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DuEL OR TEAMWORK?

FROM SKOGFORSK. NO 2 | 2012 | RESEARCh FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY

ThEME: SWEDEN – FINLAND

ETTDEMO UNDER WAY | BROWSING – EFFECTS ON FOREST?

TEAMWORK PRODUCES ClIMATE-PROOF FORESTS

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ETTDEMOUNDER WAYHow is road transport integratedwith rail transport? how large canforest vehicles be? Tests and de-monstrations are now being prepa-red for longer and heaviervehicles.

”We want to maximise benefitand minimise environmental im-pact,” says Claes Löfroth, projectmanager for ETTdemo at Skog-forsk.

The entire Swedish forestry sec-tor is involved in the project, a totalof 30-40 different manufacturersand organisations. In addition toforestry companies and the forestindustry, other organisations invol-ved include the Swedish TransportAdministration, the Swedish Trans-port Agency, Scania, Volvo and theSwedish Assocation of Road Trans-port Companies. The first compa-nies to test the 90-ton and 74-tonvehicles will be SCA, Stora Enso,Södra, holmen and Sveaskog.

”We’re now working with autho-rities, specialists and road trans-port companies to determinevehicle layouts and calculate theo-retical stability for the vehicles,”says Claes Löfroth. “We’re alsochecking bridges and roads, to en-sure that vehicles are safe and effi-cient.”

Skogforsk is managing the pro-ject, and other project membersare Johanna Enström and NiklasFogdestam. Practical trials will beheld in several parts of the countryin spring 2013.

CONTACT: Claes Löfroth 018-18 85 07claes.lofroth@skogforsk.seREAD MORE: http://skogforsk.se/forskning/logistik/

BROWSING– EFFECTS ON FOREST?

90-ton vehicle. Soon on the roads.

The effect of browsing on pro-ductivity and quality of pine isnow to be established once forall. A new Skogforsk study willcompare enclosed areas with nobrowsing and areas open tobrowsing by moose and other un-gulates.

Recently Skogforsk was able toshow the extent of volume lossescaused by intensive browsing bymoose in winter pasture areas

around Furudal in Dalarna. ho-wever, there is virtually no infor-mation about the situation inareas with a more commonmoose density.

”We’ll be looking more closelyat around twenty stands throug-hout Sweden,” says wildlife rese-archer Märtha Wallgren, projectmanager at Skogforsk. “This willbe a long-term experiment thatwill provide data for decades, be-

ginning already at the plantingstage. And in productive areas, itwon’t be long before we will beable to present the first prelimi-nary calculations of volume los-ses.”

The first enclosures will bebuilt this summer, and browsing,damage and tree growth will bemonitored from the year of plan-ting.

Browsing by wildlife. Märtha Wallgren and her colleagues are examining the effect of browsing on productivity andquality of pine.

A new tool for evaluating bree-ding properties of forest treesgives faster-growing trees thanpreviously. This is shown in a newsurvey carried out by Skogforsk.

“We estimate that tree produc-tion increases by 2-3 percent be-cause we can now select the verybest trees for production or bree-ding,” says plant breeding speci-alist Gunnar Jansson atSkogforsk.

The new analysis tool, likethose that are used for cattlebreeding for example, can ma-nage very large quantities of data.This information about tree pro-perties, e.g. geographical origin,family, volume production andstem shape, will help to producetrees with growth rates severalpercent faster than that achievedby current plant breeding.

“The system allows us to ma-

nage much greater quantities ofdata than previously,” says Gun-nar Jansson. “It gives us betterbreeding material to select fromand increases the genetic gain.”

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WORKShOP IN UPPSALA, 23 AUGUST

WhAT CAN BE IMPROVED WITh NEW TEChNOLOGY?Measurement technology and in-formation processing have develo-ped rapidly in forestry and insawmills, but transfer and feed-back of information along the valuechains are not yet fully utilised.

