Heuristic forest planning model for optimizing timber production and carbon sequestration in teak plantations

doi:10.3832/ifor1733-009

Heuristic forest planning model for optimizing timber production and carbon sequestration in teak plantations

María Alejandra Quintero-Méndez⁽¹⁾ , Mauricio Jerez-Rico⁽²⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 430-439 (2017)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor1733-009
Published: Mar 24, 2017 - Copyright © 2017 SISEF

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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.

Keywords

Forest Planning, Harvest Scheduling, Optimization, Heuristics, Carbon Sequestration, Tectona grandis

Authors’ address

(1)

Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales. Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida 5101 (Venezuela)

(2)

Centro de Estudios Forestales y Ambientales de Postgrado, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales. Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida 5101 (Venezuela)

Corresponding author

María Alejandra Quintero-Méndez
mariaalejandraq@gmail.com

Citation

Quintero-Méndez MA, Jerez-Rico M (2017). Heuristic forest planning model for optimizing timber production and carbon sequestration in teak plantations. iForest 10: 430-439. - doi: 10.3832/ifor1733-009

Academic Editor

Giorgio Matteucci

Paper history

Received: Jun 05, 2015
Accepted: Oct 30, 2016

First online: Mar 24, 2017
Publication Date: Apr 30, 2017
Publication Time: 4.83 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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