When Hurricane Michael made landfall in October 2018 in America’s Southeast, hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of timber was obliterated. In the wake of this Category 5 tropical cyclone, foresters had just 30 days to harvest downed timber which was decomposing in the hot, wet climate.
In addition to the difficulties around accessing the damaged forests, other hurdles related to the difficulties of harvesting timber using machinery not designed to process wood laying flat on the ground.
This could all be about to change, thanks to new research that could help ensure significantly less downed timber goes to waste.
The crisis spurred a team of researchers from Auburn University to launch ‘The Downed Timber Initiative’ — a body of research that aims to develop new techniques for salvaging fallen trees and branches that would otherwise not be considered useful or of value.
The research has since received a $1.05 million federal appropriation through the U.S. Forest Service, which will work with the researchers. Each of the four components of the project will be led by a faculty member working together with a representative from the Forest Service, to investigate different methods for mitigating the loss and damage caused by severe storms.
These include:
- The development of a harvester attachment — which foresters would be able to borrow, rather than buy — to make collecting scattered timber less difficult.
- Consideration of how acoustics might be used to evaluate the degradation of downed timber, its strength, and the viability of using it as a resource for making cross-laminated timber (CLT) products.
- Investigation of ways to process partially decayed timber into micro/nanomaterials. This could underpin timber use for a range of applications, by enabling the damaged timber to be used in different yet large and lucrative markets.
- Development of bio-based composites using high-quality wood fibres from downed timber for value-added applications in the automobile, packaging and construction industries.
In addition to the loss suffered by foresters after severe storms, the research will improve sustainability by maximising recovery of natural resources, and reduce wildfire fuel loads by removing downed timber.
Graeme Lockaby, Director of the Centre for Environmental Studies at the Urban-Rural Interface said the Auburn University research is usually technical and difficult to understand.
“Oftentimes people wonder, how relevant is that? Is it going to touch my life?” Lockaby explained.
“This will clearly touch people who live in those areas, especially forest landowners who depend on timber sales.”
Source: Auburn University
