A Financial Assessment of Windstorm Risks for Scots Pine Stands in Hemiboreal Forests

Janis Donis,Renate Saleniece,Edgars Dubrovskis,Aris Jansons,Mara Kitenberga,Oskars Krisans

doi:10.3390/f11050566

Abstract

Windstorms are a significant disturbance in northern European Scots pine forests. Mechanistic models for assessment of their impact have been developed. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of windstorms on the financial value of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands. Wind damage probability in stands with certain dimensions (linked to age and site index) and the reduced value retrieved from salvage logging instead of planned harvest in undamaged stands were used for calculation. Equivalent annual annuity with interest rates of 3%, 4%, and 5%, three different commercial thinning regimes, and different planting densities were used to assess the mean influence. Wind damage risk had a notable and significant negative effect on the financial value of Scots pine forest stands. Equivalent annual annuity decreased sharply with stand age, especially in the most productive sites (SI 36). The negative financial impact could be reduced by selection of a lower initial planting density (1000–2000 trees ha−1 instead of 3000) and by reducing the rotation period, for example, by using target diameter as the criteria for the time of final harvest.

Highlights

In Europe, an increase in the frequency of large-scale windstorms has been observed in recent decades [1]
The impact of wind damage risk on financial value was assessed in pure Scots pine stands on fertile soils with site indices (SI) of 36 and 32; such soils are rather common in Latvia, representing 17% and 30% of the total area of Scots pine stands in the country, respectively [26]
The calculations showed that the critical wind speeds decreased with the stand age, and this serves as a “sail” to catch larger wind loads and, with a taller tree stem, the critical decrease is sharper in the more productive (SI36) than less productive (SI32) sites

Summary

Introduction

In Europe, an increase in the frequency of large-scale windstorms has been observed in recent decades [1]. Forestry is an economically important sector in numerous countries in northern Europe, and has the potential to remain as profitable in the future [2]. In Latvia, forest sector products account for 20% of the total value of exports [3]. Windstorms cause notable losses for forest owners. There is a financial loss due to lower wood value and quality [4,5]. There are higher harvesting costs for salvage logging than an undamaged stand [6]. Following large-scale windstorms, the market overflows with salvage-logged timber, which causes a drastic price drop [7], further decreasing the possibility of recovering a decent timber value after the windstorms

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