On 23 August, Skogforsk, SLUand LTU are therefore arranging aworkshop to discuss integrationbetween market, industry and fo-rest. What can be achieved bycombining the different parts alongthe value chains? The workshop isaimed at anyone engaged in fo-rests, sawmills, sawmill markets,machinery and equipment manu-facturing, research and researchfunding.

CONTACT: Inger Petré, 018-18 85 31inger.petre@skogforsk.seREAD MORE: More information about the workshop is availableat skogforsk.se.BETTER SELECTION

GIVES FASTER TREES

CONTACT: Gunnar Jansson, 018-18 85 56gunnar.jansson@skogforsk.seREAD MORE: Resultat no. 2/2012, available at skogforsk.se

Satisfied with the new tool. Gunnar Jansson and his colleagues obtain better results with the TREEPLAN software.

This is the number of visitorsto Skogforsk’s new jobbais-kogen.se site so far. The siteprovides information aboutpractical logging, inspirationand know-how in the form ofarticles, tips, practical ex-amples, calculation tools,films and checklists.

3577

AWARD FOR DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGEBo Karlsson of Skogforsk is thefirst winner of Sveriges härad-sallmänningsförbund’s grant forenrichment of forest ownership.Bo Karlsson is responsible forSkogforsk’s programme for fo-rest tree breeding in southernSweden, and his work in disse-minating tangible and useful in-formation to forest owners hasnow been recognised. The moti-vation was as follows: “With his

broad research and in-depthknowledge, he has enrichedboth the forest owner looking fora ‘turbospruce’ and the one whowants to broaden the species pa-lette, for example to create grea-ter diversity on their properties.”

CONTACT:Bo Karlsson, 0418-47 13 05bo.karlsson@skogforsk.se

Bo Karlsson receives Sveriges Häradsallmänningsförbund’s grant for dissemi-nating information to forest owners.

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TOMI SALO:

SCIENCE HAS NO BARRIERS

ThEME | FINLAND

Finland and Swedenare on the same team.Cross-border teamworkin R&D and interest re-presentation is beneficialfor both countries,” saysTomi Salo, Director of Fo-rests and Environment atthe Finnish Forest Indust-ries Federation.

“Sweden and Finland both bene-fit from the lack of a common forest policy in the EU. Forestryand the forest industry have acompletely different significancein the Nordic countries and wealready have successful legisla-tion and practices.”

Text sanna liukkoPhoto antti hannuniemi

This is the view of Tomi Salo, Directorof Forests and Environment at the FinnishForest Industries Federation, the sector in-terest group.

“Sweden and Finland have a commonview of issues relating to forest and woodsupply. The countries have a joint interestin creating an efficient wood supply modeladapted to Nordic conditions. This is whyit’s important that we continue to collabo-rate in an EU context, to promote the fo-rest issues that are significant to bothSweden and Finland.”

Tomi Salo defines two areas where theforest industry has much to offer in termsof research and development: more effici-ent bioeconomics and long-distance trans-port of wood.”Seen globally, the forest industry has a

bright future because interest in bioecono-mics is growing. If we want the forest in-dustry in Finland to play a significant rolein this development, we must ensure thatthe business climate in the sector is attrac-tive to investors. An important factor hereis to guarantee the supply of wood to in-dustry, which is why there is currently a lotof focus on developing the Finnish woodsupply system and the market for forestservices,” says Tomi Salo.

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DEVELOPMENTSTEPS TOIMPROVETHE MARKETIN FINLAND1. Compile and make avai-lable information about timbertrading, timber prices and fo-rest stands at property levelfor all timber buyers and sel-lers of forest services.

2. Ensure the free market byamending the Forest Manage-ment Association Act to re-move the stipulation oncompulsory membership andassociated membership feesfor forest owners.

