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User Manual - Forest Thinning Scheduler

1. TEXAS A amp M FOREST SERVICE Forest Thinning Scheduler User s Guide e TEXAS A amp M FOREST SERVICE Texas A amp M Forest Service and other members of Texas A amp M System provide equal opportunities in programs education and employment without regard to race color sex religion national origin age disability genetic information or veteran status Texas A amp M Forest Service makes no warranties or guarantees either expressed or implied as to the completeness accuracy or correctness of the data provided in this report nor accepts any liability arising from any incorrect incomplete or misleading information contained therein All information data and databases are provided as is with no warranty expressed or implied including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose By accessing this Forest Thinning Decision Support System website and or data contained within the databases you hereby release Texas A amp M Forest Service and its employees agents contractors and suppliers from any and all responsibility and liability associated with its use In no event shall Texas A amp M Forest Service or its officers or employees be liable for any damages arising in any way out of the use of the website or use of the information contained in the databases herein including but not limited to the Texas Forest Information products Table of Contents Ett 5 Tesa Tore a a eene 5 ADOT EE 5 TEI A A E T PETT A
2. Density Basal Area before thinning If Density selected above enter the average number of trees per acre just prior to the thinning operation If Basal Area select above enter the basal area of the stand just prior to the thinning operation Density Basal Area after thinning This field is an advanced search field If Density selected above enter the average number of trees per acre remaining after the thinning operation If Basal Area select above enter the basal area of the stand after the thinning operation Thresholds Thinning Decision Threshold The Thresholds tab contains the last group of variables needed to calculate a thinning schedule Introduction Description Activities Thresholds Submit Forest Thinning Thinning Decision Thresholds Scheduler Primary management objective Timber X Scenario 2 Tolerance to investment risks Medium Scenario 3 Age at final harvest 32 years Results Increased chance of environmental stressors No Yes Maximum SDI O 400 450 500 Adjust SDI for planting density No Yes Primary management objective This is a required field Long term forest management objectives vary widely by landowners These objectives along with the limits of the forest ecosystem and the dynamics of the forest vegetation determine the appropriate silvicultural practices used Silviculture practices are the actual on the ground practices used to achieve the management objectives This program
3. species and region It represents an estimated target SDI value which once reached as the stand grows triggers the program to schedule a thinning activity Lower limit SDI thinning target Based upon user inputs this value represents the target SDI of the residual stand after thinning This value is used to determine the number of trees to harvest during a thinning operation Density dependent upper SDI limit The estimated upper limit SDI thresholds adjusted by the initial planting O CC density in which a thinning operation should be scheduled This value is Forest used only if the user selected yes on the Adjust SDI for planting density Thinnin field on the Thresholds tab Sche a Re Scenario navigation buttons Scenario 1 Scenario selection Scenario 2 This application processes and compares the results for up to three scenarios scenario 3 simultaneously Each scenario is accessed by clicking on the scenario navigation buttons at the left of the screen Unique information may be entered on the Results Description Activities and Thresholds tab for each separate scenario Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 11 Results Once the user clicks on Submit at the bottom of the Submit tab to run the simulation the results can be viewed by clicking on the Results navigation button The user can either look at the results for each scenario separately or side by side by clicking o
4. ER PET E E E AS O E P A AE A E ene cncuseceecetees 5 CONE E 5 Texas A amp M Forest Service Lop Osuyanierisipadna ra ER aA 5 ai EE 6 Dr oduci in rere arena ret arte meant acer ene rte eee tee eee eee ee cee cen ee eee eee 6 Description Forest Stand DeSCTIPtiON c ce ccsssssessssessessscsesssesseeseseesssesseesseessesseasseeneeaseneseeneaeaseneseasensaeeseeasetaeeneatas 6 C NTO N A a E ner re ee ee nne ane ee E eee er eee ee 6 PESCADO EE 7 EC E a EEEE EAE A tte cto EAA EA EA N E A A E N E E A A I E A d eebe E D d S P E EE A A E E E E A E E A A A 7 EE 7 ue 7 ugeet 7 KIC bet 7 Include Site Index Adjustment for Base Age eegene 7 BS UN E 8 Sela Og WE 8 Activities Prior Forest Management ACUVIUES Leder ENEE 8 Gene e scares sche st acca pvcesanete tog tp E epee TEARA SGN ERNeR TA 8 io 2 8G Salen g 8 EE 8 Thresholds Thinning Decision Threshold E 9 Poman imin e ee 9 Tolerance to eg rn E Ce nn ee 9 EEN DEE 10 Increased chance of environmental SEL CSSOIS 2 siscst sori deticesesesncsavecscbssannedosiexssctvtdeancteiuehtpaaiestaatuceeieiaienttenaciecnrs 10 e Eeer 10 Adjust SDi Ben el E 10 ll T cet ces asec secede cates cece cence cae gates a ene eee temo age eee 10 ele het 11 Hou oF Rees 11 TRC ET ANT Eeer 11 ee EE 11 PM ETE I E A eae eee E A A EE E AA PA E O T 11 Initial Stand RE 11 Upper limit SDI and thinning required sccm cocaine tetas iemeanai anon cninaccanites 11 L wer o CS Kee 11 Density dependent ett eege 11 Oa ege 11
5. Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 9 Age at final harvest This is a required field If preferred you may enter the age of the stand at which you would like to conduct a final harvest Although long for production forestry investment a common age for loblolly pine is 32 years Increased chance of environmental stressors This field is for the advanced user Some regions in the U S have highly variable climate that may increase the chance and magnitude of environmental stressors impact on forest stands This may lead to slowed growth loss of vigor and decreased resiliency to insects disease fire excessive weather events etc If this option is chosen the Forest Thinning Scheduler application will adjust the thinning decision thresholds accordingly to promote tree vigor health resistance and resilience to environmental stressors Maximum SDI This field is for the advanced user Stand Density Index SDI is a relative measure of stand density It is based upon the relationship between average tree size and number of trees per acre in a fully stocked even age stand Species and the regions for which they are grown express different values for Maximum SDI which is the maximum index that a stand can reach with maximum competition Typical Maximum SDI value for loblolly pine is 450 Producers in northern portions of the Western Gulf region of the U S may benefit by using 400 as the Maximum SDI value Adjust SDI for plant
6. defined inputs Providing a meaningful name may prove useful in keeping track of the various scenarios Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 6 Description This field is optional This application provides you the opportunity to compare up to three separate scenarios side by side Scenarios may differ by planting density management objectives harvest age adversity to risk and many other user defined inputs Providing a short description may prove useful in keeping track of the various scenarios Region This field is required Because the same species grows differently in different regions the optimum thinning schedule will vary based upon the region Select the appropriate region of the U S using the following image as a guide Note only one region Western Gulf is available at this time Stand Type This field is required Choose the type of stand from the following options Note only the stand type Plantation is available at this time e Plantation Tree plantations are usually easily distinguished from natural forests by the trees being planted in straight line and the site artificially regenerated using seedlings e Natural Single A naturally regenerated stand in which at least 80 of the trees in the main canopy are of a single species These stand do not have trees planted in straight line and the renewal of the forest crop comes from seed fallen from mature trees on or near the site or by sprouting fr
7. SOS MVS COIN grees EE E E vores cago N E NE A E D A E A A ae ieeee nex 11 eet 12 Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide 3 Links TEXAS A amp M TexasForestinfo tamu edu About FOREST SERVICE xr TEXAS A amp M Texas Forest Information Portal TexasForestinfo tamu edu TOREST SERVICE 4 fe ce SUSTAINING FORESTS Clicking the TexasForestInfo tamu edu will take you to the Texas Forest Information Portal URL http texasforestinfo tamu edu About Click About to bring up a brief statement describing the Forest Thinning Scheduler application Help Click the Help link available on the main page to access this user guide In addition to the PDF user manual provided tool tips for each specific step are provided with a simple mouse rollover on any of the input fields Contact Texas A amp M Forest Service invites you to provide feedback on the Forest Thinning Scheduler application Please provide your questions comments and suggestions for improvement by clicking the Contact link Texas A amp M Forest Service Logo Click on the Texas A amp M Forest Service Logo to go to the Texas A amp M Forest Service main page URL http texasforestservice tamu edu Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 5 Tabs Introduction Description Activities Thresholds Submit Introduction This default screen provides the following brief directions to quickly begin a thinning scheduler session e Starting
