Abstract

As various methods for precision inventories, including light detection and ranging (LiDAR), are becoming increasingly common in forestry, planning at the individual-tree level is becoming more viable. In this study, we present a method for finding the optimal thinning times for individual trees from an economic perspective. The method utilizes a forest growth model based on individual trees that has been fitted to Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands in northern Sweden. We find that the optimal management strategy is to thin from above (i.e., harvesting trees that are larger than average). We compare our optimal strategy with a conventional management strategy and find that the optimal strategy results in approximately 20% higher land expectation value. Furthermore, we find that for the optimal strategy, increasing the discount rate will reduce the final harvest age and increase the basal area reduction. Decreasing the cost to initiate a thinning (e.g., machinery-related transportation costs) increases the number of thinnings and delays the first thinning.

Keywords

forest management; optimization; precision forestry; simulation; thinning

Published in

Canadian Journal of Forest Research
2020, Volume: 50, number: 3, pages: 320-331
Publisher: CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING

SLU Authors

• Franklin, Oskar

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

• Lindroos, Ola

  • Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Nilsson, Urban

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0053

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/105042