Modelling Forest Systems

There are many theoretical approaches to modelling forest systems, but not all of them have valid practical applications. This book reviews current thinking on various models and presents applications in various contexts. Papers have been selected and developed from those presented at aworkshop held in Portugal in June 2002. Topics

In an lUlffianaged woodland, forest development follows a succession of periods of undisturbed natural growth, interrupted by intermediate loss or damage of trees caused by fire or wind or other natural hazards. In a managed woodland, the most important periodic disturbances are the thinning operations, which are often carried out

Drawing upon a wealth of past research and results, this book provides a comprehensive summary of state-of-the-art methods for empirical modeling of forest trees and stands. It opens by describing methods for quantifying individual trees, progresses to a thorough coverage of whole-stand, size-class and individual-tree approaches for modeling forest stand

The research presented here provides a sound scientific basis for management and policy decisions regarding the productivity and sustainability of forest ecosystems in the context of a rapidly changing global environment. It is the synthesis of 5 years of field and laboratory research on southern forests conducted by the US

This book provides detailed descriptions of the forest biomass projection systems used in 22 countries in Europe and North America, as well as four European-wide systems. Separate chapters focus on the concepts of estimation of availability of woody biomass, compare and classify the different projection systems, and discuss the challenges