8. considers the user selected management objective in determining the optimum thinning schedules Income generation focused management such as timber is often associated with high capital investment and may warrant delayed and or more aggressive thinning schedules than those management objectives that are habitat focused or recreational focused objectives Tolerance to investment risk This is a required field Many forest stands are held as investments and all investments hold some degree of risk Some individuals may be more adverse to risk than others An aggressive investor or one with a high risk tolerance is willing to risk losing money to get potentially better results A conservative investor or one with a low risk tolerance favors investments that maintain his or her original investment This program will adjust the thinning decision thresholds based upon the selected level of risk If low tolerance is selected the optimum thinning window is skewed towards maintaining slightly less dense stands than required to meet the biological optimum needs of the stand under average environmental conditions Risk of catastrophic loss is reduced at the consequence of optimum timber production If high tolerance is select thinning schedules are skewed to hold higher densities for a longer period of time increasing risk of catastrophic loss while increasing the potential for a greater return on investment increase production of timber Forest
9. d SI at base age 25 for the described stand Initial diameter The average quadratic mean diameter units inches of trees in the described stand Diameter is the straight line passing from side to side through the center of the tree at 4 5 feet above average ground line Be careful not to confuse diameter with a tree s circumference Genetic gain over base Depending upon the species the poorest seedlings provided by most nurseries still provides a significant gain in production over wood run provenancial stock This is called the base gain This program determines the difference between the base gain per species and the planting stock genetic gain value entered by the user on the Forest Stand Description tab QMD where thinning begins As the forest stand grows crop trees begin to compete with each other for limited resources This competition ultimately leads to reduced vigor growth and tree death by some individual trees a process call self thinning This value estimates the size as quadratic mean diameter that the trees will be when the self thinning process begins Average height This is the calculated average height in feet of the tallest dominant and co dominant trees in the stand Initial Stand Density Index The calculated Stand Density Index SDI for the described forest stand Upper limit SDI and thinning required This value is determined from the various user inputs including management objective risk adversity
10. en report the woods run or provenancial productivity of a forest site and does not necessarily represents well the height Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 7 potential expressed through modern management practices and genetic gain expressed by available seedlings This features allows the user to include an estimated gain value when entering site index at base age 50 as reported with soil data sheets Set to default Sets the fields on the Description page to default values Clear form Clears the fields on the Description page of any values Activities Prior Forest Management Activities Prior forest management activities such as any previous thinnings can help with calculating accurate results This tab provides a place to add this information Introduction Description Thresholds Submit Forest tes Thinning Prior Forest Management Activities Scheduler 7 Planting stock genetic gain 27 gt gain in volume Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Stand previously thinned No Yes Scenario 3 Age of previous thin years Results Measure of intensity Density Basal area Density before thinning 2 trees per acre Density after thinning gt trees per acre Genetic gain This field is required Genetic gain in crop tree comes from a robust selection process whereby progeny offspring produced from the selection process express superior performance gain in various traits of interest e g grow
11. ing density This field is for the advanced user Most models usually assumed that the relative value between the stand density index SDI threshold where self thinning is expected to begin is constant regardless of planting density Modern forest stand establishment practices however often recommend significantly lower planting densities depending upon species site objectives which have shown to alter the point in the stand s development at which self thinning began for some species Selecting this value will adjust the SDI thresholds according to initial planting density but may result in non optimum thinning schedules for most typical stands In most instances adjusting for the initial planting density is not necessary for achieving satisfactory results Forest Thinning a ae d Scheduler Em t sde GE Submit ea ae Click on the Submit tab to review entered data before running a simulation to determine the i optimum thinning schedule User entered data is A provided in the first three subsections on the screen Forest Stand Description Prior Forest Management Activities and Thinning Decision l Thresholds The following additional calculated Gr a values required to run the simulations are listed e SE i in the last section labeled as Calculated Model tere DND where welfthinning Leaks i Bt ches Inputs Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 10 Site Index The calculate
