Forest utilization strategies to maximize value creation from British Columbia's forest resources

BC省的林业部门迫切需要现代化和创新，以确保经济繁荣。因此，我的研究的主要长期目标是通过最大限度地提高BC省每公顷采伐的木材价值，为提高BC省林业部门的竞争力和可持续性做出贡献。这一目标将导致相同地区的产量增加，这将是解决纤维供应和竞争力挑战的重要一步。这一长期目标将得到两个短期目标的支持：I）优化森林运营实践，特别是使用下一代设备在BC的环境和地理梯度上进行间伐II）开发新的方法来评估森林生物量的可用性，收获技术和方法其目的是i）确定适合BC的创新采伐技术和林业机械概念，ii）确定其在不同林分类型和条件下的生产力和成本，iii）调查其增加区域纤维供应和整体林分价值的能力，iv）开发决策支持模型，以确定每种采伐系统在哪些当地条件下最合适。目标二将由一名博士来解决。还有一个理学硕士的博士将调查在不同条件下收获残留物的积累情况（林分类型、当地市场、经济学），方法是：i）更新和验证不列颠哥伦比亚省不同地点和林分类型的BiOS模型的准确性，ii）进一步开发收获残留物预测模型，以包括收获的纤维类别（锯材、纸浆材）的生产; iii）使用地统计分析方法将收获残留物估计模型从林分水平扩展到景观水平估计; iv）绘制纤维类别的分布图（日志记录）大面积。 一个硕士将i）研究BC生物质收获的创新综合收获方法; ii）比较森林到工业的供应成本; iii）为BC生物质创新综合收获系统的吸收提供建议研究直接帮助解决BC森林部门面临的挑战。以科学为基础的决策支持工具正在促进森林管理的转变和从有限的森林资源中创造价值。这项研究将吸引大量利益攸关方，包括承包商、森林管理者、林业和林业部。除了在期刊上进行学术传播外，还将通过技术指南、实地考察、实习和积极参与专业会议来传播成果。最后，由于劳动力短缺，林业部门也面临着困难，这项拟议的研究将支持HQP的教育，毕业后可以立即对该部门产生影响。

The forest sector in BC is in urgent need to modernization and innovation in order to ensure economic prosperity. Consequently the main long term objective of my research is to contribute to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the forest sector in BC by maximising the value of wood extracted from each hectare harvested in BC.This objective would lead to more production from the same areas, which would be a major step towards addressing fibre supply and competitiveness challenges. This long-term objective will be supported by two short-term objectives: I)Optimising forest operations practices, specifically thinning, across environmental, and geographical gradients in BC using next generation equipment II)Developing novel methodologies to assess forest biomass availability, harvesting technology and methods Objective I, will be addressed by a Ph.D., which aims to i) identify innovative harvesting technologies and forest machine concepts suitable for BC, ii) determine their productivity and cost in different stand types and conditions, iii) investigate their ability to increasing regional fibre supply and overall stand value and iv) develop a decision support model to identify under which local conditions each harvesting system is the most appropriate. Objective II will be addressed by a Ph.D. and a M.Sc.. The Ph.D. will investigate the accumulation of harvest residues under varying conditions (stand types, local markets, economics) by i) updating and validating the accuracy of the  BiOS model for different site and stand types in BC, ii) further developing harvest residue prediction models to include categories of fibre harvested (sawlog, pulpwood) under varying economic and environmental conditions; iii) expanding harvest residue estimation models from stand level to landscape level estimations using geostatistical analysis approaches and iv) mapping distribution of fibre categories (log assortments) over large areas. A M.Sc. will i) investigate innovative integrated harvesting approaches for biomass harvesting in BC; ii) compare forest-to-industry supply costs; and iii) provide recommendations for uptake of innovative integrated harvesting systems for biomass in BC The research is directly helping to address challenges the forest sector is facing in BC. The science based decision support tools are contributing to a transformation in forest management and value creation from the limited forest resources. The research will engage a large number of stakeholders including contractors, forest managers, the forest industry and the ministry. In addition to the academic dissemination in journals results will also be communicated through tech guides, field visits, internships and active participation in professional conferences. Finally, the forest sector is also facing difficulties due to labor shortages and this proposed research will support the education of HQP that can have an immediate impact in the sector upon graduation.