Journal of Forest and Wood Products
Year:2011 | Volume:63 | Issue:4|Papers Count:10

This research was carried out to determine the effects of organic matter treatments (cattle manure and decomposed litter) on seed germination and seedling survival of Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) and Mediterranean cypress (C. sempervirens var. horizontalis). Seeds in plastic pots were sown at nursery soil (control) and different treatments of soil including: 1) control soil + cattle manure (5:1), 2) control soil + decomposed litter (5:1), 3) control soil + cattle manure + decomposed litter (5:1:1) in the nursery of Koloudeh, located in Amol city (north of Iran). The experiment was set up as randomized completely block design (RCBD) with four replications. The results after one year showed that seedlings of T3 obtained highest germination rate and germination energy. In both species other germination attributes were greater in organic matter treatments compared to control. Survival rate in T3 was significantly higher than that in control soil. Most of attributes in C. sempervirens responded better than C. arizonica but there was no significant difference in survival rate between two species. It can be suggested that in order to obtain the greater seed germination and seedling survival of Arizona cypress and Mediterranean cypress, it is better to use the T3 (control soil + cattle manure + decomposed litter).

In this research, deinking of waste newspaper was investigated by chemical and enzymatic methods. Chemical deinking of waste newspaper was accomplished under the following conditions: treatment time of 10, 20 and 30 minutes, chemicals usage as hydrogen peroxide 1%, sodium hydroxide 1%, DTPA 0.3% and surface active agent 0.15% (based on oven-dried waste paper), consistency of 10% by washing, flotation and combined washing and flotation processes, separately. Enzymatic deinking was carried out using cellulase enzyme at different concentrations of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 percent (based on oven-dried waste paper), treatment time of 10, 15 and 20 minutes, consistency of 10% at a pH range of 5-5.5 by washing process. The results obtained showed that increase of cellulase concentration from 0.025 to 0.1% along with improving the deinking efficiency decreased dirt count and dirt area at both wire and felt sides. Deinking efficiency was decreased as cellulase concentration increased to 0.2%. In general, the results from comparison of the appearance properties of the waste newspaper deinked by chemical and enzymatic methods showed that papers with the same appearance properties as chemical method can be produced using cellulase. However, chemical deinking of waste newspaper resulted in papers with lower dirt count, lower dirt area and improved deinking efficiency. In all chemical and enzymatic treatments performed, wire side had higher dirt count and the lower dirt area compared to felt side.

In this study, effects of paraffin addition and pressing conditions on properties and surface roughness of medium density fiberboard have been studied. Variables including paraffin content at 0, 1and 2 percent, press temperature at 170o and 180o C and pressing time of 4 and 5 minutes were investigated. Modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), shear strength, surface roughness, water absorption and thickness swelling after 2 and 24 hours soaking in water were measured. The results indicated that paraffin addition had no significant effect on MOR, MOE, shear strength & surface roughness in MDF panels. In case of physical properties, adding paraffin generally caused decreasing water absorption and thickness swelling. Press temperature had significant influence on water absorption of MDF but no significant effect on other properties. Increasing press time resulted in a decrease in water absorption of MDF but it had no significant influence on other properties.

Determining the real value of forest resources, due to their significant function and ecosystem services, has a great importance. This study tries to evaluate and estimate preservation value of forest resources in Soleyman-tangeh in Mazandaran province and analyzes parameters affecting individual public preferences in 2007. Willingness to pay (WTP) of individuals was specified, using contingent valuation method (CVM) and Logit regression model and also effective factors on WTP, were studied. Results showed that individual preservation WTP in Soleyman-tangeh forest had direct relation with income, education and the number of visits but negative relation with bid and age. Number of visits had the greatest elasticity and marginal effect. Therefore it could be considered as the most important factor for accepting proposed preservation amount. The calculation of the expectancy of WTP using Logit Model led to 7360.155 and 274613.2 Rials monthly WTP per person and annual family pay amount for preservation purposes, respectively.

