Evaluating Management Regimes and Their Impact on Commercial Timber Supply Using an Individual-Tree Growth Model and Scenario Analysis
In this chapter we demonstrate different management regimes and their impact on commercial timber supply using the individual-tree growth simulator PrognAus for Windows 2.2. We thereby address two frequently discussed scenarios: (1) the conversion of even-aged pure species stands into uneven-aged mixed species stands and (2) how to deal with a forest stand whose trees are damaged by bark peeling. For both scenarios we show how growth and yield, timber supply and commercial assortments change under different management regimes. In addition we provide an economic evaluation of these management regimes. The results of our demonstration runs indicate that a thoroughly developed individual-tree growth simulator is an excellent tool for scenario analysis.
This article is the second of two parts. The first one was published in the issue no 2 of this same journal. The preseni study uses the dependency index and the youth ratio to describe the aging process both at regional and municipal levels. Our data show a yet moderate aging process in (he region. with an uneven distribution throughout the different municipalities.