Sim4Tree.Software
Software
| Has responsible organisation | KU Leuven |
|---|---|
| Has institutional framework | proprietary development (forest administration) |
| Has DSS contact person | Wim Aertsen |
| Has DSS contact e-mail | wim.aertsen[a]ees.kuleuven.beURIs of the form "wim.aertsen[a]ees.kuleuven.be" are not allowed. |
| Has status | under development |
| Has accessibility | N/A |
| Is commercial product | No |
| Has price | |
| Has deployment cost | N/A |
| Has installation requirements | |
| Has computational limitations | |
| Has user support organization | |
| Has support team size | |
| Has maintenance organization | |
| Has input data requirements | Forest inventory data, Forest ownership data |
| Has input data format | database |
| Has data validation | |
| Has output data format | table, graph, map |
| Has internal data management | database |
| Has database | PostgreSQL |
| Has GIS integration | |
| Has data mining | |
| Has spatial analysis | |
| Has user access control | Yes |
| Has parameterised GUI | No |
| Has GUI usability feature | |
| Has map interface | |
| Has GUI technology | |
| Has system type | |
| Has application architecture | |
| Has communication architecture | |
| Uses operating system | |
| Uses programming language | |
| Is scalable | No |
| Supports interoperability | |
| Supports integration with other systems |
- has related DSS:Sim4Tree
1 Introduction
Bosland is a 4241ha publicly owned forest area in north-eastern Flanders, situated on sandy soils. Main tree species are Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Corsican pine (Pinus nigra Arnold ssp laricio var corsicana), together accounting for 80% of the forest area and 94% of the standing stock in 2010. Current management plans aim at ad hoc conversion of pine towards other species, but lack insight into the effects on future wood provision in the area.
2 Aim
Develop a long-term view on species composition and wood production in Bosland, based on objective comparison of management alternatives in a participatory setting.
3 Scenario analysis with Sim4Tree
Sim4Tree is a software for the projection of timber harvest and future standing stock based on forest inventory data and user-defined management choices. Site, forest composition and management are defined for homogeneous 1ha pixels, but grouping of pixels in stands or larger areas with uniform management is possible. Predictions are based on standard yield tables for the region. Sim4Tree is not fully operational yet and only available as a prototype. It was applied here to 3189ha productive forest in Bosland, i.e. excluding forest area with nature conservation goals.
A total of 36 management scenarios were defined, combining multiple options on (1) species choice based on site suitability, (2) relative distribution over main and other species and (3) timing of conversion relative to species rotation. Sim4Tree output for each scenario included species-specific projections until 2070 for standing stock, harvest, diameter distribution, share of old trees, constant timber flow, and other derived variables.
