FRST 557 Exam – December 7, 2012
You have 150 minutes to write this exam. Each question is worth the same amount.
Use sentences and paragraphs.
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Part 1. Answer all of Questions 1, 2 3 and 4.
1.
(Hamelin) Forest Health - Is decay good or bad – discuss. How, and why, would your
management of decay differ from site to site?
It depends on objectives, desired features goods and services for site. For timber production, it
would be bad, since decay reduces wood strength, volume of sound wood, and appearance and
consequently recoverable volumes and value. For high use recreation areas or built up areas it is
bad because trees with decayed roots, stems or branches could fail and injure people or damage
property. For biodiversity and wildlife habitat it is good – trees with heart rot can be more easily
excavated by cavity nesters, dying and dead trees act as food sources for fungi, insects and
animals, and as substrates for plant growth. Ecologically decay is necessary for nutrient recycling
and introduction of organic matter into soil.
The management of decay on a given site would depend on the objectives, desired features,
goods and services, site and stand condition and operability. For timber management, stands
should be harvested before they develop excessive decay , and the concept of pathological
rotation is useful. In partial cuts and thins, trees with decay indicators should be preferentially
removed. Advanced regeneration and veglings (layered saplings) may be infected with decay
fungi, and should be checked before they are accepted as contributing to stocking.
For high use recreation and built up areas, trees should be regularly assessed for decay indicators
and defective trees should be removed.
For biodiversity and wildlife management, decaying trees add
2. (Carroll) Forest Health - Describe the attributes of an invasive species that contribute to its
successful establishment in a new environment. What strategies can you use to manage
invasive insects?
Invasive species = an alien species whose introduction does, or is likely to, cause economic or
environmental harm or harm to human health.
Introduced forest insects - Interaction with host has not co-evolved. Suite of tree defenses
Ineffective.
Conditions which contribute to the successful establishment of an introduced pest:
 Asexual reproduction
 Fast growth/maturation
 Rapid reproduction
 High dispersal capacity
 Phenotypic plasticity
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Tolerance to wide range of environmental conditions
Generalist
Association with humans
Strategies: prevention of arrival (inspection, quarantine), establishment (detection, eradication),
spread (barrier zones).
3. (Bendickson) Operations - The first lecture in forest operations included a discussion of six
critical performance areas (CPA’s) in which objectives must be set and results monitored in
order for timber harvesting to be a successful part of a forest management plan. List these
CPA’s, and give a short explanation as to how you would deal with each of them in order to run
a successful forest operation.
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Production
Financial
Safety
Environment
Quality
People
Unless standards are set, understood, and achieved in each of these areas an operation will
not succeed. Not only must the operation be justified financially as the product is delivered,
the product must meet standards (quality), the process must be safe and environmentally
acceptable, and people must be equipped to perform all of the related tasks to accomplish
the goals.
Safety
Workers should be adequately trained, and equipped. Worksite hazards should be identified
and managed. Safe operating procedures should be developed, communicated and enforced.
Accident prevention controls provide the work environment acceptable to workers. Although
safety does not have direct revenue associated with it, safety initiatives do have associated
benefits to potential costs. Failure to adequately address workplace hazards definitely
carries a cost!
Environment
Environmental protection includes protection of soil and water quality and protection of
designated habitat features. Environmental protection standards should be identified,
communicated and enforced. Preventative measures should be in place. Operations should
be shut down during poor weather conditions. Workers should be adequately trained and
equipped to deal with situations like fuel leaks. Like safety, environmental standards are a
condition of operation. In order to control environmental costs, operational planning must
consider efficient ways to address environmental standards and expectations.
People
People are the most significant variable in achieving goals. It is imperative that workers,
supervisors, and management are adequately equipped and motivated to perform their
portion of the overall objective. Employee training is critical in forest operations to assure
that harvesting phases achieve desired result in all CPAs.
Production
The primary product of a forest operation is logs measured in cubic meters (or solid units
appropriate to the jurisdiction). This will be divided into species, grades, area sources, and
other identifiable components as is appropriate for establishing objectives. There may also
be secondary products that contribute to income, and there will also be production units
within various phases of the operation that are a cost of doing business (such as units of
roads constructed or maintained).
Fundamentally significant to the continuation of an operation is the production associated
with the establishment and maintenance of successive forests. Sustainability is only
harvesting what you grow.
Financial
No operation is viable over the long run if costs exceed revenues. Financial measures include
tracking all revenue and all costs, and looking for efficiencies in ways that do not impact the
other 5 CPA’s. Costs are normally recorded to considerable detail by and within phase.
Quality
Quality may be monitored in forest operations in many phases. The forestry department
monitors planting quality. Road standards will affect safety and travel costs and are varied
by planned utilization of each road.
The quality of the product affects the value, but also bears a cost. Objectives to improve
quality should consider the marginal value against incremental costs.
Log quality management can have a significant impact on profitability. The highest value
wood in a log is usually the outer part of its diameter, which is also the part most vulnerable
to damage in the logging process.
A saw log bucked a few centimeters too short cannot be manufactured to the optimum lumber
length. The resulting shorter lumber may have a value of only 60% (per unit volume) of a
longer length. Bucking slightly too long will result in waste.
