A climate-sensitive forest model for assessing impacts of forest management in Europe

FORMIT-M is a widely applicable, open-access, simple and flexible, climate-sensitive forest management simulator requiring only standard forest inventory data as input. It combines a process-based carbon balance approach with a strong inventory-based empirical component. The model has been linked to the global forest sector model EFI-GTM to secure consistency between timber cutting and demand, although prescribed harvest scenarios can also be used. Here we introduce the structure of the model and demonstrate its use with example simulations until the end of the 21st century in Europe, comparing different management scenarios in different regions under climate change. The model was consistent with country-level statistics of growing stock volumes (R-2=0.938) and its projections of climate impact on growth agreed with other studies. The management changes had a greater impact on growing stocks, harvest potential and carbon balance than projected climate change, at least in the absence of increased disturbance rates.Peer reviewe

Dynamiser la gestion du pin d'Alep Etude prospective de la ressource et mécanisation de la récolte en Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

International audienceLe massif de pin d'Alep représente une ressource ligneuse importante dans le bassin méditerranéen français. Les volumes augmentent très sensiblement depuis plusieurs décennies par l'effet conjugué de l'expansion sur de nouvelles surfaces et de l'accroissement de la productivité. Force est de constater que les pratiques sylvicoles et les connaissances ne sont pas à la hauteur des enjeux de la gestion durable de ce massif. Dans ce cadre-là l'AFOCEL a mené deux études en région PACA dont les résultats sont présentés dans cet article : une étude prospective de la ressource en pin d'Alep en région Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur et une autre sur les éclaircies et la mécanisation de l'exploitation en pin d'Alep

Biomass Assessment: A Question of Method and Expertise

Whereas the new stakes on lignocellulosic biomass are often demand-oriented (heat, electricity, biofuels, etc.) mainly through public policies, the new equilibrium will depend also on the supply-side. This supply has to be understood as socio-economic and environmental targets combining many topics: multi-resources (agriculture, forest, "dedicated coppices", by-products and wastes), available/potential quantities and costs, localisation, replacement/substitution effects (activities, lands), and supply-side stakeholders’ behaviours. Many initiatives have been launched to grasp those dimensions through projects (National Research Agency, French Environment and Energy Management Agency, etc.). Many figures exist on the biomass assessment aspect but they are not clear enough and not comparable due to differences in definitions, scopes, data, parameters, geographical levels, reporting units, time-scale, etc. Regarding the characterisation of biomass supply chains, evaluations are often incomplete and lack methodological references. This article aims to focus on methodological key points and barriers to overcome, in order to get a better evaluation and understanding of biomass mobilisation expected by potential users and public authorities

Biomass Assessment: A Question of Method and Expertise

Whereas the new stakes on lignocellulosic biomass are often demand-oriented (heat, electricity, biofuels, etc.) mainly through public policies, the new equilibrium will depend also on the supply-side. This supply has to be understood as socio-economic and environmental targets combining many topics: multi-resources (agriculture, forest, "dedicated coppices", by-products and wastes), available/potential quantities and costs, localisation, replacement/substitution effects (activities, lands), and supply-side stakeholders’ behaviours. Many initiatives have been launched to grasp those dimensions through projects (National Research Agency, French Environment and Energy Management Agency, etc.). Many figures exist on the biomass assessment aspect but they are not clear enough and not comparable due to differences in definitions, scopes, data, parameters, geographical levels, reporting units, time-scale, etc. Regarding the characterisation of biomass supply chains, evaluations are often incomplete and lack methodological references. This article aims to focus on methodological key points and barriers to overcome, in order to get a better evaluation and understanding of biomass mobilisation expected by potential users and public authorities

Molecular understanding of the formation of surface zirconium Hydrides upon thermal treatment under hydrogen of [( SiO)Zr(CH(2)tBU)(3)] by using advanced solid-state NMR techniques

The reaction of [(dropSiO)Zr(CH(2)tBu)(3)] with H-2 at 150 degreesC leads to the hydrogenolysis of the zirconium-carbon bonds to form a very reactive hydride intermediate(s), which further reacts with the surrounding siloxane ligands present at the surface of this support to form mainly two different zirconium hydrides: [(dropSiO)(3)Zr-H] (1a, 70-80%) and [(dropSiO)(2)ZrH2] (1b, 20-30%) along with silicon hydrides, [(dropSiO)(3)SiH] and [(dropSiO)(2)SiH2]. Their structural identities were identified by H-1 DQ solid-state NMR spectroscopy as well as reactivity studies. These two species react with CO2 and N2O to give, respectively, the corresponding formate [(dropSiO)(4-x)Zr(O-C(=O)H)(x)] (2) and hydroxide complexes [(dropSiO)(4-x)Zr(OH)(x)] (x = 1 or 2 for 3a and 3b, respectively) as major surface complexes