3. Create a service (readyby the end of 2012) that pro-vides forest owners with factsabout their forests, stands,about the need for forest con-servation measures, or thepossibility to sell timber, etc.This would make informationeasily accessible and therebyencourage owners to utilisetheir forest.

4. Create an electronicmarketplace for timber andforest services, available to allplayers.

5. Develop new ownershipstructures to stop the frag-mentation of forest proper-ties. Promotion of forestry asthe main income source forforest owners is also part ofthe fifth step.

When it comes to long-distance transportof timber, the forest industry must focuson improving the efficiency of both railand road transport. This efficiency is im-portant to ensuring competitiveness of theforest industry on the export markets.”We must focus on creating a dense net-

work of large terminals for storage and loa-ding of timber along railway routes. This iscurrently lacking in Finland, but what ispositive is that the Finnish Governmenthas now decided to invest in a network ofterminals despite the difficult economic si-tuation,” says Tomi Salo.The lack of competition in railway trans-

port is also seen as a problem – today, theFinnish state railway company, VR, has amonopoly.”We should have more players that offer

rail transport and terminal services to theforest industry. Competition would gua-rantee that the services are developed to the

benefit of the customer, the forest in-dustry.”Road transport will also be carefully ex-

amined. Timber trucks with greater capa-city, like those in the Swedish ETT projectfor example, are seen as a very promisingway of increasing productivity and cost-ef-fectiveness. A general feeling in the sector isthat more efficient road transport is the de-velopment area with most potential.”This development is interesting for

both Finland and Sweden. R&D and inte-rest representation are interlinked. Colla-boration between Sweden and Finland inresearch and method development in log-ging and timber transport can benefit bothcountries, if we can only agree on theground rules. Science has no barriers,” saysTomi Salo.

Fragmented ownership Two-thirds of the forest in Finland isowned by nearly a million people, and thisbroad ownership has started to become achallenge. The average age of forest ownersis high, and the properties are small. Theproperties are further divided when theyare inherited by more than one heir. Furt-hermore, only a few forest owners view

their forest properties as a business; instead,forest is regarded as a ‘bank’, with ownersmaking withdrawals now and again as ne-cessary. The number of forest owners livingclose to their forest properties is decreasing,and fewer and fewer have experience of fo-restry practices. All these factors make themarket uncertain, so the Finnish Forest In-dustries Federation has drawn up a deve-lopment plan to improve the situation (seebox).”The five development steps will im-

prove the market for wood and forest ser-vices. The plan will also help Finland offeran attractive investment climate in the fu-ture,” says Tomi Salo.Part of the development plan involves

creating an electronic marketplace for tim-ber and forest services, available to all play-ers.”But much remains to be done before

the marketplace is ready. Unrestricted flowsof information between different IT sys-tems, interfaces that communicate witheach other, integration of facts and designof electronic tendering processes are someof the areas we need to look at,” says TomiSalo.

Same… yet differentUnlike the Swedish forest policy, the Fin-nish forest policy includes a tax-free grantfor forest management and felling. An ex-ample is a state grant for work to improveforests according to the Act on the Finan-cing of Sustainable Forestry. Do thesegrants influence the orientation of R&D inFinland?”Interesting question,” says Tomi Salo.

“The ownership structure is an importantelement behind the Finnish forest policy.The question is whether our forests withsmall properties and fragmented ownershipwould be so well-maintained without theforest management grants.”Tomi Salo feels that, because various

support grants are rarely intended to bepermanent, they can very well serve as dri-vers for R&D.Would it be simpler to collaborate wit-

hin R&D if we had the same forest policyconditions in Finland and Sweden?”I think we need to look at the whole

picture,” says Tomi Salo. “There are manythings about forests that we have in com-mon, but there are also differences. Birds ofa feather flock together, but perhaps slightdifferences make the R&D collaborationmore rewarding for both parties.”

