Modelling Forest Development

Book excerpt: The key to successful timber management is a proper understanding of growth processes, and one of the objectives of modelling forest development is to provide the tools that enable foresters to compare alternative silvicultural treatments. In a managed woodland, the most important periodic disturbances are the thinning operations, which are often carried out at regular intervals and which usually have a significant effect on the future evolution of the resource. Thus, a realistic model of forest development includes both natural growth and thinnings. One of the outstanding features of this book is its inclusion of thinning models at varying levels of resolution and consideration of differences in foresters' tree marking behaviour. Other interesting aspects include regional resource forecasting approaches, generalized stem taper functions, generalized diameter-height relations, new ways of describing and reproducing forest spatial structures, crown modelling and iterative competition modelling. Worked examples and code are provided where appropriate. The intended readership is graduate students.