article - Fogler Library, University of Maine
Contents
1. Location Other Dialogs Net present values are not included in the PCT stand nomograms for site indexes 50 and 40 because all values are less than zero When these site Met Present Value not included for this stand condition All indexes are selected a values are less than zeroa message box appears reminding you of this detail 21 Using ThinME Overview In this section a brief overview is given about inputting your management objectives into ThinME and interpreting the output We recommend that you read the previous sections under Getting Started before continuing Also we urge you to go through the accompanying Tutorial document in the 7hinME SupportingDocumentation subdirectory for a more detailed description of using ThinME Input Begin an ArcView session and open the appropriate project select the desired conditions from the ThinME pull down menu and arrange the user control and view boxes for your monitor Next set the slider tabs to your management objectives by moving the tabs with the mouse or left and right arrow keys If a variable is unimportant leave the tabs in their original positions After the tabs are set correctly click OK in the main control box Previous sections in Getting Started detail these steps The nomograms will be queried for polygons that meet all of the constraints indicated by the slider tab values When completed the acceptable region s are highlighted yellow Output and2. 27 Hilt Donald E Richard M Teck and Richard H Blodgett 1987 Development and implementation of growth and yield models in the Northeast In Proceedings of the New England growth and yield workshop January 7 9 1987 Durham NH R Seymour and W Leak eds CFRU Information Report 17 Orono ME University of Maine College of Forest Resources pp 31 45 Honer T G 1967 Standard volume tables and merchantable conversion factors for the commercial tree species of central and eastern Canada Information Report FMR X 5 Ottawa Ontario Forest Management Research and Services Institute Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources NSDNR 1993 Nova Scotia softwood growth and yield model version 1 0 user manual For Res Section Nova Scotia Dept of Natural Resources For Res Rep 43 12 p Solomon D Herman D Leak W 1995 FIBER 3 0 an ecological growth model for northeastern forest types USDA For Serv Gen Tech Rep NE 204 24 p Steinman J R 1992 A comprehensive evaluation of spruce fir growth and yield in Maine as related to physical and chemical soil properties Ph D Thesis University of Maine Orono ME See also Wilson et al 1999 Teck Richard M and Donald E Hilt 1991 Individual tree diameter growth model for the northeastern United States USDA For Serv Research Paper NE 649 11 p Teck Richard M Melinda Moeur and Bov Eav 1996 Forecasting ecosystems with the forest vegetation si
3. Interpretation The three questions that ThinME helps to answer are 1 when should commercial thinning be implemented 2 how much should be thinned and 3 when should the final harvest be made The first question is answered by comparing the size and shape of the highlighted regions in the different nomogram view boxes Large regions indicate more flexibility in the thinning prescription than do small highlighted regions Taller areas imply more flexibility in residual density and wider areas imply more flexibility in final harvest age If a view box has no yellow region then implementing a thinning at that timing will not allow you to meet your objectives and it can be omitted from consideration See Troubleshooting 1f none of the view boxes have a yellow region The thinning timing you select will depend upon your need for flexibility in residual density final harvest age or both 22 Once you have selected a timing for the commercial thinning you can begin to answer the remaining questions how much should be thinned and when should the final harvest be made Enlarge the nomogram view box of the selected timing for better viewing and add the post thinning stand development trajectory lines theme See Getting Started Trajectory Lines Theme For any given residual density there is a time frame in which the final harvest must be made after the stand grows into the highlighted region and before the stand grows out o
4. all stems were removed from a diameter class before the next largest class was cut The crown thinning prescription consisted of three steps First a 10 basal area reduction was made across all diameter classes to account for forwarder and harvester trails Second all balsam fir trees were removed The third step was constructed to simulate the release of crop trees on a predefined spacing on the ground and consisted of multiple parts To begin with the total basal area was divided into quartiles by diameter Then trees were removed from the fourth quartile the largest diameters until a maximum of 35 of the basal area in that quartile was removed Next trees were cut in the third quartile until a maximum of 30 of the basal area in the quartile was removed After that trees were removed from the second quartile until a maximum of 75 of the basal area was removed from the range Following that trees were removed from the first quartile until the overall basal area removal target was met No maximum limit was set for this quartile no more than 40 of the basal area in this class ever was removed Table 1 The maximum removal levels for each quartile were based on examinations of 11 the crown thinning prescriptions applied in the field as part of the CFRU Maine Commercial Thinning Research Network Table 1 Example basal area removal percents for each quartile in the third step of the crown thinning Basal Area Removal in Step
