Journal of Wood and Forest Science and Technology
Year:2016 | Volume:22 | Issue:4|Papers Count:17

Background and objectives: National parks have basic role in conservation of natural ecosystem in national and universal area. Since identification and prioritization ecological, economical and social criteria and indicators for assement of national parks are very important.Materials and methods: In this study, we used Delphi questionnaire for identification very important ecological, economical and social criteria and indicators in the evaluation of national parks and Entropy technique used for calculation wight of them. Then, multi-criteria decision making techniques such as SAW and TOPSIS used for prioritization of ecological, economical and social indicators of national parks.Results: The analysis of result useing of Delphi method, identificated 129 indicators and 7 criteria from aspect ecologic, economic and social for evaluation of national park that after customization was determinate 89 ecologic indicators, 7 economic indicators and 15 social indicators. The result of Entropy technique showed that protective and environmental functions criterion whit 0.228161 weight, concervation of biological diversity whit 0.168609 weight, maintenance and development of social functions whit 0.148688 weight and productive capacity and functions whit 0.109170 weight recpectivly had the highest weight.Conclusion: The result of TOPSIS and SAW techniques showed that that protective and environmental functions criterion and concervation of biological diversity aspect of ecology had more prioritization in comparison whit other criterias. The comparison between two model results showed that result of TOPSIS technique is better than result of SAW and it more near than to reality.

Background and objectives: In the today's competitive world, one of the most important marketing strategies for manufacturing companies is customer-oriented approach, in a way that creates value for them, leading to the formation of loyal customers. Customer loyalty is a multi-criteria decision problem that influences different factors.Materials and Methods: In this paper, the basic and effectiveness factors of customer loyalty were identified using relevant literature and the specialist's opinions and then by a multi-criteria decision approach combining ANP and fuzzy DEMATEL an integrated process were presented for ranking the factors affecting customer loyalty in the industry of wooden furniture. In this research, we have used the two questionnaires related to the mentioned methods. The ANP and DEMATEL questionnaire consist five and four paired comparison tables respectively that show the impact of the major factors affecting customer loyalty on one another.Results: The results indicate that among the main factors, customer satisfaction (0.025), perceived quality of interactive elements service (0.020) and the perceived image of the company (0.016) respectively are more important. In the following factors of customer satisfaction, the most important from the perspective of individual product is the mentioned product price (0.025). The second and third are the products diversity index (0.006) and quality of the product (0.003) respectively. The company's reputation (0.038), credibility and reputation of the brand (0.027), and advertising and promoting (0.019) measures are the most important sub-factors of the perceived image of the company respectively. The most important factors of perceived quality of interactive elements service in terms of respondents were product availability (0.027) and replacement inferior product (0.018). Track customer complaints (0.010), the mentioned sellers desired behavior (0.005) are in the following importance categories.Conclusions: The obtained results can help to companies producing these products in order to increase customer loyalty, more important factors contributing to the further consideration, such as consumer satisfaction. This means that these have to improve the quality of the relationship with the consumer and adopt appropriate strategies. Therefore, it is suggested to organizations and companies in the supply chain of the industry for keeping maintain in the competition environment pay attention to the results of this research. Also, researchers can investigate the effective factors on the customer loyalty in other parts of the supply chain, including distributors, dealers, end users in the future studies.

