Open Access
Issue
Published:
26 February 2014
Stand management optimization – the role of simplifications
),
Download citation
350
Views
6
Downloads
18
Crossref
N/A
WoS
23
Scopus
0
CSCD
Studies on optimal stand management often make simplifications or restrict the choice of treatments. Examples of simplifications are neglecting natural regeneration that appears on a plantation site, omitting advance regeneration in simulations, or restricting thinning treatments to low thinning (thinning from below).
This study analyzed the impacts of simplifications on the optimization results for Fennoscandian boreal forests. Management of pine and spruce plantations was optimized by gradually reducing the number of simplifying assumptions.
Forced low thinning, cleaning the plantation from the natural regeneration of mixed species and ignoring advance regeneration all had a major impact on optimization results. High thinning (thinning from above) resulted in higher NPV and longer rotation length than thinning from below. It was profitable to leave a mixed stand in the tending treatment of young plantation. When advance regeneration was taken into account, it was profitable to increase the number of thinnings and postpone final felling. In the optimal management, both pine and spruce plantation was gradually converted into uneven-aged mixture of spruce and birch.
The results suggest that, with the current management costs and timber price level, it may be profitable to switch to continuous cover management on medium growing sites of Fennoscandian boreal forests.
menu
Stand management optimization – the role of simplifications
),
Abstract
Studies on optimal stand management often make simplifications or restrict the choice of treatments. Examples of simplifications are neglecting natural regeneration that appears on a plantation site, omitting advance regeneration in simulations, or restricting thinning treatments to low thinning (thinning from below).
This study analyzed the impacts of simplifications on the optimization results for Fennoscandian boreal forests. Management of pine and spruce plantations was optimized by gradually reducing the number of simplifying assumptions.
Forced low thinning, cleaning the plantation from the natural regeneration of mixed species and ignoring advance regeneration all had a major impact on optimization results. High thinning (thinning from above) resulted in higher NPV and longer rotation length than thinning from below. It was profitable to leave a mixed stand in the tending treatment of young plantation. When advance regeneration was taken into account, it was profitable to increase the number of thinnings and postpone final felling. In the optimal management, both pine and spruce plantation was gradually converted into uneven-aged mixture of spruce and birch.
The results suggest that, with the current management costs and timber price level, it may be profitable to switch to continuous cover management on medium growing sites of Fennoscandian boreal forests.
References(34)
Anonym (2006) Hyvän Metsänhoidon Suositukset. Metsätalouden Kehittämiskeskus Tapio. Metsäkustannus Oy, Helsinki, p 100
Anonym (2012) Finnish Statistical Yearbook of Forestry. The Finnish Forest Research Institute, Helsinki, p 450
Guzmán G, Pukkala T, Palahí M, de-Miquel S (2012) Predicting the growth and yield of Pinus radiata in Bolivia. Ann For Sci 69:335–343
Haight RG, Monserud RA (1990) Optimizing any-aged management of mixedspecies stands. II. Effects of decision criteria. For Sci 36:125–144
Haight RG, Brodie JD, Dahms WG (1985) A dynamic programming algorithm for optimization of lodgepole pine management. For Sci 31:321–330
Hooke R, Jeeves TA (1961) "Direct search" solution of numerical and statistical problems. J Assoc Comput Machine 8:212–229
Hyytiäinen K, Tahvonen O (2001) The effects of legal limits and recommendations on timber production: the case of Finland. For Sci 47:443–454
Hyytiäinen K, Tahvonen O (2003) Maximum sustained yield, forest rent of Faustmann: does it really matter? Scand J For Res 18:457–469