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Bengt Andersson,Skogforsk, projectmanager of theSwedish-Finnishresearch projectOptimal Deploy-ment, which ensu-res forest breedingmaterial adaptedto future climate

The plant selection programme isthe result of Swedish-Finnish colla-boration within the Optimal Deploy-ment research project, the aim ofwhich is to secure forest plant bree-ding material suited to future cli-mate. The project is part ofNOVELTREE, a European consor-tium of 15 partners working togetheron genetic breeding of forest trees.

The collaboration project betweenbodies such as Skogforsk and theFinnish research institute METLAwas started in 2008, and the projectwill reach a conclusion in the au-tumn when a new plant selectionprogramme is published. In Sweden,Bengt Andersson of Skogforsk is ma-naging the research and programmedevelopment.

“This is a very interesting project,”he says. “It is scientifically unique,and can be directly applied by land-owners in both Sweden and Finland.”

Unique database for pineThe researchers have developed anew forecasting model, where pro-ductivity variations are calculated inrelation to the climate index and ge-netic origin.“Today’s climate determines survi-

val, while forecasts indicate whatgrowth will be like,” says Bengt An-dersson. “We have based the calcula-tions on pine because there issufficient data to create a reallystrong model, but the model can alsobe used for other tree species.”

ThEME | FINLAND

TEAMWORKPRODUCES CLIMATE-PROOF FORESTS

In the autumn, Skogforsk and the Finnish research instituteMETLA will be launching a new Finnish-Swedish plant selec-tion programme for pine, where growth will be synchronisedwith the impending warmer climate.

Text kristina sundbaum | kristina@sundbaumkommunikation.se

RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY ShortCuts | 2 | 2012 7

Lars Bärring, climate researcherat SMHI’s RossbyCentre.

Katri Kärkkäinen,research managerat METLA.

The first stage was to create a data-base of the hundreds of thousands oftrees studied in all genetic research inSweden and Finland north of the 60°line of latitude.“Building up the database was a

huge job, but the unique thing aboutthe project is that, for the first timeever, we’re linking the growth data ofthe trees to climate variables used byclimate researchers globally,” saysBengt Andersson. “Previously wehave built models based on data frommeasurement stations, but intensivecollaboration with climate resear-chers at SMHI (Swedish Meteorolo-gical and Hydrological Institute) andFMI (Finnish Meteorological Insti-tute) has enabled us to produce cli-mate indices with very reliableforecasts for the future.”

From global to regionalLars Bärring, climate researcher atSMHI’s Rossby Centre, has collabo-rated with Skogforsk and METLA toproduce the climate indices used inthe model.“We worked from global climate

scenarios,” he explains. “We literallyzoomed in on the global scenarios toproduce climate indices that are

’’

adapted to regional levels.”SMHI is not formally involved in

the project, but Lars Bärring’s andBengt Andersson’s paths crossedthrough the research programme Mi-stra-SVECIA, in which forest is athematic area, and so the collabora-tion began.“As climate researchers, our pri-

mary outcome is generally applicableinformation from the scenarios, butnow we’ve been able to see a specificand tangible application,” says LarsBärring. “It’s interesting to develop amethodology that can soon lead topractical use of the climate scena-rios.”

Both countries benefitOne of the advantages of conductingresearch together with Finland is thata greater range of species varieties isincluded, so Swedish and Finnish fo-rest owners have a greater choice interms of plant selection. Another be-nefit is that the model is made moreinteresting for other countries.“Climate is changing much faster

than forest rotations, so the modelwill give the forest owner very valu-able and reliable information on decisions about the plant breeding

material that is most suitable,” saysKatri Kärkkäinen, research managerfor the project at METLA in Fin-land. “One bonus of course is thatFinnish forest owners receive infor-mation about Swedish pines and viceversa.”

