Martin Kühmaier

• Dr
• Senior Researcher at BOKU University

Regression models were evaluated to estimate stand-level growing stock volume (GSV), quadratic mean diameter (QMD), basal area (BA), and stem density (N) in the Brixen im Thale forest district of Austria. Field measurements for GSV, QMD, and BA were collected on 146 inventory plots using a handheld mobile personal laser scanning system. Predictor v...

Within the wood supply chain, timber harvesting plays a crucial role, especially with the growing importance of bioeconomy. This study focused on the effects of a fully mechanized timber harvesting system using a harvester and forwarder on various soil properties in a mixed stand dominated by Picea abies located in Upper Austria. Using portable whe...

The determination of diameter at breast height (DBH) is critical in forestry, serving as a key metric for deriving various parameters, including tree volume. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology has been increasingly employed in forest inventories, and the development of cost-effective, user-friendly smartphone and tablet applications (ap...

Purpose of Review The aim of this literature review was to bring together the most relevant and recent research information on the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions caused by the fully mechanized cut-to-length (CTL) harvesting machinery when applied to industrial roundwood. A specific aim of this review was to describe the effect of different inde...

Logging-induced soil compaction poses a significant threat to soil habitat functions, particularly to root systems and their symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizae. Understanding the consequences of soil compaction is essential for sustainable forest management, as intact forest ecosystems play a critical role in climate change resilience and mit...

Soil compaction in forests, often a result of logging activities, poses a significant threat to soil functioning and ecosystem services. Root systems and their symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizae are particularly affected. Given the vital role that sustainably managed forest ecosystems play for climate change resilience and mitigation, underst...

Structural properties of undisturbed soils are critical for water retention and the reduction of peak flows after heavy rainfall events. Forest soils commonly show high infiltration rates that can be attributed to a high organic content and the formation of larger pores through biological activity. Though soil disturbances, especially soil compacti...

Temperate forests are a substantial sink for the greenhouse gases (GHG) methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and soil emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) are low. However, most of these forests are managed with ground-based harvesting systems causing severe soil disturbance. Soil displacement and compaction has a long-term effect on the soil microbial...

Purpose of Review The comprehensive assessment of timber and fuelwood harvesting operations through the consideration of the three pillars of sustainability: Economic, social, and environmental has not received much attention. The use of criteria can significantly improve impact assessment. Therefore, the objective of this review paper is to compil...

Introduction: Cable yarding is a technology that enables efficient and sustainable use of timber resources in mountainous areas. Carriages as an integral component of cable yarding systems have undergone significant development in recent decades. In addition to mechanical and functional developments, carriages are increasingly used as carrier platf...

Digital transformation of the timber supply chain is more relevant at present than ever before. Timber tracking is one example of digital transformation, and can be performed in various locations, from the forest to the mill, or even beyond, to the final timber product. The integration of new technologies in the forestry and timber industries shoul...

Digitization can help the forest industry to improve cost efficiency and to reduce possible environmental impacts. In the context of this study, models were implemented using the example of windthrow processing, which enables a capacity planning for carrying out timber harvesting. For capacity planning, it is necessary to estimate the time required...

Wood is a renewable product, but for the supply of wood non-renewable materials are also necessary, which can have negative environmental impacts. The objective of this study was to analyze the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by the forest supply chain in Austria using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods. The forest supply chain consists of s...

Steep country harvesting has been identified as the main bottleneck to achieving greater profitability in the forestry sector of New Zealand and Australia. An improvement of efficiency, work safety and environmental sustainability should be realized by developing an advanced steep terrain timber harvesting system based on innovative Austrian techno...

The fuel consumption of equipment during forest harvesting operations is still not well known and existing measurement technologies are largely untested. Considering forest industry’s need, some countries have developed and compared tools to quantify, control and analyses fuel consumption to create suitable analysis methods. Comprehensive trials ha...

The strength of this report is the details about current European supply chains((for details see Chapter 2) and how they vary throughout Europe in terms of mechanisation, systems, employment, wages, accidents, production costs, productivity, fuel use, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (for details see Chapter 0). Innovation potentials have be...

The objective of this work is an estimation of the potential environmental impacts of producing 1 m³ of timber, ending with the transport of the assortments to their respective processing plants.

Sustainably managed forests provide renewable raw material that can be used for primary/secondary conversion products and as biomass for energy generation. The potentially available amounts of timber, which are still lower than annual increments, have been published earlier. Access to this timber can be challenging for small-dimensioned assortments...

To reduce the fuel consumption costs, it is important to understand the impact of the different factors such as transport distance, truck weight and payload. This report aimed to review previous studies in Europe, Canada and Australia to achieve the following objectives; • to create an international data base on truck fuel consumption. • to examine...

Within the fuel wood supply chain, comminution and transport have been identified as processes with the highest costs, energy consumption and emissions. The coordination of comminution and transport aimed at avoiding operational delays is also complex. Nevertheless, the use of forest biomass helps to reduce the effects of climate change and produce...

