Abstract
During the seven-year research period, the average annual removal was by 3274 m3 higher than the average annual removal prescribed by the existing management plan (MP). The main reason lies in the high amount of salvage felling volume at 55,238 m3 (38.3%) in both the main and the intermediate felling due to oak dieback. The analysis of forest accessibility took into account the spatial distribution of cutblocks (with ongoing felling operations) and the volume of felled timber for two proposed factors: (1) the position of the cutblock and (2) the position of the removal. Cutblock position factor took into account the spatial position of the felling areas/sites, while removal position factor besides the spatial reference took into account the amount of felled timber (i.e., volume) both concerning forest infrastructure network and forest operations. The analysed relative forest openness by using geo-processing workflows in GIS environment showed four types of opening areas in the studied management unit (MU): single-opened, multiple-opened, unopened and opened areas outside of the management unit. Negative effects of the piece-volume law and low harvesting densities on forest operations are highlighted in this research due to high amount of salvage felling particularly in the intermediate felling by replacing timber volume that should have come from thinnings.
Highlights
Forest road networks are managed to provide economic access to forest resources while minimising the environmental impacts [1]
The primary forest transport infrastructure consists of all categories of forest roads, public roads that can be used in forest management and unclassified roads as well [3]
Negative effects of the piece-volume law and low harvesting densities on forest operations are highlighted in this research due to high amount of salvage felling in the intermediate felling by replacing timber volume that should have come from thinnings
Summary
Forest road networks are managed to provide economic access to forest resources while minimising the environmental impacts [1]. A sufficiently dense and properly distributed network of forest roads is a basic prerequisite for intensive forest management, and proper silviculture and harvesting operations, and for fire-fighting activities [4]. The model of the lowest cumulative costs of timber extraction and building forest roads dictates that the denser the network of forest roads, the higher the costs of road construction, and the cheaper the transport of wood and vice versa [6]. The optimal density of forest roads is determined by the road distance where the transport costs and costs related to the forest roads are the lowest. It should be emphasised that the accessibility of forests is not exclusively focused on timber extraction and long-distance transport of timber, and other forest management activities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