Background and objectives: Genetic diversity plays an important role in the maintenance of ecological and socio-economic functions and survival of plant species. Information on the natural patterns of genetic variability and their evolutionary bases are of essential practical keys for sustainable forest management and conservation. According to population genetic theories, waste of genetic diversity is a great threat to endangered species with narrow geographic distribution or growing in small populations. Molecular tools can be noteworthy means to study the natural genetic diversity patterns in threatened species and to reveal demographic and ecological aspects in species management in order to plan long-term conservation or restoration projects. Among them, the inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR), Inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP), and start codon targeted (SCoT) marker are quick and cost-effective techniques based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that with a high repeatability amplify the target sequences of multiple loci in the genome. In this study, the genotypic and phenotypic diversity of 109 individuals from nine populations of Lebanon oak (Quercus libani) of north-Zagros forests has been reported using start codon targeted (SCoT) molecular marker, and leaf morphological and biochemical characteristics.Materials and Methods: This study was carried out with 109 individuals from nine populations of Lebanon oak (Q. libani) distributed throughout the oak forests of Marivan and Baneh. In order to decrease the likelihood of genotypic similarity, leaf samples were collected from the trees with at least 100 m distance within populations. The samples were then stored at -20°C (for DNA extraction) or at 4°C (for morpholical and biochemical examinations). Morphological tests were performed using eight descriptive developed for Quercus genus. Biochemical analysis of total nitrogen, starch, total carbohydrate, potassium, calcium, magnesium and ferrous were conducted based on Kejeldal, spectrophotometry, atomic absorption and flame photometry methods. Genomic DNA was extracted from leaf material following the method described by Doyle and Doyle with a minor modification. After visualizing and scoring the amplified bands from 10 primers, the 1 and 0 matrices were analyzed using PopGene software and the dendrogram was constructed through the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA) using the Dice similarity index. Marker and population genetic parameters such as Nei's genetic diversity (h), Shannon diversity index (I), the percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB), and measures of genetic distance were estimated. The genetic structure of the studied populations was further investigated by analysis of molecular variation (AMOVA) to estimate variation among and within populations based on marker patterns, gene flow, and genetic differentiation index.Results: Cluster analysis of all phenotypic data grouped the studied populations into five main clusters. Totally, ten SCoT primers produced 101 amplification products, of which 92 fragments (90%) were polymorphic. Nei's gene diversity (h) and Shannon's diversity index (I) were relatively high at the both species (h =0.284, I = 0.258) and population (h= 0.191, I= 0.279) levels. High phenotypic and genetic diversity demonstrated that Lebanon oak populations in north Zagros forests maintained a high level of variation. The estimated GST (0.29) showed that the most revealed genetic diversity resided within populations (87%), which was identified with the moderate gene flow level (Nm= 2.33).Conclusion: The relatively high intra-population genetic diversity and low inter-population genetic differentiation was largely attributed to long distance dispersal of pollen, and continuous distribution of populations. Mantel test indicated no significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances among populations. Breeding systems characteristics, genetic drift and extensive gene flow are probably important factors for explaining this differentiation.

Background and aims: Iran forests are unable to supply required wood for wood industries including particleboard industry. Therefore, using of non-forest resources such as agricultural residuals is inevitable. Among agricultural products, wheat from quantity point of view is at the second category. After harvesting, wheat stem as agricultural residual is left in the farms in which part of it is used for animal feeding. IN Iran, wheat residual forms more than 54% of all agricultural residuals. Regarding chemical structure of wheat straw, urea formaldehyde resin is not suitable for bonding of wheat straw particles. On the other hand, formaldehyde emission during production and use is another problem. In this study, application of natural resin of Acrilated epoxidized soya oil (AESO) as a resin for bonding wheat straw particles in producing particleboard was investigated and some of its properties were evaluated.Method and materials: In this study, first soya oil was epoxidized using formic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Then, Acrylic acid was added to epoxidized soya oil so ASEO resin was made. AESO resin properties were evaluated. In order to study resin performance, some boards were manufactured from wheat straw and AESO resin (8 and 13%) using hot press with temperature of 200degree centigrade, press pressure of 30 bar and press time of 8, 10 and 12 minutes. Physical and Mechanical properties such as Modulus Of Rupture (MOR), Modulus Of Elasticity (MOE), Internal Bond (IB), Thickness Swelling (TS) and Water Absorption were measured. Collected data was analyzed using Analysis of Variance and SPSS software.Results: FTIR results showed that epoxdizing process was conducted successfully so epoxy groups were stationed on soya oil. Investigation on progress of reaction of acrylic acid with epoxidized soya oil was proved by H- NMR technique. Opening of epoxy rings was an indication of progress, Results of physical and mechanical evaluation of board properties showed that regarding boards made from wheat straw and UF resin, Wheat straw boards made using AESO resin had better properties so that IB, MOR and MOE improved 110, 137 and 13.6 percent and WA and TS enhanced 48 and 69 percent. These results are an indication of suitable performance of AESO resin.

Background and objectives: Animal logging and river transportation are traditional systems for transporting the poplar and willow timbers from the margins of rivers in Kurdistan province.Materials and methods: This research initially introduces the river transportation system for wood extraction and then compares this system with mule logging from economic point of view. At first, the river transportation routes in study area were taken by GPS. River properties including, velocity, gradient, width, depth, flow discharge and transportation velocity of 1 and 3.5 meters of poplar and willow were measured. The economic performance of mule logging was calculated from cost, logging time and number of labor information.Results: Results showed that the Hourly cost of timber transportation by mule and river were 225000 and 100000 Rials, respectively. The mean of transportation velocity of timber by mule was lower than that of water flow.Conclusion: It was concluded that in the study area the transportation cost and time by river was more suitable than animal logging.