5. e a view box title bar is highlighted Clicking on the icons in the tool bar activates the tool ArcView GIS 3 2 _ OF x File Edt View Theme Graphics Window Bg El RABE AKE DJS E PAS Identify Clicking in one of the nomogram view boxes with the identify cursor te brings up the identify dialog box The dialog EETA TAT box lists the nomogram values for the area clicked Clear Clear All 20 Select When the select cursor is in a nomogram view box the location coordinates of the cursor are displayed on the far right side of the tool bar The coordinates also are displayed with the identify cursor The horizontal axis is in years The vertical axis is in basal area ft ac in the natural Oo stands project and in trees per acre in the PCT stands project Important Note The vertical axis was transformed to improve readability of the nomograms in ArcView When read from the tool rey T bar the natural stand vertical axis basal area should be multiplied by two to obtain the actual value and the PCT stand vertical axis trees should be multiplied by ten to obtain the actual value No transformations are necessary when the vertical location is read directly from the axis included in the nomogram view box Locate Clicking in one of the nomogram view boxes with the ocation cursor X j brings up the location dialog box that registers the final harvest age at the clicked location
6. 3 Overall Basal Area Ql Q2 Q3 Q4 Removal 0 0 4 7 4 8 6 6 6 77 9 0 9 174 0 0 0 35 25 0 2 30 35 30 0 23 30 35 a 0 45 30 35 40 0 38 30 35 45 17 75 30 35 50 38 75 30 35 Total basal area removed in each prescription ranged between 20 and 50 For some of the lighter thinnings only trees in the third and fourth quartiles were harvested The first option for a thinning entry is when the stand is approximately 50 feet tall and has a stand relative density Wilson et al 1999 near 0 6 The remaining options for a first thinning entry are then five ten and fifteen years after these conditions are met The document Implementing Commercial Thinning with the Forest Vegetation Simulator Appendix J describes the implementation of the thinning prescriptions Harvesting Cost Model The harvesting costs included in part or as whole of the three financial variables were generated with PPHARVST public domain software available from the US Forest Service Fight et al 1999 PPHARVST was developed for use in management planning for ponderosa pine plantations It allows users to estimate harvesting costs over a wide range of tree sizes and volumes removed Equipment prices harvesting productivities and other assumptions were modified so that the model output very closely approximated 12 the expected cost of harvesting in a Maine softwood forest See Appendix I for specific assumptions used in the calculation
7. Lines Theme The post thinning stand development trajectory lines theme consists of seven lines that correspond to the different thinning intensity levels used to create the nomograms These levels are 20 basal area removal 25 basal area removal and 50 basal area removal This theme must be activated by the user in the following manner move the cursor to the left edge of the view box until the cursor appears then hold down the 17 left mouse button and Bl drag the cursor right R10alr70 R70axi Ue to reveal the view s Table of Contents Click the box next to the top theme in this example named R10lines70 The name of the trajectory lines theme in each nomogram view has a unique letter and number prefix followed by the word lines and the site index See pages 7 and 14 in the Tutorial for a discussion on using the lines to determine residual density after thinning Axis Theme gt CI 7N FRN TDA Cirat Cammarnial Residual Density TPA olx Tiiening at age 37 5i 70 750 TPA Fir _ Ridlines o y Ridalro L y R70axi pe 600 500 400 300 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 50 BA removal The axis is a generated lines theme included to orient the user in the nomogram space It is designated by a letter prefix the site index and the word axis 18 Boxes Variable Control Boxes with Slider Bars There are five variable cont
