Vasyl Gumeniuk(1)*, Dmytrii Holiaka(2), Olexandr Soshenskiy(1), and Volodymyr Koren(1) 

The study presents the assessment of fire effect produced by surface forest fires on the herbal plants, the possibility of natural forest regeneration and Scots pine stands of the Poliskyi Nature Reserve. Five-year succession of forest herbs following the fire of 2009 was evaluated by analyzing its species’ composition, cоenotic structure, similarity, constancy and dominance of species in the burned area and comparison with similar unburned forest. The consequences for herbal plants mostly depend on the type and intensity of a wildfire. The response of the herbal layer to fire factor varies from small revertible short-term changes to degradation or even complete distinction. Surface fires stimulate emergence of Scots pine regeneration. On stand level, fires cause the deterioration of trees’ health and the reduction of stand growth. The mathematical model for severity of fire and tree health was developed.
Key words: fire severity, natural regeneration, post 

Stanimir Stoilov

Department of Technologies and Mechanization in Forestry, University of Forestry, 10 Kliment Ohridski Blvd., 1797 Sofia, Bulgaria. E-mail: stoilovs@ltu.bg 

The results from survey of forestry equipment in 2019 show 1371 units in Bulgarian logging industry. Expectedly, the largest share is in the farm tractors adapted for timber skidding. The rate of cable skidders is more than three times lower. Cable skidders and yarders should prevail, given that most of the forests in Bulgaria are situated on steep terrains with complex forms. A fundamental problem in logging industry in Bulgaria is the huge predominance of old equipment (in operation over 10 years), and their lower production rates and higher maintenance and repair costs. A major renewal of the logging machinery is expected, due to its physical wear and lack of manpower in the logging industry as well as in the industry as a whole, which is becoming increasingly tangible. The retrofit must be done with new high-performance equipment that, while more expensive, will ensure efficiency and lower unit costs. Facilitating access to EU programs will encourage the purchase of modern logging equipment. The density of the forest road network is insufficient and investment is needed to build new forest roads to reduce the average skidding distance and unit costs, and to rise the productivity of primary transport. Increasing the maximum allowable felling intensity will lead to the possibility of mechanized logging. The increasing the intensity of cutting will expand the use of harvesters and forwarders in coniferous forests. Another driver for the rapid introduction of new logging equipment are the long-term contracts of companies for better predictability and sustainability of investments. Barriers are the oncoming recession in the demand for timber and the supply of large volumes of cheap timber damaged by natural disasters from other European countries.

Dmitry A. Danilov(1)* and Dmitry A. Zaytsev(2)

1. Institute of Forests and Natural Resources, Saint-Petersburg State Forest Technical University, 5 Institutsky lane, Saint-Petersburg, 194021, Russian Federation. *E-mail: stown200@mail.ru

2. Leningrad Research Agriculture Institute Branch of Russian Potato Research Centre, 1 Institutskaya Str., Gatchinsky District, Leningrad Oblast, 188338, Russian Federation. E-mail: disoks@gmail.com 

We studied the influence of average temperatures and precipitation of the growing season on the formation of macrostructural elements of radial growth in Scots pine and Norway spruce stands of Leningrad region located in the boreal zone of the European part of Russia. Denroclimatic studies were carried out using the results of wood samples analysis from forest stands on two-layer soils collected during 60 years. The digitized parameters of wood samples were processed in a GIS system, which made it possible to obtain an array of generalized dendrochronologies. A rank correlation analysis of the data obtained was carried out using the Spearman’s test. To simulate the combined effect of the amount of precipitation and average temperatures on the formation of the structural elements of radial growth, the method of the quadratic function was used. Depending on the composition of a stand, there was a different response to the selected meteorological factors during the study period. In pine stands, the effect of the average temperature of the growing season on the amount of annual radial growth was greater than in spruce stands. In spruce and pine stands with the participation of deciduous species, the structural elements of wood were more meteosensitive. The use of the quadratic function method made it possible to assess the combined effect of the total precipitation and average temperature of the growing season on the elements of radial growth of pine and spruce in the stands under study over the period of the experiment. Stands with various proportions of pine predominantly responded in the same way to changes in external factors associated with the climatic features of the region, which indicates the priority of their use in  dendrochronological studies. 

Adelin-Ionuț Nicorescu(1), Aureliu Florin Hălălișan(1)*, and Nikolay Neykov(2)

1.Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Brasov, 1 Sirul
Beethowen Str., Brasov, 500123, Romania. E-mails: adelin.nicorescu@student.unitbv.ro,
aureliu.halalisan@unitbv.ro*
2.Faculty of Business Management, University of Forestry, 10 Kliment Ohridsky Blvd., Sofia
1797, Bulgaria. E-mail: nneykov@ltu.bg

The aim of this paper is to analyse the history and the current situation of FSC CoC certified companies in Romania, to present an overview of the distribution of those companies in the country’s regions, to highlight the FSC product category adopted by Romanian companies and which label type is the most common. In addition, the paper will outline a brief comparison between FSC CoC and PEFC CoC. The FSC database was accessed for the analysis. Then an excel spreadsheet was created starting from the name of the certified company, its location, the certification code, FSC certificate period of validity, the standard utilized for certification, types of certificated products traded, claims of the products, primary and secondary activity at certification. The data were processed using STATISTICA 7.0. Normality of distribution was tested using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests. Compared with Europe, Romania is the third country by number of the FSC CoC certified companies. Their distribution shows a high concentration in North Romania. The main activity is primary processing (32 %) and the dominants FSC certified products found in Romania are part of the following categories: W1-Rough wood, W5-Solid wood (sawn, chipped, peeled), W3-Wood in chips or particles, W12-Indoor furniture, P5-Packaging and wrappings of paper. Among all FSC products types sold, the most frequent is FSC 100%. Therefore, the companies’ efforts must be appreciated in this respect. These efforts require the use of a range of resources, including financial ones, to demonstrate the fulfilment of all the requirements of the voluntary FSC standard.

Alexey Andreychev

Department of Zoology, National Research Mordovia State University, Saransk 430005, Russia. E-mail: andreychev1@rambler.ru

A new method of studying the activity of European mole Talpa europaea (Linnaeus, 1758) with use of digital portable voice recorders is developed. European mole demonstrates polyphasic activity pattern – three peaks of activity alternate three peaks of relative rest. Moles are found to have activity peaks from 23:00 to 3:00 h, from 6:00 to 9:00 h and from 15:00 to 18:00 h, and three periods of rest: from 3:00 to 6:00 h, from 9:00 to 15:00 h and from 18:00 to 23:00 h. Mole’s rest is relative since animals show low activity during periods of rest. Average daily interval between mole passes is 2.5 h. Duration of audibility of continuous single European mole pass by the microphone varies from 11 to 120 seconds. On average, it is 37.5 seconds.