Forestry makes a significant contribution to the alleviation of poverty. We examine an area in south – west of Iran in province of Kohgiloie and Boier Ahmad, watershed of Tange Tamoradi. We applied poverty and inequality measures to rural household data set to explore the impacts of forest resource extraction on household welfare. For collecting data, we used questionnaire. According to poverty line for rural areas of province of Kohgiloie and Boier Ahmad, we measure these poverty indices: Head Count Ratio, Poverty Gap ratio, FGT and Sen in two stages (with and without forest income). For measuring income inequality, Gini coefficient in two staged (with and without forest income) was used. We also used simulations of changes in the indices of poverty to explore that if the rewards from certain categories of income are raised, what will happen for poverty indices. For all simulation (are chosen based on development document of province and our observation), the income from forestry was set equal to zero. We investigated their effects on poverty indices if income of household increases from other sources increase in the price of cucumber, improving rural road condition, cultivate and collect Myrtus communis, fishery and orchard. Forest income contributed significantly to household's total income. Our findings suggested that natural resource extraction reduces both poverty and inequality, so that restricting access to forest will increase poverty. Results showed that increases in household income from all scenarios take a significant number of households above the poverty line and significant effect on poverty indices. The results of this study can help to improve rural household welfare and forest conservation.

Populus euphratica Oliv. distributed naturally in the vast regions of Iran. Since it is a deciduas species, the interspecies hybridization is possible. Therefore sexual reproduction may lead to higher genetic diversity as well as higher productive and adapted genotypes. For seedling production, two greenhouses and in vitro cultures were compared and germination percentages were measured. Seeds were sampled from seven habitats in Iran and then planted in greenhouse and in vitro cultures. Linear regression was used to modeling the relationship between length of stems and roots. Significant differences (p=0.05) were observed between the all provenances in greenhouse and in vitro cultures. In the in vitro culture in all seven habitats, survival percentage was more of 70%. But In the Greenhouse cultures it was lower than 50%. As the costs are higher in vitro culture, greenhouse culture of seedling is more logical. In the greenhouse culture, maximum survival percentage (44.46%) belongs to Gatvand region and this habitat is more tolerant than other ones.

Forest roads as the first basis of land organization in forest management units have an undeniable role. With appropriate planning of road network, performance can be highly increased while the extra costs decreased. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate many road variants in an area to choose the optimal one with respect to technical criteria. Planning of road network using traditional methods is very time consuming, so due to decreasing the planning time, the number of variants decreases and this will decline the technical quality of planning. GIS-based planning methods have the capability of analyzing a great deal of data as different digital layers with high precision and speed, so they can help the planning process to be improved. The objective of this study was designing and evaluation of forest road network variants considering primary designing principles (minimum length-maximum coverage area) using GIS and assessment of their performance on the field. Final evaluation was carried out based on performance of variant on the field. Therefore, present road coordinate was determined using GPS and was used to plan road network variants. 18 road network variants regarding technical principles and forestry necessities were designed using PEGGER (ArcView extension). All variants were evaluated from a technical stand of view in GIS using Backmund and Segebaden methods. Regarding Backmund proposed variant and management necessities, the variant which was selected as optimal variant was checked in the field. Finally, the changes were applied on it. The results suggest the utility of GIS to improve planning methods.

The potential of canola stalks for the absorption of Remazol Black B reactive dye from artificial aqueous solution was studied. The results indicated that the absorption efficiency increased with decreasing pH and temperature. Moreover, absorption capacity increased with increasing dye concentration in solution. Absorption rate of Remazol Black B on the canola stalks was fairly rapid and the equilibrium state was reached within 20 minutes in all experiments. Using various concentrations, absorption isotherm study showed that the Remazol Black B dye absorption is well described by both Langmuir and Freundlich models. Langmuir model (R2>0.99) was better fitted than Freundlich model (R2>0.98). The constants of Langmuir and Freundlich models were calculated and the highest adsorption capacity was found to be 32.8 mg/g which is an acceptable value compared to other studied adsorbents.