session 6 ic2011 dykstra
TRANSCRIPT
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Quality of Douglas-fir Lumber from Thinnings
Designed to Improve Habitat for Endangered Species
Dennis P. Dykstra Research Forest Products Technologist (Retired)
PNW Research Station, USFS
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Presentation Outline
Siuslaw National Forest
Even-aged management issues
Focus on improving habitat for endangered species
STUDS research project
Wood-quality research questions
Data collection
Simulated sawing of logs
Analysis of lumber quality and value
Management implications of results from the research
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon
Mid- to late-20th Century: emphasis on clearcutting and planting Douglas-fir
Little diversity in age, species, structure; increase in pests
Current emphasis: habitat for spotted owl, marbled murrelet; increase diversity
Aim is uneven-aged stands with multiple species, larger trees with large limbs, variable understory
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon
Ho
llin
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ort
h, U
S F
&W
S
Mid- to late-20th Century: emphasis on clearcutting and planting Douglas-fir
Little diversity in age, species, structure; increase in pests
Current emphasis: habitat for spotted owl, marbled murrelet; increase diversity
Aim is uneven-aged stands with multiple species, larger trees with large limbs, variable understory
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon
Mid- to late-20th Century: emphasis on clearcutting and planting Douglas-fir
Little diversity in age, species, structure; increase in pests
Current emphasis: habitat for spotted owl, marbled murrelet; increase diversity
Aim is uneven-aged stands with multiple species, larger trees with large limbs, variable understory
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon
Mid- to late-20th Century: emphasis on clearcutting and planting Douglas-fir
Little diversity in age, species, structure; increase in pests
Current emphasis: habitat for spotted owl, marbled murrelet; increase diversity
Aim is uneven-aged stands with multiple species, larger trees with large limbs, variable understory
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project
Siuslaw Thinning and Understory Planting for Diversity Study
Cooperative study (Siuslaw NF, Oregon State University, PNW Research Station)
Three research sites, each involving:
Untreated control plot (1 ac)
Heavy thinning plots (2 x 1 ac)
Moderate thinning plots (2 x 1 ac)
Light thinning plots (2 x 1 ac)
Thinning treatments were both with and without underplanting
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project
Siuslaw Thinning and Understory Planting for Diversity Study
Cooperative study (Siuslaw NF, Oregon State University, PNW Research Station)
Three research sites, each involving:
Untreated control plot (1 ac)
Heavy thinning plots (2 x 1 ac)
Moderate thinning plots (2 x 1 ac)
Light thinning plots (2 x 1 ac)
Thinning treatments were both with and without underplanting
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project
Stands clearcut early 1960s, treated with prescribed fire and herbicides, then planted
Precommercially thinned in the mid-1970s
STUDS Phase I commercial thinnings 1992- 1993: stocking reduced from 223-277 trees/ac to 30, 60, 100 trees/ac
Residual trees in plots given ID numbers, measured at years 0, 4, 8 and spring 2008
Phase II thinnings 2008-2009: further reduced the plots with 60 and 100 trees/ac to densities of about 30 and 50 trees/ac respectively
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project
Stands clearcut early 1960s, treated with prescribed fire and herbicides, then planted
Precommercially thinned in the mid-1970s
STUDS Phase I commercial thinnings 1992- 1993: stocking reduced from 223-277 trees/ac to 30, 60, 100 trees/ac
Residual trees in plots given ID numbers, measured at years 0, 4, 8 and spring 2008
Phase II thinnings 2008-2009: further reduced the plots with 60 and 100 trees/ac to densities of about 30 and 50 trees/ac respectively
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project—Wood Quality Study
Is wood quality significantly reduced by thinnings designed to enhance habitat for endangered species?
Are there differences due to thinning intensity?
Are there differences between sites?
Is there an effect due to the slope aspect on which the trees are grown?
Are knots (i.e., branches) uniformly distributed around the stems of trees in the target area?