New plant selection programmeIn the autumn, a first version of theplant selection programme will bepresented. Forest owners will be ableto optimise the selection of pine withadaptations to new climate indices,thereby giving better growth forecastsin relation to changing climate.“There’s a lot of talk about the

value of cross-border research, but it’soften easier said than done. But here,it really feels as if we’re well on theway. And the direct and very valuablepractical application is an extrabonus,” says Bengt Andersson.Katri Kärkkäinen agrees.“Collaboration with the Swedes

has been very pleasant and stra-ightforward. The most intensive ar-guments have been about ice hockey.Unfortunately we never seem toreach consensus – the battle goeson…”

Collaboration with the Swedes has beenvery pleasant and straightforward. Themost intensive arguments have beenabout ice hockey. Unfortunately we neverseem to reach consensus – the battlegoes on…

RESEARCH PROGRAMMESWOOD uTILIzATION Lars Wilhelmssonlars.wilhelmsson@skogforsk.se. Phone: +46 18 188555FOREST TECHNOLOGy Magnus Thormagnus.thor@skogforsk.sePhone: +46 18 188596LOGISTICS Gert Andersson, gert.andersson@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188567

FOREST BIOENERGy Rolf Björhedenrolf.bjorheden@skogforsk.sePhone: +46 18 188509TREE BREEDING NORTHBengt Andersson bengt.andersson@skogforsk.sePh: +46 90 2033358TREE BREEDING SOuTH Bo Karlssonbo.karlsson@skogforsk.sePhone: +46 418 471305

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

uPPSALA (Head Office) uppsala Science Park,SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden Phone: +46 18 188500

EKEBO Ekebo 2250, SE-268 90 Svalöv, SwedenPhone: +46 418 471300

uMEÅ P.O. Box 3, SE-918 21 Sävar, Sweden.Phone: +46 90 2033350

www.skogforsk.seEditor in chief: Jan Fryk | Form: Pagarango | Editor: Bitzer | ISSN: 2000-2726 | Photos: Sverker Johansson unless otherwise statedTranslated by: Leslie Walke, CommunicAID | Printed by: Gävle Offset, 2012

“Was this your idea?”The question almost soundslike a threat. Hasse Johansson,who operates machines for Sö-derbärke gräv och skogsentre-prenad AB, climbs down fromthe Ponsse and marches over toMartin Englund.“No… not really”, replies

Martin. “It was really my col-league Claes Löfroth who cameupon it years ago... but nowI’m the project manager.”“Shame you didn’t think of it

ten years ago,” laughs Hasse.

“They say you’ll be removingthem after the trial – but youcan’t!”

You seem satisfied?“Absolutely,” says Hasse. “It’s a great help when felling. It doesn’t just save chains whenyou can see what you are cut-ting into. I believe that stumpheights are lower too. And italso helps us determine thequality of the stems – I feel youcan see stem defects muchmore clearly.”

Together with the machinemanufacturer Ponsse and con-tractor Kjell Andersson, Skog-forsk’s Martin Englund hasinstalled LED lamps on aPonsse H7 harvester head as atrial. The lighting consists ofthree LED lamps of 5 wattsand 500 lumen, inserted in theback wall of the saw box.“In the autumn, we hope to

get started on a more extensivefollow-up of productivity,” saysMartin Englund.

Conventional work lights don't always illuminate the area at the tip of the boom very well. By installing LEDlamps in the harvester head, researchers hope to be able to improve productivity, reduce the number ofchain replacements and improve bucking. Text & photo sverker johansson | bitzer@live.se

4 FROM THEOPERATORS

Less rock-damage to saws. “Nowwe can see the rocks – particularlywhen they’re hidden under bushesand brushwood that reflects conven-tional lighting.”Correct stump height. “We don’tneed to leave a margin to the groundand rocks when it is dark. The resultis lower stumps.”Simpler felling. "The lamps on thehead give better visibility aroundthe stem, also through the holes inthe saw box.”Improved bucking. “The LEDlamps illuminate a few decimetres of the stem around the saw box.Cankers, spike knots and knot clusters can be more easily seen –this improves bucking.”

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