COFORD Connects

The COFORD Connects series of practical information notes started in 2003. These notes review various aspects of forestry, with an emphasis on practical recommendations. The notes are collected in a purpose-made folder, to which new notes are added as they are produced. Updated contents pages are issued with sets of new notes.

The notes cover six broad areas:

• Reproductive Material
• Silviculture and Forest Management
• Harvesting, Transport and Forest Machinery
• Wood Processing and Product Development
• Socio-Economic Aspects of Forestry
• Forestry and the Environment

Full list of COFORD Connects Notes

These notes can be downloaded as pdfs by clicking on the titles below:

Table of Contents - June 2010

Reproductive Material

1. The impact of herbicides on tree seedling quality
2. Effect of physiological condition at time of lifting on cold storage tolerance and field performance of important conifer and broadleaf species
3. The collection, storage, treatment and handling of conifer tree seed
4. The collection, storage, treatment and handling of broadleaved tree seed
5. The importance of plant size for successful forest plantation establishment
6. Plant quality: what you see is not always what you get
7. Poor quality planting of ash - getting to the root of the problem
8. Common alder (Alnus glutinosa) as a forest tree in Ireland
9. The importance of provenance and site selection on the production of quality noble fir (Abies procera) Christmas trees
10. Progress in the selection and improvement of Irish birch.
11. Where should Washington and Oregon sources of Sitka spruce be planted in Ireland?
12. Provenances of beech best suited for Ireland.
13. The importance of seed stands in broadleaved forestry.
14. Lifting and handling stresses can cause shoot dieback in oak 
15. Eucalyptus as a potential biomass species for Ireland 
16. Seed source significantly influences growth, form and silvicultural management of oak
    
17. Economic benefits and guidelines for planting improved Washington Sitka spruce NEW
    
18. Irish oak – genetic diversity and the Iberian connection NEW
    

Silviculture and Forest Management

1. Computer software requirements in forest management
2. Dyes capable of bonding with fresh wood for use in stump treatment
3.  Soil and site indicators for the production of high quality ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.)
4. Green Spruce Aphid - a pest of spruce in Ireland
5. Establishing broadleaves
6. Silviculture of broadleaves
7. Controlling grey squirrel damage in Irish broadleaved woodlands
8. Continuous cover forestry
9. Realising the potential of private plantations
10. Thinning to improve stand quality
11. Pruning adds value to plantations
12. Systematic Spacing Trials for Plantation Research and Demonstration
13. Establishing a sustainable forest resource on industrial cutaway peatlands: tree performance and silvicultural techniques
14. Fertiliser application to conifer plantations on oligotrophic peat sites
    
15. Controlling the large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis, using natural enemies 
16. Assessment of wild edible fungal production in Irish woodlands
    
17. Assessing the potential for spreading fertiliser in forests using ground-based machines NEW
18. A preliminary evaluation of the application of multi-return LiDAR for forestry in Ireland NEW
19. The Avondale initiative 1905 NEW

Harvesting, Transport and Forest Machinery

1. A pre-harvest timber valuation system
2. Considerable savings possible by planning harvesting systems
3. Harvesting wood for energy from early first thinnings.
4. Harvesting wood for energy from later thinnings.
5. Firewood.
6. Quality wood chip fuel.
7. The potential of terrestrial laser scanning technology in pre-harvest timber measurement operations.
8. A handy stand for sharpening your chainsaw 
9. Crossing drains
   
10. An outline of the ForestEnergy series of COFORD Connects notes
    
11. Standard shortwood harvesting of conifer first thinnings for 3 m pulpwood and industrial roundwood 
12. Integrated harvesting of conifer first thinnings for 4.3 m energy wood and industrial roundwood 
13. Whole-tree harvesting of conifer first thinnings for energy wood chip production 
14. Producing firewood from conifer first thinnings 
15. Whole-tree harvesting of broadleaf first thinning for energy wood chip production 
16. Production of wood chip from premature clearfelling of lodgepole pine on cutaway peat 
17. Storage and seasoning of conifer roundwood in the forest 
18. Forest storage and seasoning of conifer and broadleaf whole trees 
19. Storage and seasoning of conifer and broadleaf firewood 
20. Long term storage and seasoning of conifer energy wood
21. Units, conversion factors and formulae for wood for energy NEW
22. Fuel consumption of timber haulage versus general haulage NEW
23. Harvesting birch woodland on cutaway peat for wood chip production NEW
24. Producing firewood from broadleaf first thinnings NEW
25. Whole-tree harvesting of softwood first thinnings for energy wood chip production, chemical thinning NEW
26. A synthesis and comparison of forest energy harvesting methods in conifer plantations NEW
27. A synthesis and comparison of forest energy harvesting methods in broadleaves NEW

Wood Processing and Product Development

1. The mechanical and physical wood properties of a range of Sitka spruce provenances
2. General principles of timber usage
3. Energy efficiency of timber frame housing
4. Uses of home-grown Irish timber
5. Improving the stability of structural timber
6. Forest foliage.
7. Structural timber design to Eurocode 5 (IS EN 1995-1-1) rules.
8. Ordering and receiving wood chip fuel.
9. Delivery and storage of wood chip fuel.
10. The production of wood pellets.
11. Simple ways to check wood pellet quality.
12. Guidelines for designing a wood pellet storage facility.
13. Estimated woodflow for the Republic of Ireland for 2006 .
14. Roundwood supply, wood energy and related issues in the UNECE region.
15. Cladding.
16. An overview of the Irish wood-based biomass sector.
17. Gasifier-type firewood fuelled boilers.
18. Estimated woodflow for the Republic of Ireland in 2007
    
19. An overview of the 2008 UNECE Timber Committee meeting
    
20. An overview of the Irish wood-based biomass sector 2007
    
21. Woodflow for the Republic of Ireland for 2008
    
22. An overiew of the Irish wood-based biomass sector in 2007-2008 NEW
    
23. Preview of European standards for solid biofuels NEW
24. An overview of the 2009 UNECE Timber Committee Meeting NEW

Socio-Economic Aspects of Forestry

1. Wood as a renewable source of energy
2. A survey of Western Package Afforestation Scheme plantations in relation to thinning needs
3. Social impacts of foresty: A case study approach 
4. The economic impact of the forestry and wood products sectors in Ireland
5. Modelling the economics of forestry in Ireland - the returns to farm afforestation NEW
   

Forestry and the Environment

1. Sodium Dominance Index as a measure of acid-sensitivity in Irish rivers
2. Forest certification - what does it mean for Irish forestry? 
3. Carbon sequestration in Irish forests
4. Liming options in afforested catchments in Ireland
5. Global forest certification - 2004 update
6. The distribution of Hen Harriers in Ireland in relation to land use cover, particularly forest cover
7. National Pine Marten survey of Ireland 2005
8. Dispelling myths: the true extent of recent peatland afforestation in Ireland 
9. Climate change and Irish forestry
10. The use of forested landscapes by Hen Harriers in Ireland NEW
11. The greenhouse gas balance of peatland forest NEW

To order a printed copy of any of these notes, email garrett.murtagh@agriculture.gov.ie with the title of the note/s and your contact details.