A multi-objective approach for timber harvest scheduling to include management of at-risk species and spatial configuration objectives

PLoS ONE
By: , and 

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Abstract

Sustainable forestry typically involves integration of several economic and ecological objectives which, at times, may not be compatible with one another. Multi-objective prioritization via harvest scheduling programs can be used to elucidate these relationships and explore solutions. One such program is a spatially explicit harvest scheduler that adopts the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm to iteratively find management solutions to achieve multiple objectives (Habplan). Although this program has been used to address forest management scheduling and simulation-based tasks, its utility is constrained by time-intensive data preparation and challenges with incorporating spatial configuration objectives. To address these shortcomings, we introduce an open-source software package, HabplanR, streamlines data preparation, sets parameters, visualizes results, and assesses spatial components of ecological objectives. We developed four example objectives to incorporate into a multi-objective management problem: habitat quality indices for three species “types” (open, closed, and intermediate-canopy-associated species), and harvested pine pulpwood (revenue). We demonstrate the utility of this package to find management schedules that can accommodate potentially conflicting habitat needs of species, while achieving economic targets. We produced 100 software runs and prioritized individual objectives to select four management schedules for further comparisons. We compared outcome differences of the four schedules, including a spatial comparison of two high performing schedules. The software package makes costs and benefits of different schedules explicit and allows for consideration of the spatial configuration of management outcomes in decision-making.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title A multi-objective approach for timber harvest scheduling to include management of at-risk species and spatial configuration objectives
Series title PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0302640
Volume 19
Issue 10
Publication Date October 25, 2024
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher PLOS
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Leetown
Description e0302640, 21 p.
Country United States
Other Geospatial southeastern United States
Additional publication details