Topic 2: Forest Growth and Yield Modeling

Background Information

As we know, forest management is a long-term process that can project forward for more than a hundred years. A sound forest management scheme is a significant precondition to promote sustainable use of forests. Forest management strategies, therefore, should be formulated with great care before they are applied. Knowledge of forest dynamics as well as the ways forests respond to management practices (e.g., thinning, fertilizing) must be considered when formulating a management strategy. In addition obtaining forest resource information at different level of resolution is essential for making both national forest policies and enterprise-level forest management plans. Field measurements can provide accurate information but they are time-consuming and expensive. We need more efficient ways to update forest resource information.

Growth and yield models that produce estimates of stand characteristics at specified points in time provide knowledge for forest management decision making. The primary uses of growth and yield information are: production forecasting, inventory updating, evaluation of silvicultural alternatives, management planning, and harvest scheduling. This topic looks at the models currently used, the whole stand-level, size-class and individual-tree models according to the modeling entity (stand, size class, tree), and discusses their fundamental features such as scope of application, specific usability, and limitations. Some of the prevailing models will be introduced and discussed. I will introduce some of them in my lectures but I would encourage you to explore more on your own.