8. ThninMe User s Guide July 2001 S170 750 TPA First Commercial Thinning at age 37 f Ci SE a wy D ER Dy 5 oO uw a LF 50 bo stand Age stump ht KaDonna C Randolph Robert S Seymour and Robert G Wagner ThinME User s Guide July 2001 KaDonna C Randolph Robert S Seymour and Robert G Wagner Cooperative Forestry Research Unit University of Maine Orono ME 04469 Custom ArcView GIS User Interface by KaDonna Randolph and Sean Murphy Summary The Maine Forest Service identified commercial thinning as crucial to enhancing Maine s wood supply in their 1998 Timber Supply report Members of the University of Maine s Cooperative Forestry Research Unit CFRU also identified a better understanding about commercial thinning and resulting growth amp yield responses as their top research priority for 2000 2005 As a result the CFRU established a Commercial Thinning Research Network in 2000 to develop a set of interim commercial thinning guidelines and establish a statewide network of research sites to address specific questions about commercial thinning in Maine s forests ThinME is the resulting product of the Network s first aim of producing a set of interim commercial thinning guidelines By means of a customized ArcView GIS interface ThinME illustrates the effects of different commercial thinning prescriptions on biological and financial variables ThinME presently is designed to distill a my
9. al U Allides of ADF Attributes of Al faldt tributes of Al Da Aibiter of A103800 Altuter of Al 0el70 er of Al0eID ec o Abel T NPV acre X Valuns gt 1 Wand Cost cord E3 Ve Valme gt V 2 pee Vy Vati Piece Sz tees cod El a Views Wy Chats Residual Density TPA Layouls FD i Valuns gt tial Thinning at age 3 E I MAI 100 ed ac p E3 Residual Density Residua Density TPA ida aie aan eee veer ade iii Dani i0 0 gt 70 w w 10 so Stand Age stump ht Tool Bar Stand Age stump ht Bi EJ Scale 1 AR o Nomogram View Box Title Bar The nomogram views and user control boxes can be resized and repositioned to fit your desktop space To resize the boxes place the cursor at the corner of the box until the double ended arrow appears Then hold down the left mouse button and drag the arrow until the box 1s the preferred size To move the box click on the box s title bar hold down the left mouse button and drag the box to the new position The variable control boxes should be repositioned so they are not overlapping 15 Views Each view is titled according to the site index density prior to commercial thinning and age of the first commercial thinning and presents the post commercial thinning nomograms for three or four possible comme
10. ariable for any stand development trajectory These 3D iiia nomograms allow the user to work backward from an individual management objective and arrive at a target residual stand density and final harvest age The limitation with this approach is that often we are interested in more than one objective or variable of stand performance If however we take a set of nomograms exclude by shading out unacceptable outcomes for each variable and then overlay the nomograms the zone that remains unshaded on all graphs represents the range of residual densities and final harvest ages that meets all objectives Because this use of multiple nomograms has properties similar to those found in GIS problems we found that ArcView GIS ESRI 1997 software was able to provide a visual user interface for determining acceptable commercial thinning prescriptions given a set of management objectives Mean annual increment Final harvest cost ot at ch iH mo Residual Density TPA Residual Density TPA 33 A 5 a 70 s0 D w a w B 0 w D stand Age stump ht Stand Age stump ht Yellow represents the acceptable area for the individual variables oo th Residual Density TPA 30 40 50 60 70 20 gD stand Age stump ht Yellow represents the acceptable area for the combined variables The five variables reflecting management objectives included in ThinME are mean annual incr
11. ction was made across all diameter classes to account for forwarder and harvester trails Second 70 of the basal area in balsam fir trees in the 9 DBH class and larger was removed Third a thinning from below favoring the harvest of 10 balsam fir was made across all diameter classes beginning with the 4 class In this third step no more than 70 of each diameter class was cut The total basal area removed by these three steps ranged between 20 and 50 For some of the lighter basal area removals step three was omitted and the percent removed in step two was reduced The first timing of entry is at the age when the stand 1s approximately 40 feet tall as ascertained by site index curves Steinman 1992 The second and third options for a first thinning entry are then five and ten years after the stand reaches 40 feet in height The document Implementing Commercial Thinning with the Forest Vegetation Simulator Appendix J describes the implementation of the thinning prescription Unthinned Natural Stands Two thinning prescriptions were implemented in the natural stands low thinning and crown thinning The low thinning prescription consisted of three steps First a 10 basal area reduction was made across all diameter classes to account for forwarder and harvester trails Second all balsam fir trees were removed Third a thinning from below was made across all diameter classes beginning with the 4 class In this third step