Background and objectives: Planning for regeneration establishment in forest is possible through silvicultural systems. One of these systems which is in most accordance with close-to-nature silviculture is selection system. This investigation was done to assess the effects of single-tree selection system on regeneration in mixed beech stands.Materials and methods: Therefore 102 canopy gaps, including 15 in virgin stands, 43 natural and 44 artificial gaps within managed stands, were selected within a forest with species mixture of beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky), Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica C.A.Mey.) and hornbeam (Carpinnus betulus L.). The status of regeneration was studied in 5 microplots with the area of 1 m2 within each gap. For each microplot some properties such as frequency, collar diameter and health condition of saplings were recorded.Results: Results showed that beech regeneration is the most frequent species in the gaps. Diameter class distribution for most species was negative exponential distribution. Frequency of different species in diameter classes was not significantly different among three gap types. Increasing in gap size caused reduction in density of regeneration. Best health condition of regeneration found in natural gaps within the managed stands and worst status was in gaps within the virgin stands.Conclusion: Totally it can be concluded that single-tree selection is a suitable system for this forest which its implementation caused no significant change in the regeneration status of managed stands in comparison to unmanaged stands.

Background and objectives: Trader countries of forest products have well profit. Commonly, these are developed countries that use the natural forest and tree plantation. One of the principles of trade effective is following; identification the effect of trade index such as price of export and import and also quantity of product, import and export on each others.Materials and methods: Therefore, the basic of questions is as fallow: how is the effect of some trades variables on each others? Thus, econometric methods such as Vector Autoregressive (VAR) and Impulse Response Functions (IRF) were used.Results: VAR results were showed that mostly, the effect of price of export and import on the prices, quantity of import, export and product are significant in world forest products particularly; fiberboard and sawn-wood. IRF results were showed that the shocks effect of quantity of import on the quantity of export and product are divergent in wood based panel and fiberboard and also, the effects were confirmed by VAR.Conclusion: The increased production of fiberboard is showed in production of medium density fiberboard (MDF) Iran. Convergence of variables effects and the lack of significant variables effects on the each others could be because of production and import of forest products is required for resolve local needs.

Background and objectives: Previous studies show that 30 to 35 percent by weight of bagasse is pith that mostly formed from soft and thin-walled parenchymal cells with irregular shapes by large amounts of ash with high absorption capacity. Although pith chemical structure is similar to fiber, but in terms of morphological and physical characteristics are very different and it cannot convert to qualified pulp due to small dimensions, the non-fibrous physical nature and aggregation (link) with the dust. Due to these inherent disadvantages and associated problems, pith should be removed in effective manner. Otherwise, to produce pulp with the similar kappa number, chemicals used more. Also, when the depithing increases (ie, the ratio of fiber to pith enhances), initial freeness of pulp and strength properties of its paper also increased. In different reasons, pith can have adverse effects on the properties of pulping and its paper. In this respect, Pars Paper Mill is facing with high use of chemicals in the pulping that one of the reasons could be the lack of efficiency of depithers and subsequently presence of pith in the pulping which absorbed a lot of chemicals and so, despite higher consumption of chemicals, produced pulp quality is not high. In addition to increasing pollution loading in effluent, also will bring a lot of environmental problems. The effect of depithing levels on bagasse soda pulping and its pulp and paper properties were studied in Pars paper factory.Materials and methods: Bagasse with different levels of depithing (i.e. bagasse with 30, 20, 10, 5 and 0% of pith) were cooked under the same pulping condition as used in pars factory: chemical charge 15% of sodium hydroxide (NaOH applied based on dry fiber), temperature: 170°C, cooking time: 15 minutes and L:W= 10:1. Effects of different level of pith on residual active alkali, pulp properties such as freeness, shive, kappa number and drainage time and paper properties such as tear, burst, tensile, density, brightness and opacity were investigated.Results: Results have shown that by pith level decreasing in raw material, the residual active alkali in black liquor increased and pulp properties such as kappa number, screen yield, shive content, initial freeness and drainage time improved. Also, strength properties of paper such as tear, burst and tensile increased.Conclusion: In addition, comparing these results to pulping conditions of above factory indicated that the efficiency of factory depithing process is very low. Therefore, its effect appears in high level of pith and consequently high chemical consumption in digester and hence contributes to the inferior quality of pulp and paper properties.

Background and objectives: In this study, the effect of filler content and compatibilizer on thermal properties of wood flour- high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites was investigated.Materials and methods: High density polyethylene and wood flour (50, 60 and 70 wt %) with coupling agent (0, 2 and 4 wt %) were compounded in an internal mixer, and samples were fabricated by injection molding. Thermal properties and fractional crystallinity of samples were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetriy (DSC).Results: The lower weight loss at higher temperature was found for composites containing higher amount of wood flour; Also, the thermal properties of composite samples increased with the increasing of wood flour up to loading fraction of 60%, but decreased using higher (70) wood flour loading fraction. The positive effect of filler on thermal properties is related to wood flour acted as nucleating agent, and decrease the thermal properties at higher filler content levels is probably due to the stop the growth of crystals and the formation of amorphous. Besides, the adding of compatibilizer to the composites boosted the thermal stability and fractional crystallinity of samples. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs demonstrate a better adhesion between the HDPE and wood flour due to the presence of the coupling agent.Conclusion: Based on the findings the composite containing 60% wood flour and 4% MAPE showed higher thermal stability.