12. n All Scenarios tab GA 2 Scenario 3 All Scenarios Forest Thinning S h d Post cnedquier Pre Thin Thin Value Value Removals Value Value Removals Scenario 1 Age years Scenario 2 Density trees acre 315 45 169 45 Scenario 3 Basal Area sqft acre 36 41 Quadratic Mean Diameter in Height of dominant trees ft Stand Density Index Total Stand Yield cuft acre 1233 649 34 2029 1067 34 Total Stand Yield tons acre 35 18 57 30 Merchantable Yield cuft acre Merchantable Yield tons acre Age years 30 Density trees acre 106 85 45 Basal Area sqft acre 95 49 Quadratic Mean Diameter in Height of dominant trees ft Stand Density Index Total Stand Yield cuft acre 1755 36 Total Stand Yield tons acre 49 Merchantable Yield cuft acre Merchantable Yield tons acre Acknowledgements The Forest Thinning Scheduler application was developed by Texas A amp M Forest Service in partnership with LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY Research amp Extension TEXAS A amp M AGRILIFE EXTENSION and funded in part by Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 12
13. om roots and stumps e Natural Mix A naturally regenerated stand in which less than 80 of the trees in the canopy are of a single species Species This field is required Choose the prominent species in the stand Note only the species loblolly pine is available at this time Stand age This field is required If plantation enter the age of the trees or the number of years since the stand was artificially regenerated plus one year Value must be equal to or greater than 1 If natural stand approximate the number of years since the major disturbance e g harvest fire hurricane occurred that cause significant regeneration and new cohort of trees Stand density This field is required Enter the current average number of trees per acre Site Index This field is required Site Index SI is commonly used to describe the productivity of a forest site SI reports the expected height of the dominant and co dominant free to grow trees of a given species growing on the site at some base age Commonly used base ages include 25 and 50 years Soil maps commonly use a base age of 50 For many species such as loblolly pine most growth and yield models prefer to use base age of 25 For example loblolly pine growing on an average quality site in the Western Gulf region might reach 65 feet in 25 years In this example SI 65pasezs Include Site Index Adjustment for Base Age 50 This field is for the advanced user Site Index estimates oft
14. th These offsprings are often tested across a wide variety of sites over a number of years and their performance gains are recorded If artificially regenerated this application allow entry of the reported gain in volume expected from the family of seedling planted For example many of the Znd generation loblolly pine family express 25 30 gain in volume over woods run loblolly The default is set to 27 for loblolly pine which is typical of the gain expressed by the least expensive nursery stock available today Stand previously thinned This field is optional Older stands may have already undergone a thinning of some type If so for your stand select Yes here You will need to enter the following additional information to complete this option Age of previous thin Enter the age of the stand when it was last thinned Note at this time the Thinning DSS only allows one previous thin entry If the stand has been thinned more than once use the parameters for the most recent thin Measure of Intensity If previous thin is chosen then some determination of the intensity of the thin is required to proceed These values can either be entered as trees per acre or basal area If you know the number of trees per acre before and after the thin then select Density If you Forest Thinning Scheduler User Guide Table of Contents 8 know the Basal Area of the stand before the thinning was conducted and after the thinning then select Basal area
15. with the Description tab above enter the appropriate information in the Description tab Activities tab and Thresholds tab for Scenario 1 e If desired click on Scenario 2 button to input different values for a second scenario on each tab Repeat for Scenario 3 if desired e Once all inputs have been successfully entered click on the Submit tab Review inputs and click the Submit button at the bottom of the page to run the analysis e Click on the Results button in the left navigation screen to review results Results can be viewed individually for each scenario or collectively across all scenarios Description Forest Stand Description The following descriptive characteristic of the user s forest stand are entered on this tab S TEXAS A amp M FOREST SERVICE contac Introduction Activities Thresholds ES Submit el Forest Stand Description Scenario Name Scenario 2 Description Scenario 3 Region Western Gulf KL Resuits Stand Type Plantation S Species Loblolly k Stand age 1 year s Stand density 726 trees per acre Site Index 70 base 25 years 50 years Include Site Index Adjustment for Base Age 50 Set to default Clear form Scenario Name This field is optional This application provides you the opportunity to compare up to three Separate scenarios side by side Scenarios may differ by planting density management objectives harvest age adversity to risk and many other user

User Manual - Forest Thinning Scheduler

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