12. d yield model since this was the model used to predict stand response after thinning A careful examination of FVS s behavior was conducted prior to selecting it for use in ThinME No major faults were found with its performance during the evaluation process 26 Appendices The appendices are included as separate documents in the ThinME SupportingDocumentation subdirectory A a id ae oS ee Stand development with no commercial thinning Management Variable Definitions Worksheet for calculating variable values Summary of Ronco Cove Inventory Summary of Alder Stream Inventory Summary of Sarah s Road Inventory Model Evaluation and Selection Volume Equations Assumptions used in the harvesting cost estimations and calculations of total wood cost and net present value Forest Vegetation Simulator documentation Literature Cited Bush Renate R 1995 Northeastern TWIGS Variant of the Forest Vegetation Simulator Available on the USDA Forest Service website at www fs fed us fmsc fvs fvs_ variant _overviews htm Last checked July 5 2001 Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc ESRI 1997 ArcView GIS 3 0b Redlands California Fight Roger D Alex Gicqueau and Bruce R Hartsough 1999 Harvesting costs for management planning for ponderosa pine plantations General Technical Report PNW GTR 467 Portland OR US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station 8 p
13. e the best possible values attainable and hence the minimum tolerable level is the lone necessary input As such only one of the slider bars needs changing For net present value and mean annual increment the minimum top slider tab should be moved rightward to increase the minimum value For piece size total wood cost and final harvest cost the maximum bottom slider tab should be moved leftward to decrease the maximum value Setting the tabs thusly allows the selection of the smallest costs greatest mean annual increment greatest net present value and smallest piece size 1 e the biggest trees Both slider tabs 19 can be changed but this 1s recommended only for the user who purely wants to examine the behavior of the variables over time Main Control Box Three functions are executed from the main control box Clicking the OK button initiates the nomogram query The CLEAR button clears the selection in the nomograms and resets the slider bar values to their initial levels The CLOSE button closes the user control and nomogram view boxes and questions the user about exiting the project See Shutdown Control Box CLOSE CLEAR Buttons and Dialogs All ArcView menu tools and buttons are operable as usual in the ThinME interface Of particular use are two default tools the select and identify tools and one new tool a locate tool located on the tool bar when a nomogram view box is active 1
14. ement cords acre year piece size trees cord final harvest cost cord total wood cost cord and net present value acre Appendix B The final harvest cost variable incorporates forwarder and harvester machine productivities and the condition of the stand being harvested 1 e size of the trees and intensity of removal Total wood cost is the expense of growing the wood over the entire rotation and includes the price of pre commercial thinning net revenue from commercial thinning and cost of the final harvest The net present value is the net revenue at rotation s end discounted to year zero Design Process Several steps were required to present the nomograms in the final ArcView GIS format The process is outlined in Figure 1 and further explained in the sections below Briefly the procedure entailed 1 collecting stand inventory data 2 utilizing the Forest Vegetation Simulator FVS to a simulate commercial thinning prescriptions and b project stand growth 3 transferring the growth projection output to a spreadsheet to a calculate the management variable post thinning values Appendix C and b prepare data input files for ARC INFO 4 generating and overlaying the nomograms in ARC INFO and 5 customizing ArcView for the user interface of ThinME Source Data Representative samples of spruce fir timberlands ready for commercial thinning throughout the state of Maine were located as part of the CFRU Maine Commerc
15. etewaene Watascosenuensecmaaege 16 INOMIG Crain I REME Aee utonebsesasedetioiadeeareat nian 16 Trajectory Lines Theme eesriie e aa 17 AKIS LNG se a a ci ote aahaa tee ces 18 Boxes Variable Control Boxes with Slider Bars ccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeees 19 Main Control BOX erir o eaen a E eaaa Ea AEA 20 B tt ns and Didlo t Sepesi a E E O 20 UG TYING aire sig A E A E A A E 20 ICC aiaa EE E 21 BOCI en AE AE E ES 21 Omer Dalo Sin E E T cueyeltescaust 21 Using ThinME Overview NTNU AENA E E A acu ecies ss asia E asain aol Geet eee 22 Output and Interpretatio assisas a A E O AA 22 SS UIUC Ou sene ne E E E ta ated ena 24 Troubleshooting Error Messac BOXES wsisscsasusteiiisins cans ie nea ees 25 No regions are highlighted after OK is Clicked cece ccc ccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 25 The identify dialog box does not display the objective variable values 26 ArcView cannot find a theme when a project is Opened cceccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 26 Bri ae hWeche as s E ce nr E ot rien ec ke an ere ety ee eee eae ere eRe eee 26 ADD DI CE Re naan ae or RR ESSE en ae oR PE Se ENR En Ae Se Sen e eR ee S eee tc ee 2 A Stand development with no commercial thinning B Management Variable Definitions J FO 7M OO Worksheet for calculating variable values Summary of Ronco Cove Inventory Summary of Alder Stream Inventory Summary of Sarah s Road Inventory Model Evaluation and Selection Volu
