Quality management of forest regeneration activities

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to find out what are the main factors that have to be taken into account in planning, controlling and improving the quality of forest regeneration activities. The forest regeneration services provided for the non-industrial privately-owned forests in Southern Finland by the local Forest Owners' Associations (FOAs) were used as an example. Since the original assumptions of quality management were not completely valid in this context, Lillrank's classification of production processes was used. The classification fit well for this field of services, and a tentative framework for modelling and standardisation of forest regeneration service processes was proposed for further testing. The results of regeneration and costs varied considerably between the service providers at different levels. The jointly analysed inventory results and feedback provided a sound starting point for tackling the main causes of the statistical variation observed. The inventory results indicated that the selection of proper methods of regeneration and the way they were executed were the most common factors influencing the quality of service outcomes. The cost-quality analysis of the two most common chains of regeneration revealed an improvement potential for the cost-efficiency of these services. In the case of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) planting the regeneration costs were only weakly related to quality. As for direct seeding of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) direct seeding, a significant positive correlation was found. However, the selection of this chain of regeneration for the MT (Myrtillus type) and more fertile site types produced poor regeneration results. In the case of Norway spruce planting, the most important factor explaining the outcomes was soil preparation. Selection of mounding produced better results than patching and disc trenching. In the FOAs, the effect of quality management interventions was observable especially regarding the improvement of resource allocation and practices related to soil preparation. Keywords TIIVISTELMÄTutkimuksen päämääränä oli selvittää korkealaatuiseen metsänuudistamistulokseen tähtäävän uudistamistoiminnan suunnittelussa, hallinnassa ja kehittämisessä vaadittavat tekijät. Esimerkkinä toimivat Etelä-Suomen yksityismetsiin metsänuudistamispalveluja tuottavat metsänhoitoyhdistykset. Koska laatujohtamisen perusoletukset eivät olleet kaikilta osin päteviä yksityismetsien uudistamistoiminnassa, käytettiin apuna Lillrankin kehittämää tuotantoprosessien luokittelua. Tämä luokitus soveltui hyvin tutkittavien palvelujen kehittämiseen, ja sen pohjalta luotiin alustava kehittämismalli metsänuudistamisen palveluprosessien mallinnukseen ja vakiointiin. Tutkimustulokset paljastivat merkittävää vaihtelua sekä uudistamistuloksissa että palvelujen kustannuksissa eri toimijoiden välillä. Yhdessä analysoitu palaute laatuinventoinneista mahdollisti kehittämistyön, jossa keskityttiin merkittävimpien tilastollista vaihtelua aiheuttavien tekijöiden hallintaan. Merk...

Mechanized tree planting in Finland and improving its productivity

“…With respect to the target seedling density of 1800 pl ha -1 set by Finnish forest management practice recommendations by the Tapio Forestry Development Centre (Äijälä et al 2014), planting quality was excellent in Articles III-V. The average number of Norway spruce seedlings planted manually in southern Finland has been reported as 1388 pl ha -1 (SD 378) (Kankaanhuhta 2014), which is below the recommended target (Äijälä et al 2014). Planting machines plant seedlings deeper than manual worker (Luoranen et al 2011, Luoranen andViiri 2016) and deeply-planted seedlings have been reported to survive and grow better than those planted at more shallow depths (Luoranen and Viiri 2016).…”

“…The buried humus layers will decompose and provide nutrients to the seedling over the next few years, and capillary action raises water from the ground so the seedlings are not solely dependent on rainwater (Luoranen et al 2007). Selecting mounding over patching or disc trenching produces better results, as seedling growth is enhanced in the mounded spots (Heiskanen et al 2013;Kankaanhuhta 2014). Soil preparation in general also has a negative impact in terms of enhancing the growth of unwanted tree species that disturb the development of coniferous crop trees (Saksa et al 1990).…”

“…With Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), the share of domestic bare-root seedlings delivered for planting in 1990 was 29% and after 2007 the share has diminished to virtually zero (Juntunen and Herrala-Ylinen 2014). Containerized seedlings are planted manually after soil preparation using a planting tube, and the quality of planting work is strongly related to soil preparation (Kankaanhuhta 2014;Juntunen and Herrala-Ylinen 2014). The time consumption of manual planting is greatly affected by working conditions and the size of the containerized seedling root plug (Räsänen 1982;Harstela 2004;Strandström et al 2009).…”

“…The first five years after planting are the most critical for seedling survival (Johansson et al 2013). Spot mounding has been reported to provide the best results when establishing Norway spruce (Uotila et al 2010;Kankaanhuhta 2014). Planting date also affects seedling outplanting performance.…”

“…Tapio Forestry Development Centre has recommended a planting density of 1800 pl ha -1 for Norway spruce, varying by ±200 seedlings ha -1 depending on soil fertility (Äijälä et al 2014). It is important to plant tree species on suitable site types as an improper site produces poor regeneration results (Kankaanhuhta 2014). Deep planting is common nowadays, and deepplanted seedlings, i.e.…”