Advances in modelling and decision support systems for vegetation management in young forest plantations.

摘要

The two most common forest vegetation management objectives were to: (1) minimize resource competition, and (2) to develop methods for managing specific weed species. This paper reviews relevant models and decision support systems for assisting in achieving these objectives. The aim of reducing resource competition was to increase crop-tree growth and survival. Several modelling approaches were applied to this problem and these generally estimate crop survival and growth benefits following some form of generalized weed control. Linkages with models of older tree crops were needed for comparing vegetation management strategies in the context of complete silvicultural regimes. More refined individual tree models use competition indices to estimate the quantity of weed vegetation within the growing space around each tree. The indices reflect resource use by the weeds and were sensitive to changes in weed growth over time and to the application of specific vegetation management treatments. Hybrid and process-based models have the potential to provide more generalized models of interspecific competition, but their usefulness for forest practitioners has yet to be proven. Some forest vegetation management problems require a more detailed understanding of the biology and ecology of a specific species. In this case, different modelling approaches that consider overall weed population dynamics, distribution or spread may be appropriate..