16. f the highlighted region For this reason residual stand density and final harvest age should be read in tandem from the vertical and horizontal axes respectively First select a point of EEE ress interest in the highlighted region In the example at right the point of interest is circled and corresponds to the latest possible final harvest age Follow a trajectory similar to fl ra wo Cc a A paj wo ou the nearest stand development line Stand Age stump ht from this point back to the vertical axis represented by the dashed line in the example Read the value directly from the axis or activate the select tool and read the coordinate from the tool bar remembering to transform the value appropriately See Getting Started Buttons and Dialogs Next activate the locate tool click the mouse at the point of interest and read the age from the dialog box See Getting Started Buttons 23 and Dialogs The process can be repeated to find the coordinates of the earliest final harvest maximum residual density minimum residual density or anything in between Location In general the final silvicultural prescription will not be determined solely with ThinME By determining the density and final harvest age ranges that meet your objectives you can consult harvest schedules wood supply models and other matters that might effect your prescription such as wildlife or riparian habitat
17. h the mouse was clicked then the nomogram theme is not the active theme in the view box Table of Contents The nomogram theme is by default the active theme but the trajectory lines theme may become active if the name is clicked SI 70 750 TPA Fir when added To make the nomogram theme active again simply w Ridlines70 click on the theme title in the Table of Contents The active w Rioalra theme in the Table of Contents at right is R10all70 af R70axb oe ArcView cannot find a theme when a project is opened This problem should not occur when ThinME is run directly from the CD It may arise when you try to open a project you saved to your hard drive before exiting a previous ThinME session To avoid this problem make sure you save the new project in the same subdirectory as all of the ArcView info and theme folders 1 e the natural or pct subdirectory Limitations See Appendix I for fixed assumptions in the financial variable calculations As mentioned in the Getting Started Nomogram Theme section the nomogram line intervals may limit precise queries of the nomograms The intervals should be adequate however given the range of the variable values An attempt was made to reduce the interval width toward the more desirable levels of a variable For example net present value intervals may be smaller near the maximum values and larger near the minimum values ThinME inherits any limitations of the FVS growth an
18. ial Thinning Research Network Seven initial sites were selected for research plot installations and inventoried during the summer of 2000 Three sites were selected from these seven for use in ThinME The Plum Creek Timber Company Ronco Cove site in Piscataquis County was selected as the basis for the 750 TPA PCT stand the International Paper Company Alder Stream site in Somerset County as the basis of the 500 TPA PCT stand and the Seven Islands Land Company Sarah s Road site in Oxford County as the basis for the unthinned natural stand The 1000 TPA PCT stand was based on a subset of the Ronco Cove inventory data The Ronco Cove and Alder Stream sites are respectively 94 and 84 balsam fir Appendix D and E The Sarah s Road site is 87 red spruce Appendix F Stand Inventory Data Growth Thinning Projections Prescriptions FVS Calculate Variable Values Spreadsheet Create User Interface Generate Nomograms ARC INFO ArcView ThinME Figure 1 ThinME design process required to present the management objective variable nomograms in the final ArcView GIS format FVS Forest Vegetation Simulator Growth Model We examined and compared three growth and yield models available for predicting spruce fir responses to commercial thinning FIBER Solomon et al 1995 the Nova Scotia Softwood Growth and Yield Model GNY NSDNR 1993 and the US Forest Service s Forest Vegetation Simulator FVS NE TWIGS va
