Innovation in Forest Engineering : Adapting to Structural Change : official proceedings (Extended Abstracts) of the 4th Forest Engineering Conference held at White River, South Africa April 5-7, 2011

Proceedings of 4th Forest Engineering Conference: Innovation in Forest Engineering – Adapting to Structural Change. Edited by Pierre Ackerman, Hannél Ham and Elizabeth Gleasure, 5-7 April 2011, Stellenbosch University

This proceeding represent scientific contributions to the Fourth Forest Engineering Conference, titled “Innovation in Forest Engineering – Adapting to Structural Change” presented in White River, South Africa, from the 5th to the 7th of April 2011. The Conference was jointly hosted by the Stellenbosch University’s Department of Forest and Wood Science and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). The Forest Engineering Conference (FEC), an international event held every four years, is a forum for forest engineers from around the world to share their research, knowledge, experience, and emerging ideas with the forestry community. The stewardship of the FEC lies with the international forest engineering community as a whole, and this conference is the culmination of a number of events with South Africa being fourth country to host the FEC. This meeting follows previous successful FEC conferences held in Mont-Tremblant, Canada (2007); Växjö, Sweden (2003); and the inaugural event in Edinburgh, Scotland (1999). The high quality of material presented by the presenters and the large number of delegates attending FEC 2011, attest to current and continued interest in promoting the all-important facet of Forest Engineering in the international forest industry. FEC 2011 is indebted to the authors of the extended abstracts included in this volume as well as attending delegates who have travelled from far and wide to share this event with us. I would also like to thank our sponsors; Southern Mapping, Tigercat, Bell, John Deere, Mondi, Forest Engineering South Africa (FESA), Husqvarna, Komatiland Forests, Merensky, SA Forestry Magazine, Stihl, Wood Southern Africa & Timber Times and York Timbers for their generous financial contributions. These proceedings are reproductions of extended abstracts submitted to the symposium with editing to achieve consistent format. No attempt was made to review or verify results, although the abstracts were reviewed for suitability by members of the symposium scientific review committee as set below. The following experts served as extended abstract reviewers for the Fourth Forest Engineering Conference 2011 in South Africa:

Stellenbosch University

Tigercat

Southern Mapping

Mondi

John Deere

Bell

FESA

Husqvarna

Stihl

Komatiland Forests

Hans Merensky

York Timbers

SA Forestry magazine

Wood & Timber Times Southern Africa

Extended abstracts