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Welcome to our September edition of the R&D Works newsletter.

This month our stories include a bio-composite material made from pulp and a renewablepolymer which can be made moisture resistant, rigid and strong enough to carry the weightof an adult and yet can be easily composted; a world-first pre-stressed prefabricatedflooring system to be installed in a new building in New Zealand; research that linksmaximum tree height to a ratio of annual rainfall to evaporation—key variables in changingclimates; and an FWPA funded project that assessed BioImpact, a new method thataccounts for biodiversity impacts in Australian life cycle assessments.There is also information about a free on-board navigation app that enables harvestingmachine operators to track their position on a computer tablet to improve both safety andproductivity.

I do hope you enjoy reading about these exciting research projects. Ric SinclairManaging DirectorFWPA

MAIN NEWS

Accounting for biodiversity in Life Cycle Assessmentsof forestry and agricultural production systems

Up until recently incorporating measuresof forest biodiversity within a life cycleassessment (LCA) have not been feasible

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due to a lack of a method that captureskey biodiversity principles (i.e. the impactson various taxonomic groups such asplants, mammals, birds, frogs and insects)and that can be applied globally. Nothaving such a method has put the forestryindustry at a disadvantage as previousLCAs involving forest products assumedthe impacts on biodiversity from forestryoperations negated other positiveenvironmental outcomes (e.g. lowgreenhouse footprint, carbonsequestration).

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Terrestrial laser scanning: estimation of Scots pinetimber quality

Preharvest information on the quality ofScots pine (Pinus sylvestris) timber isrequired by the forest industry in Nordiccountries, due to the strong associationbetween the technical quality and productrecovery of this species in particular. Theobjective of this study was to assess theaccuracy of estimating external qualityattributes and classifying the quality ofmature Scots pine trees by terrestrial laserscanning (TLS).

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FOREST GROWING

Devising the best strategies for E.globulus and P.radiata plantations under climate change.

Predicted changes to Australia’s climateover the next one to three decades willaffect management strategies forAustralia’s Eucalyptus globulus and Pinusradiata plantations. Forecast changes inthe frequency and intensity of droughts,bushfires, and emergent diseases andpests will affect where plantationmanagers can plant with the confidence of

getting a healthy tree crop and how theyshould look after their trees.

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New analysis links tree height to climate

New joint research from the University ofWisconsin-Madison and the AustralianNational University, looks at what factorsaffect maximum tree height and how theirrelative importance varies in different partsof the world.

Southern Victoria, Tasmania and northernCalifornia all share high rainfall, highhumidity and low evaporation rates,underlining the importance of moisturesupply to ultra-tall trees.

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Impacts of frequent burning on live trees in post-harvest regrowth forest

The management of forest ecosystems toincrease carbon storage is a globalconcern. Fire frequency has the potentialto shift considerably in the future. Theseshifts may alter demographic processesand growth of tree species, andconsequently carbon storage in forests.

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New guide for control of pine foliage diseases in NZ

For those interested in pine diseases andcontrol, a team from Scion has developeda useful guide for foresters to identify

common foliage diseases of pines and listavailable methods of control. The commonfoliage diseases in New Zealand pineplantations include; dothistroma needleblight, cyclaneusma needle cast,physiological needle blight (PNB) and redneedle cast (RNC).

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NEW PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Sustainable alternative to plastic unveiled

A British paper and technical fibrescompany and a Swedish forestry gianthave unveiled a sustainable alternative toplastic which they claim is strong enoughto carry the weight of an adult and can becomposted within 100 days.

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TIMBER CONSTRUCTION ANDDESIGN

New world first university-designed flooring system

A building soon to be constructed inNelson will be the first in the world using anew timber flooring system designed byUniversity of Canterbury structuralengineering experts with huge potentialbenefits for the Christchurch rebuild andfor the whole country.

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Using untreated wood ash as stabilising material inforest roads

While forest biomass can be utilised forcreating green energy, what is the bestuse of its wood ash by-product? InAustria, at least, most of this goes straightto landfill. This study looked at thesuitability of using wood ash as structuralstabilising material in the construction offorest roads.

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WOOD HARVESTING,TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS

HARVESTNAV app released to the forest industry

The Future Forests Research Limited(FFR) Harvesting programme has nowreleased the HARVESTNAV on-boardnavigation app and has made it availableto the whole industry free of charge.HARVESTNAV is a software applicationdesigned to enable harvesting machineoperators to track their position in theblock on a graphical harvest plandisplayed on a computer tablet mounted intheir machine.

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A new app that counts and measures wood

An idea that saves time and machines,and then money in the end as well, isalways welcome. That’s why a new ideaspawned by the German HAWK founderteam is currently attracting a lot ofattention in the wood industry.

FOVEA has developed a new smartphoneapp that automates the counting of logs ina stack and quickly calculates the value ofthe woodpile.

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Remote controlled tree felling trial shows promise

A successful trial in remote controlled treefelling could lead to significant advancesin the safety of forestry harvestingoperations. The trial was completed by theSteepland Harvesting programme—apartnership between the New ZealandGovernment and a consortium of forestrycompanies and contractors, through theMinistry for Primary Industries’ PrimaryGrowth Partnership.

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