Hyytiäinen K, Hari P, Kokkila T, Mäkelä A, Tahvonen O, Taipale J (2004) Connecting process-based forest growth model to stand-level economic optimization. Can J For Res 34:2060–2073
Hyytiäinen K, Tahvonen O, Valsta L (2005) Optimum juvenile density, harvesting and stand structure in even-aged Scots pine stands. For Sci 51:120–133
Laasasenaho J (1982) Taper curve and volume equations for pine spruce and birch. Commun Inst For Fenn 108:1–74
Metslaid M, Ilisson T, Vicente M, Nikinmaa E, Jõgiste K (2005) Growth of advance regeneration of Norway spruce after clear-cutting. Tree Physiol 25:793–801
Miina J (1993) Residual variation in diameter growth in a stand of Scots pine and Norway spruce. For Ecol Manage 58:111–128
Miina J, Saksa T (2006) Predicting regeneration establishment in Norway spruce plantations using a multivariate multilevel model. New For 32:265–283
Miina J, Saksa T (2008) Predicting establishment of tree seedlings for evaluating methods of regeneration for Pinus sylvestris, Scand. J For Res 23(1):12–27
Möykkynen T, Pukkala T (2010) Optimizing the management of Norway spruce and Scots pine mixtures on a site infected by Heterobasidion coll. Scand J For Res 40:347–356
Oliver CD, Larson BC (1996) Forest Stand Dynamics. John Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey, p 520
Palahí M, Pukkala T (2003) Optimising the management of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands in Spain based on individual-tree models. Ann For Sci 60:105–114
Pasalodos-Tato M, Pukkala T, Castedo-Dorado F (2009) Models for the optimal management of Pinus radiata D. Don in Galicia (north-western Spain) under risk of fire. Allgemeine Forst- und Jagdzeitung 180:238–249
Pukkala T (2006) Puun hinta ja taloudellisesti optimaalinen hakkuun ajankohta. Metsätieteen aikakauskirja 1(2006):33–48
Pukkala T, Kellomäki S (2012) Anticipatory vs. adaptive optimization of stand management when tree growth and timber prices are stochastic. Forestry. doi:10.1093/forestry/cps043
Pukkala T, Miina J (1997) A method for stochastic optimization of stand management. For Ecol Manage 98:189–203
Pukkala T, Miina J (1998) Tree-selection algorithms for optimizing thinning using a distance-dependent growth model. Can J For Res 28:693–702
Pukkala T, Miina J, Kurttila M, Kolström T (1998) A spatial yield model for optimizing the thinning regime of mixed stands of Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies. Scand J For Res 13:31–42
Pukkala T, Lähde E, Laiho O (2009) Growth and yield models for uneven-sized forest stands in Finland. For Ecol Manage 258:207–216
Pukkala T, Lähde E, Laiho O (2013) Species interactions in the dynamics of evenand uneven-aged boreal forests. J Sust For 32(4):371–403
Roise JP (1986) An approach for optimizing residual diameter class distribution when thinning even-aged stands. For Sci 32:871–881
Rollin F, Buongiorno J, Zhou M, Peyron J-L (2005) Management of mixed-species, uneven-aged forests in the french Jura: from stochastic growth and price models to decision tables. For Sci 51(1):64–75
Shater Z, de-Miguel S, Kraid B, Pukkala T, Palahí M (2011) A growth and yield model for even-aged Pinus brutia ten. Stands in Syria. Ann For Sci 68:149–157
Silvennoinen H, Alho J, Kolehmainen O, Pukkala T (2001) Prediction models of landscape preferences at the forest stand level. Landscape Urban Plann 56(1–2):11–20
Solberg B, Haight RG (1991) Analysis of optimal economic management regimes for Picea abies stands using a stage-structured optimal-control model. Scand J For Res 6:559–572
Tahvonen O (2011) Optimal structure and development of uneven-aged Norway spruce forests. Can J For Res 41:2389–2402
Valsta L (1992) An optimization model for Norway spruce management based on individual-tree growth models. Acta For Fenn 232:20
Vettenranta J, Miina J (1999) Optimizing thinnings and rotation of Scots pine and Norway spruce mixtures. Silva Fenn 33(1):73–84
Publication history
Copyright
Rights and permissions
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.
FEEDBACK 
TOP