Lotfalian Majid, PhD. Asst. Prof.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of two types of natural geotextiles, including wood shred (WS), rice straw (RS) and the biomechanics method of brush wood dam (BWD) with planting seedlings of Alnus glutinosa and Salix alba on runoff, soil loss and fill slope. The effects were compared with those obtained from control treatment. A total of 36 plots (2×4m) with three replicates in the direction of gradient to fill slope of a forest road in northern Iran was considered. Soil moisture, canopy cover of seedlings, vegetation coverage, runoff, sedimentation and erosion were measured in plots during 12 months. BWD and WS played an effective role in reducing runoff by 57% and 73%, respectively. By using RS and WS,  the sediment concentration was decreased by 23% and 11%, respectively, while by using BWD it increased by 58%. RS (24.16%) and BWD (7%) had the greatest and smallest impact on reducing vegetation coverage, respectively. BWD (33%) and RS (27%) had the highest and lowest canopy cover of seedlings, respectively. Results showed that both RS (22.23%) and A. glutinosa (4.96%) had the greatest effects on increasing soil moisture. Comparison between the planted species and the control treatment (with no seedlings) showed that S. alba was effective in reducing runoff (46.22%), while A. glutinosa was effective in reducing erosion (66.89%) and sediment concentration (53.52%). Finally, interactions between conservation treatment and planting of seedlings played a more effective role in controlling runoff and erosion. Therefore, the application of conservation treatments together with planting of seedlings is recommended in order to provide better soil conservation and restoration of fill slope.

Dust is often generated from the dry surfaces of unpaved forest roads as a result of vehicular traffic. Dust particles can negatively affect vegetative growth, water quality and road traffic quality. In this study, some environmental friendly anti-dust agents including sugar cane molasses, polyacrylamide (PAM) and bentonite were used to control dust emission from the road surface under three different concentrations within the 3, 9, 27 and 81 day timeframe. Rear-mounted spray system and dustometer devices were used for implementation of treatments and dust emission recording, respectively. Leaf samples were collected from trees adjacent to road to measure the dust deposited on the leaves by centrifuging dust solution. The results showed that molasses achieved higher efficiencies in term of dust reduction and cost effectiveness than those of PAM and bentonite in Loveh forest, where high levels of fines are present in the road surface materials. 2% and 4% PAM were the most efficient dosages in terms of dust control and cost effectiveness in Shastkalateh and Kouhmian forests, respectively. It was detected that in all sites most of the dust emitted from the road surface was deposited on the leaves of Carpinus betulus L. and Alnus subcordata L., while smooth surface of the leaves retained lower amount of dust in Parrotia persica CAM. It is concluded that the amount of fine aggregates in surfacing materials, type and dosage of anti-dust agent play an important role in the effectiveness and longevity of treatment.

Today, transportation network optimization has become one of the significant aspects of supply chain planning, and even a slight rise in productivity can significantly reduce costs of distribution of wood in the transportation network. In the forest based industry, given that transportation is the main cost of raw wood supply, using transportation planning, distribution should be done in a way so as to minimize the overall wood displacement. Such planning must meet the needs of all demand centers and the distribution supplier points must be used to their full capacity. Accordingly, the present study strived to find an optimal solution for transportation and distribution of raw wood from the main supplier points to small and large centers of wood and paper industries in Iran. This optimization simultaneously focuses on several products and is at the macroeconomic level of the country wood market. To achieve this goal, linear programming – Transportation Simplex Algorithm was used. The results show a significant fall in transportation costs and a more organized wood distribution network than the current situation. This cost reduction can be attributed to decisions about the optimal distribution of wood types, determining transport routes, and opting for the right type of truck supplier based on load tonnage and distance. This plummet in transportation costs plunges the cost of wood and wood products, which will surge competition in the business and will be of interest to manufacturers, distributors, customers and stakeholders in general.