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS 2008-09 (Phase II) Thinning
2028 trees removed from the three sites
Sample for wood-quality study: 3% of thinned trees + 5 = 66 trees (Yachats: 27)
Random sample stratified by 4” Dbh class
All sample trees yarded with cable systems
Yachats Site
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project—Log Tracking
Pre-Harvest
Y2 = Yachats
Treatment 2
White ribbon
Tree ID = 1611
Label with Y2-1611
Paint at
breast height
Metal tree tag
(1611) and
checked ribbon
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project—Log Tracking
Felling
Y2 = Yachats
Treatment 2
White ribbon
Tree ID = 1611
Label with Y2-1611
Paint at
breast height
Metal tree tag
(1611) and
checked ribbon
Pre-Harvest
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project—Log Tracking
Pre-Harvest Felling Bucking
Y2 = Yachats
Treatment 2
White ribbon
Tree ID = 1611
Label with Y2-1611
Paint at
breast height
Metal tree tag
(1611) and
checked ribbon
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
STUDS Project—Log Tracking
Pre-Harvest Felling Bucking
Y2 = Yachats
Treatment 2
White ribbon
Tree ID = 1611
Label with Y2-1611
Paint at
breast height
Metal tree tag
(1611) and
checked ribbon
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Effectiveness of Log Tracking
66 sample trees felled
184 sample logs bucked from the sample trees
179 sample logs tracked successfully to the landing
5 lost sample logs were all top logs with SED < 4 inches
1 sample log arrived at the landing with unreadable tags but was identified using data recorded during bucking
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Log Profiles & Surface Defects
Peavy for
rolling logs
Measured knots
painted white
Measuring tape
Log
label
Spray paint,
hatchet, clipboard
Sweep offset at point
of maximum sweep
Chalk line running
between log ends
Log ID label (one on
each end of log)
Pith
Offset to knot
Orientation line for
top and bottom
longitudinal axes
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Log and knot summary
Attribute All logs Butt logs
2nd logs
3rd logs
Logs 179 66 66 47
Log LED, in 13.0 18.2 12.6 9.9
Log SED, in 9.4 12.7 8.7 5.9
Log length, ft 31.08 36.59 32.52 21.32
Knots 10,970 3,904 4,627 2,439
Knots/ft 2.0 1.6 2.2 2.4
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Simulated Sawing with AUTOSAW
AUTOSAW—published by the New Zealand Forest Research Institute, 1994
Improvement on earlier FRI sawing simulators
Lumber recovery and grades estimated according to sweep, crook, wane; knot position, size, and frequency; other defects not considered
Adapted for WWPA Douglas-fir grades ~2000 (PNW Research Station and NZ-FRI)
Written for the MS-DOS operating system; runs in a DOS window in Windows XP but not in Vista or Windows 7
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
AUTOSAW Data Requirements
Mill-length logs only (< 21 ft = 6400 mm)
Sawing data: headrig & edger kerf
carriage dimensions
nominal and actual widths & thicknesses
trim lengths
3-dimensional data for each log: Diameters at each profile point
Sweep and crook offsets
Location of each whorl along the log length
Branch data for each whorl (number of branches, location of each surface knot, radius of knot, rake angle of branch)
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
3D Geometry—Bucking Logs
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
3D Geometry—Bucking Logs
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
3D Geometry—Bucking Logs
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
AUTOSAW Results
Autosaw Lumber summary by piece size:
Lumber Production Report Size Pieces Volume Pct 2-in
2 x 4 180 1354.67 98.4%
Lumber produced from: 2 x 6 43 643.00
Short logs from Cataract 2 2 x 8 52 1137.33
2 x 10 49 1368.33
Date of preparation of this report: 2 x 12 51 1804.00 Pct 1-in
Friday, January 14, 2011 1 x 4 21 78.33 1.6%
1 x 6 4 24.00
1 x 8 0 0.00
1 x 10 0 0.00
1 x 12 0 0.00
Totals 400 6,409.67
Log ID
Lumber
Piece ID
Thickness,
in Width, in Len, ft
Autosaw
Grade Board Feet WWPA Grade
C2-1009-1-1 7A 2 4 18 N 12.00 SelStr SLF
C2-1009-1-1 6A 2 8 18 D 24.00 No3 J&P
C2-1009-1-1 5A 2 8 18 A 24.00 SelStr J&P
C2-1009-1-1 4A 2 4 8 N 5.33 SelStr SLF
C2-1009-1-2 8A 2 6 18 D 18.00 No3 J&P
C2-1009-1-2 7A 2 6 18 E 18.00 Econ J&P
C2-1009-1-2 6A 2 4 9 Q 6.00 No3 SLF
C2-1009-2-1 6A 2 4 14 N 9.33 SelStr SLF
C2-1009-2-1 5A 2 6 14 B 14.00 No1 J&P
C2-1009-2-1 4A 2 4 10 N 6.67 SelStr SLF
C2-1009-2-2 7A 2 4 14 O 9.33 No1 SLF
C2-1009-2-2 6A 2 4 9 P 6.00 No2 SLF
C2-1009-2-3 4A 2 4 9 N 6.00 SelStr SLF
C2-1013-1-1 11A 2 4 8 O 5.33 No1 SLF
C2-1013-1-1 10A 2 10 16 C 26.67 No2 J&P
WWPA Rule Autosaw Grade
Joists & Planks A SelStr J&P
Joists & Planks B No1 J&P
Joists & Planks C No2 J&P
Joists & Planks D No3 J&P
Joists & Planks E Econ J&P
LtFrame&Studs F Const LF
LtFrame&Studs G Std LF
LtFrame&Studs H Util LF
LtFrame&Studs I Econ LF
LtFrame&Studs J Stud
LtFrame&Studs K Econ Stud
SpecDim L Scaffold1
SpecDim M Scaffold2
StrLtFraming N SelStr SLF
StrLtFraming O No1 SLF
StrLtFraming P No2 SLF
StrLtFraming Q No3 SLF
StrLtFraming R Econ SLF
Common 1 Com1
Common 2 Com2
Common 3 Com3
Common 4 Com4
Common 5 Com5
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Lumber Grade by Log Position
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Knot Density per Tree
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
Kn
ots
pe
r F
oo
t o
f M
erc
ha
nta
ble
He
igh
t
Tree Diameter at Breast Height, inches
Trees on South-Facing Slopes
Trees on North-Facing Slopes
Cataract
Yachats
Wildcat
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Lumber Value Recovery by Tree
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
Lu
mb
er
Va
lue
, $
/CC
F T
ota
l L
og
Vo
lum
e
Tree Diameter at Breast Height, inches
Lumber Value by Tree
Cataract Observed Values
Wildcat Observed Values
Yachats Observed Values
USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station
Management Implications
Preliminary conclusions: analysis is incomplete
Apparently no statistical difference in quality of lumber from trees removed in the second treatment of light and moderate thinnings
Apparently no significant site effect
Possibly a slightly higher density of knots in logs from trees grown on south-facing slopes
Knots are not uniformly distributed around the tree bole; higher density toward the south
Thinnings do no major harm to wood quality