Root rot causes loss and damage to an amount of 55 million euro every year. A new instrument permits forest owners to determine themselves which trees have rot and which of them are sound. Both the economy and nature conservation benefit from localizing root rot, says Mr. Lars-Göran Sundblad from the research institute "Skogforsk". He participated in the construction of the instrument.
Root rot infects 10 - 15 per cent of all spruce stands. It results in downgrading of valuable timber that has to be sold as cheaper pulpwood or firewood. Root rot also reduces growth and results in more sensitivity to storm damage. The new measuring instrument Rotfinder permits forest owners to localize root rot. For example, infected stands can be felled prematurely.
Also nature conservation benefits from the possibility to localize root rot. Severely infected trees can be cut to so called high stumps that are left in the forest at felling. They will be useful for strictly protected species of birds and insects that depend on dead wood for survival.
The operational principle of the new instrument is that rotten wood leads electricity better than fresh wood.