UXAFORES is made up of a group of researchers dedicated to improving knowledge in the environment and, especially, in forestry.
In this last work on a wide range of topics related to trees and forest masses, studying their management, their growth and production, the risks to which they are sometimes (fires, pests), the soils that sustain them and the products endings that are needed for its use.
In the field of the environment, we work on the identification of different pollutants and on the proposal of measures to retain them and prevent their entry into the food chain through the use of waste / by-products that could act as adsorbents. Work is also being done on the restoration of degraded spaces, mainly due to mining activities.
Modelling forest growth and productivity
Principal researchers: Álvarez González, J.G., Diéguez Aranda, U., Rodríguez Soalleiro, R., Rojo Alboreca, A.
Lines:
- Site quality modelling in relation to site parameters
- Diametric distributions
- Stem profile equations and volume equations for product classification, implemented in computer programmes
- Mortality equations
- Equations for predicting and projecting basal area
- Effect of competition on forest growth
- Effect of pathogens on forest growth
- Dynamic growth models for different species, implemented in forest management computer programmes
- Compatibility of models on various scales
- Combined use of aerial and satellite imagery, aerial and terrestrial LiDAR sensors and field data for forest inventories and monitoring natural resources
- Use of remote sensing for large-scale forest inventories and forest stock mapping
- Use of remote sensing for monitoring changes in forest activities caused by deforestation, forest degradation and natural disturbances
- Use of remote sensing for classifying and stratifying homogeneous forest
- Use of remote sensing for monitoring and identifying areas of particular interest for certain types of forest
- Use of remote sensing for estimating main tree and stand-level forest variables
Forest management
Principal researchers: Álvarez González, J.G., Diéguez Aranda, U., Riesco Muñoz, G., Rodríguez Soalleiro, R., Rojo Alboreca, A.
Lines:
- Computer applications for data collection and calculating the results of forest inventories
- Forest management computer systems for elaborating and monitoring forest planning projects, integrated in a Geographic Information System (GIS)
- Development of planning methods for protective zones and protected sites
- Thinning trials in stands of different species
- Management density diagrams for different species
- Initial growth, nutritional status and health problems in chestnut plantations
- Potential application of Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) methods in Northern Spain
- Joint forest management groups
- Other uses for forests: mycological use
Forest biomass, energy plantations and carbon fixation
Principal researchers: Álvarez González, J.G., Merino García, A., Rodríguez Soalleiro, R., Rojo Alboreca, A.
Lines:
- Estimation of forest biomass in different species (trees and shrubs) and under different treatments
- Short rotation forest plantations to produce raw materials for industry and/or energy production
- Estimation of carbon sequestration in forest stands
- Carbon contents of soils
Soil: nutrition, pollution, and rehabilitation
Principal researchers: Álvarez Rodríguez, E., Barreiro Buján, A.I., Fernández Marcos, M.L., Fernández Sanjurjo, M.J., Merino García, A., Núñez Delgado, A., Rodríguez Soalleiro, R., Souza Alonso, P.
Lines:
- Nutritional diagnosis by analysis of soils and vegetation
- Soil fertility and fertilization
- Biochemical and soil organic matter cycles
- Land preparation. Effect of soil management
- Revalorization of waste and by-products in agroforestry and environmental fields
- Soil pollution by heavy metals and emerging pollutants
- Soil conservation
- Restoration and decontamination of soil and water
- The role of soil in global change: microorganism biodiversity and greenhouse gases
- Tropical soils
- Response of the soil microbial community to different agroforestry management and to the presence of emerging pollutants
Forest certification
Principal researchers: Rojo Alboreca, A.
Lines:
- Sustainable forest management in Galicia
- Environmental, social and economic impacts of forest certification
- Development of computer applications to simplify forest certification
Operational research applied to forest management
Principal researchers: Diéguez Aranda, U., Rojo Alboreca, A.
Lines:
- Decision-making by multi-criteria analysis and software development
- Optimization by linear programming
Timber properties
Principal researchers: Riesco Muñoz, G.
Lines:
- Effects of silviculture and forest site on timber quality
- Physical characterization of thinning and clonal forestry plantations
- Influence of pathogenic fungi on hardwood properties
Analysis of timber structures
Principal researchers: Guaita Fernández, M.
Lines:
- Numerical simulation by finite elements of the resistance of timber destined for construction purposes
- Optimization and calculation of timber structures and joints
- Mechanical characterization of timber for structural purposes
- Application of non-destructive techniques for the evaluation of structural timber
- Study of the behaviour of structural timber systems by using mechanical assays
- Use of photogrammetric techniques (Digital Image Correlation, DIC) for studying the behaviour of structural wood
- Development of innovative products for wood construction
- Evaluation of gluing in technical wood products
- Training and teaching of structural wood calculations
- Estimation of carbon footprint in structural wood products
Forest health
Principal researchers: Lombardero Díaz, M.J.
Lines:
- Effects of insect pests on the quality, growth and production of forest stands
- Invasive species
- Dynamics of forest insect populations: effects of temperature, plant nutrient status and defence system, microorganisms and fauna associated with growth, survival and reproduction of forest insects, in the current context of global change
Forest fires
Principal researchers: Álvarez González, J.G., Ruiz González, A.D.
Lines:
- Modelling the moisture content of dead fuels in forest areas
- Determination of seasonal patterns of moisture content in live fuels in forest areas
- Modelling structural variables of the surface fuel characteristics that determine the flammability and combustibility of shrub land
- Modelling structural variables of the tree canopy related to initiation and propagation of crown fire
- Cataloguing fuel types using the criteria outlined in the “Photo- guide to forest fuels of Galicia and associated fire behaviour”
- Evaluation of the efficacy of forest treatments in minimising forest fire risk
- Effects of fire on forest soils
- Remote sensing applied to forest fires