Hopp til hovedinnholdet

Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2014

Abstract

This study presents the analysis of panel data on steep terrain logging productivity in Norway. Given the specification of a Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier production function in which the technical inefficiency is a function of six different environmental factors, it was found that only one (terrain hindrance) decreased the efficiency significantly. The estimated efficiencies for the sample crews ranged from 0.43 to 0.99. Because of the nature of the inefficiency factors, one way to improve the efficiency could be to train the crews for working on steep slopes. This would also improve the safety when exposing workers to these types of environmental hazards.

Abstract

Variable retention harvesting is acknowledged as a cost-effective conservation measure, but previous studies have focused on the environmental value and planning cost. In this study, a model is presented for optimizing harvesting cost using a high resolution map generated from airborne laser scanning data. The harvesting cost optimization model is used to calculate the objective value of different scenarios. By comparing the objective values, better estimates of the opportunity cost of woodland key habitats are found. The model can be used by a forest manager when evaluating what silvicultural treatments to implement or as an input for improving the nature reserve selection problem for woodland key habitats or retention patches. The model was tested on four real-world cases, and the results indicate that terrain transportation costs vary more than reported in the literature and that it may be worthwhile to divide the opportunity cost into its direct and indirect components.