Forest Organization and Analysis
Organizing a forest involves categorizing, or stratifying, the forest into homogeneous units of the resources you are managing. This process reduces variability and uncertainty when applying inventory, growth and yield, strategic and tactical planning as well as harvest/management scheduling.
In applying this process, Landmark Systems utilizes an approach we’ve developed called the STAR variables. .
- SITE - CRIFF or SitePro
- TYPE - Composition, Development, Density
- AGE - Stand Age
- REGIME - Silvicultural regimes
Needs Analysis & Technology Audits
The Needs Analysis and Technology Audit process is the first and most important step in moving toward accomplishing an organizations goals and objectives.
As Organizational Goals are defined, they can be translated into Forest Management Objectives, which, in a more specific definition are further translated into Silvicultural Objectives. Identifying and defining these goals and objectives is the first step in creating or reviewing a forest management plan at both the strategic (forest) and tactical (stand) levels of focus.
Before a decision support system plan can be successfully formulated, the current level of technology (hardware, software) and personnel must be assessed. In conjunction with the needs analysis, all software (including versions), hardware and employees are analyzed and reviewed in order to make appropriate recommendations.
Classification
Organizing the forestland into manageable components includes development of a land cover classification that is both representative of what is seen on the ground, and useful for reporting of information at management levels.
To do this, a classification must address the levels of detail required by other uses...it must be specific enough to apply to individual stands selected for silvicultural prescription, but also be general enough to be reflective of more general categories used for summarizing, monitoring and planning. A failing of many classification schemes is that while classes are defined; no provision is made aggregating the classes from one use to another. Aggregation to a more general level of detail is often necessary for summarization of forest inventory data at a reliable error level (stratum level sampling).
LandMark classifications cover the following levels for species composition: broad composition group; general species composition; topographic; physiographic and shade tolerant species groups; taxonomic series and ecological land type; and species associations and habitat types.
Similarly, development classes are divided into several classes including seedlings, saplings, poles and sawtimber material. Depending upon specific conditions, each of these categories may be further divided into subcategories. Likewise, crown closure, or density classes, are broken down anywhere between two to five classes.
Stratification
Landmark Systems utilizes the latest technology in order to achieve stratification of a forested landbase. No matter what condition your forest is in, we can assist you in properly stratifying and organizing your GIS data while ensuring compatibility with current data structures.
Stratification is the process of aggregating the forest into units of reduced variability (see Shiver and Borders, 1996). To be an effective tool to make forest inventory more efficient, the units are generally basal area or volume. The objective of stratification is to allow sampling efforts to yield estimates of population parameters that have smaller standard errors for each sample stratum than if the forest had been sampled as one large, undivided (unstratified) area.
The benefits of stratification:
- Equal or better precision of estimates will be obtained with fewer samples (less cost)
- Estimates can be obtained for each stratum as well as a combined estimate
- Stratification can help to place Mapping, Inventory and Management on the same basis for operations, increasing management efficiency to yield more consistent results
Sample Design
Landmark Systems has specialists in sample design to assist your organization in designing a proper sampling design to meet your objectives.
Here are a few examples of our sampling applications:
- Baseline Forest Inventory
- CFI
- Appraisal
- Stand Analysis
- Post-Harvest
- Regeneration
- Yield Validation
- Rolling Inventory
Resource Audits
Data Development
This is one of the most crucial steps toward building a reliable decision support system. The important thing to remember in data development is that the end goal should be to have mapping, planning and management all on the same basis. Since data development is time-consuming and tedious, most of our customers entrust us to assist them in this endeavor.
Deliverables take many different forms, but includes the following items:
- Growth & Yield
- Mapping
- Inventory
- GIS Layers
- Soil/Site Productivity
- Field Data Audits
- Density Management
Critical Data Updates
In order for any application database to maintain its value and usefulness, data must be kept current. We can either provide technical assistance to your staff along with an update plan/process or, if preferred, we can perform this function as well. |