4. (Larson) Silviculture - When considering the use of variable retention, what factors should you
consider? Considering these factors, contrast the pros and cons of dispersed versus aggregated
(grouped) retention.
- Overarching, why, what are your objectives?
Aesthetics
Carbon legacy
Wildlife (including the small stuff like amphibians)
Wet site protection
- Within your objectives discuss what is being left:
Aggregated versus dispersed;
Number of trees or number of clumps, size of clumps
Size and species distribution
Risk of losing the benefits
Wind, disease etc.
- Impact on regeneration
Size of impact (what percent of area)
Type of impact (light, water, temperature, what?)
Intensity of impact (e.g. dark shade)
- Impact on operations
Aggregated: Pros - allows retention of wildlife trees and understory vegetation in
aggregates, protects or enhances buffers next to sensitive ecosystems, easier to work around
operationally than dispersed, lower windthrow risk than dispersed for larger aggregates,
leaves most of opening in full sunlight and away from edge influence. Cons – visually may be
less appealing than moderate level dispersed retention, casts dense shade immediately to
north of retention patch, must be ribboned and mapped.
Dispersed: Pros – allows retention of veteran or other trees that might be distributed
throughout stand, visually more appealing than clearcut or aggregate retention, extends
influence of mature trees across unit (mycorrhizae, seed). Cons – hard to work around,
particularly with cable, individual trees more exposed to wind (however can retain very
windfirm veterans where they occur), creates shade across most of unit.
Part 2. Answer one of Questions 5, 6 and 7
5. Integrative - Your employer has asked you to review a prescription for a forested site prepared
by a consultant. How do you evaluate whether this is a good prescription?
Management objectives determined, owners/stakeholders consulted, desired products, services
and features identified, consistent with higher level plans.
Site and stand conditions properly diagnosed, including fertility, factors that will limit
regeneration establishment, forest health and disturbance regime, regeneration and competition
dynamics, fuel hazard, operability, slope stability, soil sensitivity, safety hazards, wildlife habitat,
water bodies or sensitive ecosystems identified and mapped.
Target stand and appropriate benchmarks for monitoring identified, and feasible given site
conditions, operability and available resources.
Treatment regime (treatments, objectives, schedule, estimated costs) described, feasible and
efficient, with a high probability of producing desired outcomes.
All of the above documented and mapped.
6. Silviculture/Operations - What factors determine soil fertility? Why does soil fertility matter to
forest land managers? How can harvesting and site preparation impact soil fertility? How can
you design and implement harvesting and site preparation operations in a way that minimizes
negative impacts on soil fertility?
Soil fertility depends on aeration, drainage, organic matter content and availability of nutrients
in forms that are available to plants. Fertile soils allow good root development, have adequate
temperatures, supply nutrients and moisture throughout the growing season, and enable gas
exchange.
Harvesting and site preparation can affect soil fertility by removing too much organic matter and
in the long term reducing organic matter and nutrient inputs. Harvesting and site preparation
equipment can cause scalping, compaction and rutting. Scalping displaces surface organic
matter and upper mineral soil horizons; compaction and rutting increase soil bulk density, reduce
aeration, and reduce water infiltration which can lead to erosion.
During harvesting and site preparation, retain some branch material on site and avoid removing
surface organic matter, especially on lower fertility sites. Map areas with wet soils that are
susceptible to compaction, and avoid using ground based harvesting equipment or site
preparation equipment when soils are wet – particularly on fine textured soils. Use equipment
with low ground pressure on wet soils. Plan skid trails to avoid areas with sensitive soils and
disperse your skidding.
7. Integrative - You have been asked to advise a client on how best to manage 50 ha of forested
land that they have just purchased using borrowed funds. They are open to some timber harvest
to help pay the mortgage, but also want to use the property for recreation and wildlife viewing.
What questions do you need to ask? What information sources will you use?
Questions (15)
Sources (10)
Current conditions
- Stand conditions and disturbance history?
- Future conditions without intervention?
- Climate
- Soils
- Wildlife habitat
- Distinctive/sensitive ecosystems
- Stand valuation
- Operability
Site and stand diagnosis, maps, aerial photos
google earth context
Field plots
Higher level plans – if relevant
Management objectives
- Desired features, products, uses?
- Values, features at risk?
- Context, relevant policies
- Timber and non-timber revenues
Interviews with owners, local experts, market
analysis for timber and non-timber products
Desired future conditions
- Recreational values, access, safety
- Fuel management?
- Access management?
- Visual quality?
- Regeneration?
Treatment possibilities
- Available equipment, desires/restrictions
concerning operations/treatment methods
- Intensity
- Timing
- Re-entry interval
- Operability
Crop planning/stand modeling and visualization
tools, expert opinion and observation of optimal
stands, stand diagnosis
Other sites
Risks, with and without treatment
- Evidence of past disturbance history
- Biotic, abiotic and fire regime?
- Interactions between agents?
- Resistant/resilient stand
- Future trajectory with and without treatment
- Soil hazards
- Invasive species
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Experience, operators, equipment specifications,
operational research
Risk assessments for each major agent,
experts, local residents, weather records,
adjacent areas
Resources available
- Budget
- Accessibility
- Expertise
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Owner, local governance body, other funding
agencies, maps, field inspections, local
experts.