Analysis of Qualitative Features of Beech and Oak Trunks as a Determinant of the Quality Assessment

Miloš Gejdoš,Jozef Suchomel,Zuzana Danihelová

doi:10.3390/f12010015

Abstract

Proper quality assessment of timber requires a certain level of knowledge and overview of technical conditions and correct identification and assessment of the qualitative features of trunks. The ratio of the highest quality classes is decreasing. Therefore, increasing the potential financial resources allocated to forest management could lead to the improvement and increase of this ratio. The objective of the study was to identify the frequency and occurrence of limiting features in the group of non-coniferous beech and oak trunks. A further objective was to classify major factors causing and increasing the frequency of occurrence of such limiting marks. Altogether, 969 beech and oak trunks were assessed in the University Forest Enterprise of the Technical University in Zvolen. The dependences of the size and occurrence of individual qualitative features on the selected factors were statistically assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and Cramer’s V; significance was established using χ2 test and a significance level α = 0.05. The most frequently occurring features were sweep, knots, and heart shakes. The results of the comparative and statistical analysis indicate that the management of forest stands and interventions carried out in the forest stands affect the occurrence of the negative features being analyzed the most. However, the conditions of the given site (soil, subsoil, and slope) also play a certain role and can affect the technological aspect of the harvest. The obtained results are valid for the conditions of the University Forest Enterprise of the Technical University in Zvolen; however, they can also be applied in a wider range of similar conditions of Central European forest stands.

Highlights

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Valuation of wood growing in the production forests is the key area for the forest owners, forest enterprises, as well as a starting point for long-term planning in the field of forest management [1,2]
969 beech and oak trunks were assessed in the University Forest Enterprise of the Technical University in Zvolen
The obtained results are valid for the conditions of the University Forest Enterprise of the Technical University in Zvolen; they can be applied in a wider range of similar conditions of Central European forest stands

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Valuation of wood growing in the production forests is the key area for the forest owners, forest enterprises, as well as a starting point for long-term planning in the field of forest management [1,2]. The quantitative parameters of harvested trunks limit, to a certain extent, their utilization in the conversion process. They do not provide sufficient information on the potential of trunk valuation according to the utilization purpose in individual assortment quality classes [2,7,8,9]. Since we are not capable of assessing the timber following a simple procedure according to positive qualitative features, negative qualitative features are used instead, i.e., assessment is carried out according to the amount and extent of features (defects) or according to the amount and extent of normal features, abnormalities, tree diseases, and wood defects that degrade its valuation and limit its utilization [10,11]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion