Analysing silvicultural alternatives to clear-cutting based on updated bio-economic models and new approaches to uncertainty

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thomas Knoke
• Subject Area: Forestry
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 281014816

Rotation forest management in combination with a clear-cutting is practiced worldwide. However, some advanced bio-economic models reveal alternatives to clear-cutting as the advantageous options from an economic point of view, for example under Scandinavian conditions. Even these advanced approaches have their problems, though, because they are not adapted to more complex forest structures and assume perfect information. In an attempt to improve the bio-economic analysis of silvicultural alternatives to clear-cutting the proposed research intends to update existing stand-level bio-economic models and to test robust modelling approaches to uncertainty. In a second part, optimization based on size classes or single trees is intended to be coupled with an appropriate risk modelling. The proposal addresses two overarching questions: 1. How will new information on tree survival and growth under chang-ing climatic conditions impact the economic evaluation of silvicultural alternatives? 2. How may the robustness of solutions be integrated as an objective into optimization approaches?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants