SimForTree

General System description

System name:

Acronym: SimForTree

Brief overview

SimForTree is a decision support tool still in development for sustainable forest management based on ecophysiological analysis and simulation of the variability in tree development.

Scope of the system

SimForTree DSS follows to solve this three questions:

1. Predict changes in wood production quality and quantity as a result of forest management practice, for three Flemish wood-processing enterprises.
2. Predict the ecosystem fluxes of carbon and water for specific forest management and climatic change scenarios, in a representative Flemish forest.
3. Long-term prediction of ecosystem fluxes in a mixed uneven-aged and structurally complex forest, at the stand and landscape scales.

Hence, three SimForTree versions are being developed, with a scale and field of application adapted to different stakeholders groups:

1. SimForTree for the forest-wood chain within the framework of sustainable forest management
2. SimForTree for environmental applications
3. SimForTree for ecosystem research

System origin

• SimForTree is a research project financed by the Flemish IWT (Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders) with participants from the universities of Antwerpen (Universiteit Antwerpen), Gent (Universiteit Gent) and Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven).
• The project development is being accompanied by a stewardship council with all the key stakeholders.
• It is still in development

Specific issues

SimForTree is being created to evaluate both socio-economic and ecological consequences of environmental changes (e.g. climatic change, pollution) or changing policy. As such it can be used as a tool for sustainable development.

Models

Forest models

The ANAFORE model will be the core for SimForTree^[1]. Currently, ANAFORE is working and freely available^[2].

References

Cited references

1. ↑ DECKMYN, G., H. VERBEECK, M. OP DE BEECK, D. VANSTEENKISTE, K. STEPPE, et R. CEULEMANS (2008): ANAFORE: a stand-scale process-based forest model that includes wood tissue development and labile carbon storage in trees. Ecological Modelling, 215, 345-368
2. ↑ ANAFORE model

External resources

• SimForTree project website