19. ing for the achievement of a set of stand management objectives The stand management objectives ThinME helps optimize are mean annual increment piece size final harvest cost total wood cost and net present value Cautions ThinME stand projections are based on model simulations derived from a limited sample of spruce fir stands in the state of Maine therefore ThinME simulations reflect these stand conditions Applicability of ThinME output to stands that users may have is based on the degree of similarity between their stands and the stands upon which ThinME projections are based These stand conditions are detailed in Appendices D E and F of this manual ThinME cannot be given user specified stand inventory data Economic inputs such as interest rate and value of the harvested wood also are fixed This version of ThinME permits only one commercial thinning entry before final harvest ThinME Development Conceptual Construct Various formats were explored for the thinning guidelines including those used in Scandinavian countries before we settled on predictive three dimensional graphs nomograms The nomograms consist of stand age and residual stand density m Example nomogram for mean annual increment on the main axes and a contour map of a variable of interest relative to the main axes For example we could plot Residual Density TPA average tree size mean annual increment or any other v
20. me Equations Assumptions used in the harvesting cost estimations and calculations of total wood cost and net present value Forest Vegetation Simulator documentation Lierre ied enamn Ta OORT sN RENE nnn CRO ST COUP aE A Teds aPC Uy TTT Pe PY te 2 Introduction The Maine Forest Service identified commercial thinning as crucial to enhancing Maine s wood supply in their 1998 Timber Supply report Members of the University of Maine s Cooperative Forestry Research Unit CFRU also identified a better understanding about commercial thinning and resulting growth amp yield responses as their top research priority for 2000 2005 As a result the CFRU established a Commercial Thinning Research Network in 2000 to develop a set of interim commercial thinning guidelines and establish a statewide network of research sites to address specific questions about commercial thinning in Maine s forests ThinME is the resulting product of the Network s first aim of producing a set of interim commercial thinning guidelines Scope of ThinME ThinME is a tool that can assist forest managers with developing appropriate commercial thinning prescriptions for spruce fir stands in Maine Questions regarding when to thin how much to remove during the thinning and when to make a final harvest can be addressed Using a customized ArcView GIS interface ThinME provides a graphical approach to identifying residual densities timings of entry and methods of thinn
21. mulator Journal of Forestry 94 12 7 10 Wilson D Seymour R Maguire D 1999 Density management diagram for Northeastern red spruce and balsam fir forests North J Appl For 16 1 48 56 28
22. rcial thinning timings In the PCT stand project three timings are possible The first option is when the stand is approximately 40 feet tall and is referenced by stump height age The second and third options for a first entry are then five and ten years after the stand reaches 40 feet in height In the natural stand project four timings are possible The first option is when the stand is approximately 50 feet tall and has a stand relative density near 0 6 The remaining options for a first entry are then five ten and fifteen years after these conditions are met In each nomogram view box there are three ArcView themes The nomogram theme and axis theme are visible upon startup A third theme the post thinning stand development trajectory lines aids the determination of the residual density after commercial thinning and must be made active by the user Nomogram Theme Individual nomograms were created for each management objective variable beginning five years after the age of thinning and continuing for 45 years For example if a thinning was completed at age 50 the nomogram space will begin at age 55 and continue through age 100 Then the individual nomograms for the five variables were intersected to combine them into one theme The combined theme is designated with a letter and number prefix followed by the word all and the site index The intersecting nomogram lines form the polygons upon which ThinME bases its query for mee
23. restrictions Afterward you can return to ThinME and determine the residual density that matches the final harvest age required by a harvest schedule the final harvest age that matches the residual density required by a special wildlife species etc Shutdown To end the ThinME session click CLOSE on the main control box All of the user control and nomogram view boxes will close You will receive a prompt asking if you want to exit the project Leave G Exit natural stands apr Click YES if you are ready to exit the project and then exit ArcView as usual Caution You are not given the option to save the project upon exiting Changes you may have made such as resizing the nomogram view boxes are not retained for the next session Only if you have copied ThinME to your hard drive may you save the project To save your changes click NO on the leave dialog Then go to File gt Save Project or Save Project As and save the project 24 Click NO if you want to continue working in the project but wish to change one of the initial conditions site index thinning method or initial density The project will remain open and you can begin again by selecting ThinME from the main menu bar If the location cursor was clicked more than once only the last dialog box may close If you are continuing to work in the project you will want to close the remaining location dialog boxes by clicking on the X in the box s
24. riad of harvesting options into a more reasonable assemblage of alternatives by assisting the user in answering three questions 1 when should thinning occur 2 how much should be removed and 3 when should the final harvest occur to satisfy a given set of management objectives The management objective variables included in ThinME are mean annual increment piece size final harvest cost total wood cost and net present value Contents TV OGG HOM i axcciascilanistiandtvaasleasnan E O O 5 ThinME Development CONCE DUAL Const UCL aeie r a T ease Sata tested iace essed 6 Desig Proces S eine netic futsal oh cra eels tas artes lll A dll ak see ba 8 SOUC aia cas cigie N es saute erature ent ciane asetete a 8 CHO Will IO CC Maca cn Geant sties aE E EEA TE A Gemuaisdeseipide E 10 Thinning Prescriptions PG Te SUA INO a satinetrsencsenstatite ct E atti tuncaes 10 Wiathinned Nania Stands si siccecin coeteietsstn sis oaares sewtaletawnstacaaet anime tweed 11 Harvest Cost Modeles a aaa a a A a ER E aR 12 Before You Begin System RECUITCINE AUS arsen a T E 13 a a O A E E A E E T EE eee E 13 Getting Started Opening the Thin p10 6 CtS iiss sosccaaasedeases ves cgnneedisediscwsnceaseodosda ebscseneodsssdiavexeses 13 VIEWS Boxes Buttons and DIALOGS jaxictetiog te tucican Seas a ES 15 ArcView with the nomogram views and user control boxes 0008 15 NAC Wy Soa eae wte vin Grativacas sulin aemisawa che Rwtevinsoahaaeds spun ecewaaeb
25. riant Bush 1995 Using a variety of biological and practical criteria we evaluated the suitability of each model for developing the nomograms We found that the most suitable model for the development of ThinME was FVS Appendix G FVS is a distance independent individual tree growth model consisting of several variants that provide growth and yield estimates for specific geographic areas of the US The Northeast variant uses growth and yield equations developed by Teck and Hilt 1991 commonly known as NE TWIGS NE TWIGS was developed with US Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data collected in the northeastern US In the data set two growth remeasurement intervals were available from Maine 1959 1970 and 1970 1982 Hilt et al 1987 Teck et al 1996 provide a concise overview of FVS its structure and implementation Volume equations in FVS were customized to equal Honer s 1967 merchantable volumes Appendix H Merchantability limits were set to include trees in the 4 DBH class and larger Reported volumes are to a 3 top diameter inside bark excluding a 6 stump All trees gt 2 5 DBH were included in the pre commercially thinned PCTed stand simulations and all trees gt 4 5 tall were included in the natural stand simulations per the inventory tree lists Thinning Prescriptions PCT Stands The thinning prescription implemented in the PCT stands consisted of three steps First a 10 basal area redu
26. rol boxes one for each management objective variable Each box is titled with the variable and its unit of measure net present value NPV acre total wood cost Wood Cost cord final harvest cost Fnl Hrv Cst cord piece size Piece Sz trees cord and mean annual increment MAI cords acre year Note that in the MAI box the values are multiplied by 100 Minimum Slider Bar Slider Tab E HPY acre Wood st cord EA 2 Fol Hry Cst cord EY Piece Sz trees cord EA MAI 1007 cd ac yr E Wallies e _ Values gt Values gt NPIS ete Oa a ee oO E 7 SL LLLILLLLILLLILLLLILLLLL l l l l Tr ttittitti E E E Values i Valuert T O O O Wales EE RS Walues i 115 e E e IDET EIEP EEE co eee ees eee Kiii E i Se Fe We Fan ae en Oe ee Jo OKEE Wes eh Ie Se Maximum Slider Bar Each box contains two slider bars Itis with these bars that the management objectives are input to the program Initially the top slider bar is labeled with the minimum value occurring in the nomograms and the bottom slider bar is labeled with the maximum value occurring in the nomograms Moving the slider tab with the mouse or left and right arrow keys changes the values To use the arrow keys first highlight the bar by clicking on the slider tab with the mouse The arrow keys are useful for incrementing the values one unit at a time Presumably the management objective levels will includ
