The aim of the study is to describe the main trends and possibilities in Russian forestry. Based on statistical data, the authors analyze general trends in the Russian forest industry like woodworking, roundwood and wood pellets production. Russia’s output of roundwood, sawnwood, wood pellets, wood-based panels and veneer sheets has been growing steadily over the past 5 years. The production of only two wood-based panel types – hardboard and other fibreboard – is either absent or in decline. The results include decline in roundwood export and the growth rates in wood pellets, sawnwood, wood-based panels, and veneer sheets exports. The Russian forest industry has room to grow its export of forest products. This requires technology upgrading, which could be facilitated by proactive government policies.

Keywords: forest industry, woodworking industry, bioenergy, Russia

   The breeding of economically important forest tree species in the Baltic Sea region has contributed notably to the availability of quality wood for bioeconomy. Accordingly, the altered stand dynamics of improved trees should be identified and incorporated in growth models to accurately reflect these gains. Such advanced models can be used for assessment of different alternatives, e.g. strategies for increased carbon sequestration.

   We tested and modified dynamic forms of the King-Prodan height growth function based on the remeasured National Forest Inventory plots in Latvia to predict the growth of improved Scots pine, Norway spruce and silver birch forest reproductive material (FRM) categories ‘qualified’ and ‘tested’ using height measurements from progenies of 371, 390, and 690 open-pollinated families, respectively. Both categories had steeper growth trajectories at young age compared to an unmodified function. Growth of category ‘tested’ for pine and birch exceeded that of category ‘qualified’ across the modelled age range, while trajectories mainly overlapped for spruce on lower site indices. The functions with FRM category-specific multipliers more accurately reflect the actual growth of improved stands, advancing planning of timely management activities like thinning. The single model with category-specific set of multipliers may be easy applicable in practice or incorporated in growth simulators without increased complexity for end-users. However, the predictions are limited to the sites with medium and high site indices, where improved planting stock is typically used.

Keywords: GADA approach, dynamic modelling, tree breeding, FRM categories

   The aim of this study was to investigate the socio-demographic and cultural characteristics of modern hunters in Antalya province based on the data of the Game Management Information System (AVBİS) being overseen by and under control of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye. According to the study results, the educational status of hunters was the following: the group with the primary school level made 7.8%, with the secondary school level made 4.5%, with the high school level made 9.9%, with the associate level made 0.6%, with the undergraduate level made 3.9%, with the master level made 2.7%, and with the unknown educational status were determined to be 70.06%. Considering the professional status, it was determined that 79,3% were of unknown status, 1.6% were retired persons, 3.4% were tradesmen, 1.6% were workers, 2.9% were public sector employees, 0.8% were students, 2.0% were employees from the private sector and 8.4% were self-employed persons. It was revealed that for gaming the hunters visited Aksu State Hunt, Serik State Hunt, and Gebiz State Hunt (3.29%) most frequently. The least preferred gaming areas were Gazipaşa Sıvastı Çığlık State Hunt and Kaş Asas Hunt (1.41%). Usually, hunters prefer to gun for common blackbird (Turdus merula L.) foremost (9.69%) and coot (Fulica atra L.) least of all (1.07%). As is evident from this study, socio-demographic profiles of hunters in Antalya province, Türkiye, and in Europe appears to be similar. However, a significant difference was observed in the number of women hunters registered. While the average number of women hunters in some European countries reached 10.5%, no women hunters were registered in Türkiye.

Keywords: game management, information system, hunter, game animals, wildlife, profile

Poplar (Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh.) produce a large amount of biomass per unit area and is important fast-growing species in different planting systems. However, the appropriate space between poplar trees is essential to high-performance productivity in diverse regions. The present study monitored the effect of different spacing configurations (A: 4 × 3 m; B: 4 × 3 m (pure poplar); C: 6 × 3 m; D: 8 × 3 m; E: 10 × 3 m and F: pure crop) of poplar-based agroforestry with two canola (Brassica napus L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system on biomass production and carbon storage. Over the eight years, the total poplar biomass production was significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) in poplar-based configurations and ranged from 9.1 to 13.4 mg ha^–1. The highest carbon storage of 6.5 mg ha^–1 was observed in configuration E. Crop production of canola and wheat in configurations B, C, D, and E, did not show a significant difference with pure crop cultivation, while configuration A was significantly lower. Our result indicated that configuration E, with the highest total biomass production but no significant difference in crop production, is the optimum system of poplar-based agroforestry in regions with similar temperate climate conditions of Northern Iran. Finally, poplar-based agroforestry provides high efficiency of carbon sequestration in trees which can conserve all market and non-market benefits.

Keywords: aboveground biomass, carbon concentration, crop yield, productivity, Populus deltoides, Northern Iran