Investigating the effective factors on stump height and its consequences on the financial loss of the harvested volume (case study: forests of Asalem watershed, Guilan Province)

Tree felling could optimally result in a low height of the left-over stump, which might positively cause an increment in the harvested amount of wood and in turn augment the associated income. To study this issue, a number of 254 felled trees were randomly sampled within the Nav compartment of watershed no. 7 in Asalem, Guilan province. Following the measurement of the stump heights, a survey on a set of the most influential factors on stump height (including tree species, slope gradient and stump diameter) was conducted in a randomized block design. Compared to the heuristically-optimal stump height of 15cm, the mean stump height of felled trees was 25.45cm. Results turned out the stump diameter to be an effective variable on stump height, which can lead to a possible loss of 0.02691 cubic meter in harvested volume as well as 47167 Rials of financial income per tree.