The share of renewable energy produced from solid biomass increases. The additional demand of solid biomass in terms of energy wood has to be supplied efficiently. To secure these requires a good supply network. The presented study describes a framework, which uses a MIP optimization model and scenario analysis to determine optimal storage location...

This study provides an overview of most efficient biomass harvesting technologies and supply chains applied in North America, Europe and Southern Hemisphere. The productivity and cost of selected efficient technologies have been presented for each country with a brief description about source of the biomass and working method. Expert’s opinions on...

Overview of research trends in forest biomass supply in Europe considering the years 2007 to 2017. Classification according to key supply processes. Identification of future research needs to both industrial and academic development.

logistics, multi-criteria optimization, biomass supply chains,

Forest inventory is the basis for creating forest management plan. In Europe, forest inventory data is usually collected manually by standard survey methods based on sampling procedures. The information from forest management plan to execute silvicultural and harvesting treatments is transferred to the field by standard tree marking methods e.g. ma...

This study provides a state-of-the art overview of forest biomass harvesting technologies and supply chains used in North America, Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. The productivity and cost of selected efficient technologies is presented for each country with a brief description about the source of the biomass and harvesting method. Expert opini...

Forest fuel is a renewable source with the potential to substitute fossil fuels in several application fields, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting rural areas by fostering income and jobs. Contribution margins in fuelwood supply are small and ensuring supply chain efficiency plays a crucial role in delivering high quality produ...

Timber production is an important ecosystem service of European mountain forests. This paper aimed to assess the current practices in logging operations and to identify the efficiency gaps in timber production. The study was located in seven case study areas from representative European mountain ranges, where 632 logging operations were analysed. T...

Precision forestry is one of the mainstreams of future forest engineering development. Optimized operations rely on efficient and exact transmission of information regarding forest stands up to the single trees. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags with Ultra High Frequency (UHF) technology are a promising tool for linking information to a si...

The supply of wood for energy is challenging due to high supply costs and rapidly increasing demand. As an important quality criterion, moisture content (MC) influences the revenues, demand and supply costs. For transport, the limiting factor is payload, if the MC is high. The effects of MC on costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for an optimiz...

Traceability of wood products is more and more relying on high technology systems. Among them the Radio-Frequency IDentification with Ultra High Frequency (RFID UHF ) tags are probably the most flexible and promising tools. Several studies address their use in timber logistics, but the possibility to mark standing trees and maintain intact the info...

This bulletin provides a short review on different international studies on fuel consumptions of the harvesting machines and demonstrates how to reduce the fuel rates in different operations.

Sound development of forest infrastructure represents the backbone for sustainable forest management. However, planning forest roads, which nowadays must fulfill multiple conflicting objectives, is not an easy task. A GIS based model was developed for supporting decision making in forest road engineering. The tool allowed assessment of forest infra...

The use of wood for heat and energy production has increased over the last two decades and there is still increasing demand. Harvesting energy wood can provide an extra source of income for the forest owners and generally affects the economics of forest operation positively, but impacts on environmental and social aspects, like the ecological balan...

Australia is at an early stage of exploring the use of forest biomass to generate energy. This study evaluated the biomass yield and the productivity rates of equipment for harvesting biomass in a poor-quality eucalypt plantation. The operation consisted of a tracked feller-buncher, grapple skidder and mobile chipper. Time study methods were used t...

Strategic and tactical decisions in timber harvesting planning have long-term consequences on the further development of forests. Decisions about harvesting activities are often based on intuition and the consequences of these actions cannot be determined exactly. A GIS based evaluation model was designed to support the timber harvesting decision m...

To minimize the cost of logging, it is necessary to optimize the road density. The aim of this study was to determine optimal road spacing (ORS) in Northern Austria. The stepwise regression method was used in modelling. The production rate of tower yarder was 10.4 m3/PSHo (Productive system hours) and cost of 19.71 μro.m-3. ORS was studied by calcu...

To minimize the cost of logging, it is necessary to optimize the road density. The aim of this study was to determine optimal road spacing (ORS) in Northern Austria. The stepwise regression method was used in modelling. The production rate of tower yarder was 10.4 m3/PSHo (Productive system hours) and cost of 19.71 €.m–3. ORS was studied by calcula...

The supply of wood chip for energy production offers the chance of additional added value for the forestry. At the moment the costs for wood chip supply are higher than the achievable revenues. Therefore all processes of the added value chain have to be coordinated by the use of improved logistic concepts. The aim of this project was the optimisati...

“Experience grows through being shared”. This booklet presents a newly-developed expert system that is intended to support planners, managers and consultants of Protected Areas through a system of self-assessment, focused recommendations and a comprehensive knowledge base. The interactive Toolbox provides substantial information on the integrative...

Experience is growing by sharing it". The paper presents a newly developed expert system that shall support planners, managers and consulters of Protected Areas (PAs) by a system of self-assessment, focused recommendations and a comprehensive knowledge base. The interactive "toolbox" provides substantial information on integrative management of PAs...