Back to Search
Start Over
Heuristic forest planning model for optimizing timber production and carbon sequestration in teak plantations
- Source :
- iForest-Biogeosciences and Forestry, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 430-439 (2017)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF), 2017.
-
Abstract
- We developed a forest planning model integrating two operational scales (single-stand and forest levels) for the optimization of timber production and carbon sequestration in forest teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) plantations. At the stand level, growth and yield simulations using a heuristic thinning optimizer provided a set of near-optimal thinning regimes for individual stands differing on initial spacing and site quality, given biological, silvicultural, and financial constraints. The set of near-optimal thinning regimes obtained were then used as input of the forest-level model, which generated optimal harvest plans for the whole plantation by simultaneously maximizing the net present value of merchantable wood and carbon sequestration. The net amount of carbon captured by the biomass and the emissions produced by decomposition of woody debris and timber products after harvest were estimated. The growth and yield model was based on a system of differential equations incorporating heuristics (genetic algorithms) to optimize age and intensity of thinnings. The full model can handle the optimization of harvest schedules for projects up to 10.000 ha and 200 stands and was tested on a validation dataset including teak plantations from Venezuela and other Latin American countries. Results indicated that regimes favoring carbon sequestration reduce the benefits of timber production, and equal profitability of carbon sequestration and timber production was obtained for carbon prices over 40 $US Gg-1. Sensitivity analysis showed that the proposed model is sensible to variation in growth rates, carbon and timber prices, and production quotas, and barely sensible to harvest and transport costs. The developed model has a modular structure that allows its calibration to incorporate data from a wide range of management regimes for teak and other forest species.
- Subjects :
- Optimization
Carbon Sequestration
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
chemistry.chemical_element
Biomass
Hardwood timber production
Carbon sequestration
01 natural sciences
Tectona grandis
Production (economics)
Heuristics
lcsh:Forestry
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Nature and Landscape Conservation
040101 forestry
Ecology
biology
Thinning
Agroforestry
Forestry
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
biology.organism_classification
chemistry
Harvest Scheduling
Tectona
Forest Planning
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Environmental science
lcsh:SD1-669.5
Profitability index
Carbon
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19717458
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3bd4128f1e9221e1bdaf1ac97ecf06ee