Background and objectives: Efficiency study of skidding equipment may bring a good potential to recognize net production level of machines and their operational costs per time unit, and also be a beacon for better allocating of skidding systems in different terrain conditions over forested ecosystem. In the present study, the efficiency of HSM904 grappled skidder is studied in a cut-to-length harvesting system at district #2 (Arzafun) belonging to Mazandaran wood and paper company forests.Material and methods: We pre-delineated six slope treatments range from 10 to 28% with 3% interval on a skid-trail by 700-m in length, which was running contrary to the slope (uphill skidding). Volume and number of log in each turn were divided into two classes < 3.5 and > 3.5 m3, and up to 2 and more than 2 logs, respectively.Results: the results of continues time study on basis of 156 registered turn showed that slope class (13-16%) had been significantly effects on skidder speed efficiency in unloading condition, while the least of ones was recorded for slope class (22- 25%). Parallel to this, the results of general linear model test shows that the effect of slope and volume of load were significant on skidder speed efficiency, while the number neither of log was not significantly effect on machine efficiency at the loading condition. The maximum and minimum speed of skidder were recorded for slope class (10-13%) with up to 3.5 m3 volume of log and slope class (19-28%) with more than 3.5 m3 volume of log per a turn, respectively.Conclusion: This study suggested that using the HSM904 grappled skidder may be economically justifiable on skid-trail slope of 25-28% due to decrease in the total time of skidding, skidding distance and it's less economically issues.

Background and objectives: This investigation has been done to determining plant species diversity influenced by physiographical factors in forests of west Bodjnourd (North of Iran). Plant diversity is as affected by land physiographical factors (slope, slope steep, elevation). In this regard, several researches in the world and Iran have been conducted but no report has been published related to forests of west Bojnourd.Materials and methods: To cope with the aim of study, 220 ha of these forests (called Joezak-Darkesh forest) at 1400-2000 m a.s.l. with different geographical aspects and slope steeps of 0-80 percent were identified. Number of 55 sample plots of × 20 20 m as random-systematic distribution was selected to determination of the trees and shrubs. In addition, within each plot, 9 micro-plots 2×2 m were confined to recognition of ground non-woody flora.Results: The highest species similarity values were obtained respectively, between elevation classes of 1400-1600 m and 1600-1800 m, eastern and western slopes, 0- 20 and 50-80% slope steeps. Indices of diversity, richness and evenness did not differ with increasing slope steep. Maximum and minimum of Simpson's diversity and Margalef's richness were found in the 1400-1600 and 1800-2000, respectively. The highest and the lowest Simpson's diversity were observed in eastern slope and northern slope, respectively. Conclusion: With increasing elevation, plant diversity and species richness decreased; likewise, plant diversity decreased in northern slopes and increased in eastern slopes. The presence of some vegetation elements associated with Hyrcanian vegetation in this region appears a figure of vegetation which from viewpoint of phytogeographic requests deeper and more completely investigations by botanists and phytogeographic specialists.

Background and objectives: In general, wood-based materials have a lower weight than other materials. However, to reduce the cost of production, transportation and the harmful effects of environmental, wood in dustry engineer sinterested in weight loss products. Recently, using of lightweight materials in the composite wood products as an alternative hasoccupied the minds of researchers. ultra-light weight expanded polymerscan play the role of some wood in a composites far as the strength of the board is notreduced. In this study, the possibility of applying expanded polystyrene (EPS) to reduce the final density of particleboard were investigated. The research was focused on reducing of particleboard weight with a minimum of resistance reduction.Materials and methods: In this study the expanded polystyrene particles (EPS) in the form of small spherical shape, to reduce the weight of the core layer of partileboard were replaced. While, thethickness ofthe final productis maintained. The final product thickness of 25 mm in size does not change. Test boards with a thickness of 25 mm and weighs 30 percent less than conventional boards, under the treatments of adhesives, polystyrene content, and press temperatures were fabricated.Results: The result of internal bonding test showed that increasing the content of foam polystyrene granules and press temperature has a negative impact on the property. The results clearly showed increasing of press temperature and EPS content caused modulus of rapture and modulus of elasticity was improved. No significant difference was found on the effect of press temperature on screw withdrawal strength while the highest of this strength was found on the panels made with 1 percent EPS contain. Particleboard made with 5 % Expanded polystyrene showed most favorable percent thickness swelling and water absorption.Conclusion: Generally, removing a partial of wood particles from core layer and replacement of EPS to make available reducing weight with keeping physical characteristics was successful. The expanded polystyrene with the considering applications for this product in the first stage showed the acceptable resistance.