Well-defined surface tungstenocarbyne complexes through the reaction of [W(=CtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(3)] with silica

The molecular complex [W(&3bond; CtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(3)], 1, reacts with SiO2-(700) to give as major species 2a, [(&3bond; SiO)W(CtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(2)], while a bisgrafted surface species 3a, [(&3bond; SiO)(2)W-(&3bond; CtBu)(CH(2)tBu)], is obtained on SiO2-(200). As in molecular organometallic chemistry, the alkylalkylidyne tautomeric form is favored. Despite these structural features, these surface organometallic complexes are very active olefin metathesis catalysts, as reported earlier, and it is very likely that the necessary metallocarbene intermediates are generated under the reaction conditions

Detailed structural investigation of the grafting of [Ta(=CHtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(3)] and [Cp*TaMe4] on silica partially dehydroxylated at 700 degrees C and the activity of the grafted complexes toward alkane metathesis

The reaction of [Ta(=CHtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(3)] or [Cp*Ta(CH3)(4)] with a silica partially dehydroxylated at 700 degreesC gives the corresponding monosiloxy surface complexes [(=SIO)Ta(=CHtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(2)] and [(=SiO)Ta(CH3)(3)Cp*] by eliminating a a-bonded ligand as the corresponding alkane (H-CH(2)tBu or H-CH3). EXAFS data show that an adjacent siloxane bridge of the surface plays the role of an extra surface ligand, which most likely stabilizes these complexes as in [(equivalent toSiO)Ta(=CHtBu)(CH(2)tBU)(2)(equivalent toSiOSiequivalent to)] (1a') and [(equivalent toSiO)Ta(CH3)(3)Cp*(equivalent toSiOSiequivalent to)] (2a'). In the case of [(=SiO)Ta(equivalent toCHtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(2)(equivalent toSiOSiequivalent to)], the structure is further stabilized by an additional interaction: a C-H agostic bond as evidenced by the small J coupling constant for the carbenic C-H (J(C-H) = 80 Hz), which was measured by J-resolved 2D solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The product selectivity in propane metathesis in the presence of [(=SIO)Ta(equivalent toCHtBu)(CH(2)tBu)(2)(equivalent toSiOSiequivalent to)] (1a') as a catalyst precursor and the inactivity of the surface complex [(equivalent toSIO)Ta(CH3)(3)Cp*(equivalent toSiOSiequivalent to)] (2a') show that the active site is required to be highly electrophilic and probably involves a metallacyclobutane intermediate

From inventory to consumer biomass availability - the ITOC model

National Forest Inventories (NFIs) provide data that do not directly meet the needs of wood market analysts to evaluate the availability of wood for consumers. While NFIs aim at a comprehensive assessment of forest resources in line with their definitions of forest area, growing stock, increment harvest, etc., wood market analysts are interested in the amount of wood that enters the market and is processed and converted into the various tradable assortments. The ITOC-model seeks to bridge the gap between these two objectives. It is a calculation framework for estimating the utilizable potential of wood resources from forests for different assortments. Starting point of all considerations of wood availability is the potential harvestable volume at a sustainable and annual basis in terms of stem volume. Depending on the respective situation in a country this potential harvestable volume can be regarded to correspond to the gross annual increment (GAI) or to the net annual increment (NAI). NFIs frequently can provide better estimates of the potential harvestable volume that take into account further aspects like particular harvesting restrictions, salvage logging after natural disturbances, management strategies, and age-class distribution of the growing stock and therefore essentially improve the information quality for estimating wood availability. Forest growth model simulations can provide input to the ITOC-model for projections into the future to ascertain the wood availability under defined scenarios. After the starting point is defined as the potential harvestable stem volume as obtained from NFI data or growth model simulations the missing tree components are calculated to obtain the total tree biomass which is regarded as the theoretical potential. In the next step the utilizable part of the potential is calculated by taking into account technical and ecological harvesting restrictions and the various kinds of losses during harvesting operations in the forest and transportation to the mill site. If a minimum of NFI data for a country are available as for example from the Report on the State of Europe’s Forests and the Forest Resources Assessment of the FAO then the ITOC-model can carry out calculations on the basis of these information and several generalized default values. The input data to the ITOC-model may be exchanged in a separate model section by more detailed country-specific data from the countries to obtain enhanced estimates of utilizable potentials. The ITOC-model can handle different levels of detail of input information and thus allows for drawing a pan-European picture of utilizable potentials by taking into account the different information availability from countries.JRC.D.1-Bio-econom