow manure, spread
raw fish, when they are tree planting they may plant trees that are grown in
environments that are high in nutrients (green houses)
• Soil damage, compaction, erosion silt and sedimentation → heavy machines
operating in the spring and summer time. Because you have machines operating
in the forests it may damage trees that you aren’t even using… this can cause bark
damage.
• Injuries to residual trees, seedlings and saplings, fine roots, scarring
• Can alter the habitat of species.
• Stresses the forest by opening the canopy, increasing light, temperature,
wind speed and decreasing relative humidity
• Exports nutrients out of the forest
• Soil damage, compaction, erosion, silt & sedimentation
• Injuries to residual trees, seedlings and saplings, fine roots, scarring
• Adverse effects on ecosystem – habitat destruction, fragmentation
Harvesting Systems
When we talk about harvesting, there are two major categories: Even aged harvesting and
uneven aged harvesting →
Harvesting is a type of Silvicultural… lots of different types under this term but we are
talking about harvesting… harvesting two major types
Even aged Silvicultural Systems:
• Clear-cutting systems, involving the removal of all trees;
• Shelterwood systems, involving the retention of an overstory of mature trees while
an understory of regeneration becomes established; such an understory is called
advance growth and often occurs naturally in old forests;
• Seed-tree systems, involving the leaving of a selected number of individual or
groups of trees of superior form together with a receptive seedbed;
Even aged is the status quo done in Canada. 83 Percent of the trees harvested are done by
this. You are taking ALL of the trees off the site at one time or at a series of time.
There are three sub categories within Even Ages (logging systems):
- Clear-cutting (this is the one you all think about) remove all trees at the site at the
same time, large in size and result in dramatic changes in the environment. From a
management perspective you remove all trees using manual methods (people with
chain saws happens on steep slopes) but increasing it is using mechanized
systems. When u plant the new trees they are coming up at the same time… even
aged, may be off by a few years…
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 8 (when he was sick) not apart of exam. (november 23rd 2015). This wednesday, which would normally be a make up class, no new material will be presented. It is an opportunity to ask questions about the course, with regards to the exam etc. Spent most of class on conservation but the reality is that a large portion of canada"s forest is apart of timber harvesting land base (the managed forest). These forests are found in canada where forest companies have received tenure to log these forests (crown land). Companies will log these forests and will pay a fee back to the government for the right to log. In edition to the logging of crown forests, there are parts of this country that are privately owned. For example in nova scotia 46% of the forests are privately owned. We are focusing on logging on crown land (territorial, provincial, federal land).