27. s Before You Begin System Requirements ArcView 3 0b or higher ThinME can be run on a desktop or laptop computer but is best viewed on a desktop computer due to laptop monitor size limitations Installation ThinME is set up to run directly from the CD If you want to install the application on your computer copy the ThinME folder to the hard drive as a primary directory using Explorer or My Computer Getting Started Opening the ThinME projects 2 Welcome to ArcView GIS Create a new projec EN i with a new View Begin an ArcView GIS session and select Open an Existing Project from the pop up menu To work A as a blank project with the non PCTed natural stands go to the a e e E a T lsmsecsncce ThinME natural subdirectory and select i Show this window when Arcview GIS starts OF Cancel natural stands apr To work with the PCT stands go to the ThinME pct subdirectory and select oct_stands apr i Open Project File Name Directories ok natural stands apr e Sthinme natural copy of natural stands draf Cancel 2 natural stands apr C cOlines40 M Fa cDlines5O Ei List Files of Type Drives Project apr E 13 ThinME was created with ArcView 3 0b If you are using a newer version of ArcView you may receive the prompt below Click Yes and continue Update copy of pct_stands_apr version of Arien and contains cus
28. ting the management objectives The nomogram lines were set at regular intervals for each variable The polygons then were labeled so that gt queries would be made for mean annual increment and net present value and lt queries would be made for piece size total wood cost and final harvest cost Individual variable intervals are consistent across entry timings for a given site index when possible General intervals are listed in Table 2 Smaller intervals may irregularly occur to fill gaps in the 16 nomogram space Given these intervals very precise queries are limited For example in some nomograms a query for mean annual increment gt 0 65 may generate the same result as a query for mean annual increment gt 0 66 Figure 2 Table 2 General intervals between nomogram lines MAI Piece Size NPV Final Harvest Total Wood cord ac yr trees cord acre Cost cord Cost cord PCT Stand 1000 TPA 0 01 or 0 02 2 4 10 or 15 2 5 750 TPA 0 01 or 0 02 2 2 4 or 5 2 or 4 2 4 or 5 500 TPA 0 01 or 0 02 2 5 10 or 15 l or2 5 10 or 15 Natural Stand Crown thinning 0 01 2 or 4 4 5 or 10 4 2 or 4 Low Thinning 0 01 2 4 or 10 2 4 or 5 T ou f2 Q m T 2 D ox 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Stand Age stump ht Figure 2 Example polygon labeling for a mean annual increment nomogram Blue numbers indicate contour values Red numbers indicate polygon values by which the queries are made Trajectory
29. tomized GUIs Do you wart ArcView has detected that this project was created with an older the new ArcView tools added to this project Once the project is open select ThinME from the main menu In the PCT stands project you have a choice of three initial densities 1000 trees per acre 750 trees per acre or 500 trees per acre In the natural stands project your choices are the type of commercial thinning implemented crown thinning or low thinning Select the desired option ArcView GIS 3 2 File Project Window Biliingia Help E Initial Density S 1000 TFA fol TPA 500 TRA Jol 2 pect stands apr ArcView GIS 3 2 Eile Project Window Big Help Low Thinning y natural _standz apr Next you are prompted to select a site index SIso breast ht The PCT project E includes site indexes 80 70 60 50 and T T 40 The natural project includes site adei indexes 60 50 and 40 Select the nee 7 desired site index and click OR 14 Views Boxes Buttons and Dialogs After selecting the site index the nomogram views will open along with six user control boxes ArcView with the nomogram views and user control boxes Variable Control Boxes with Slider Bars Main Control Box TAUR 3 7 M ee a ee lt pet ands ape iol x New Open Add A Af Antares of ADSISO 7 Alvis of ADIO Allies of AD
30. upper right corner Troubleshooting The ArcView main Help menu is not customized with information about ThinME Error Message Boxes There are two error message boxes that may r appear during the course of your ArcView tReet session The Oops No Selection message box appears when Cancel is clicked while selecting a site index from the pull down Enor menu The second Message box informs you One of your masimum values is less than pour minimum value that the slider tabs are set illogically This message would appear if OK was clicked with the tabs set as they are in the variable control box at right The query final harvest cost gt 23 and lt 19 is not appropriate in the ThinME application Sl Cae ae aL Pave Nae PAR TET Values lt 19 l l No regions are highlighted after OK is clicked If no highlighted regions are visible in any of the views after OK is clicked then your individual management objectives are not simultaneously attainable Repeat the query with each management objective separately to determine which variable may be restricting the joint achievement of your objectives Additionally incrementally relaxing the constraint for one or more variables also may reveal the limiting objective level 25 The identify dialog box does not list the objective variable values If the identify dialog box does not list the objective variable values for the point at whic
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search