Spatially Constrained Harvest Scheduling for Strip Allocation and Biodiversity Management

Abstract

We investigate the effect of strip cutting under a strip shelterwood management scheme with adjacency requirements among strips. We compare results from an ordinary spatially constrained solution to a solution with strip windows in the management units. The comparison of management schemes is considered as a spatially constrained harvest scheduling problem, which is solved using the SSMART (Scheduling System of Management Alternatives foR Timberharvest) hybrid heuristic. SSMART uses a partitioning heuristic to solve spatially constrained harvest scheduling problems. Our experimental analysis shows that using strip windows to embed additional spatial buffers into the management scheme reduces profit by almost 30%. In our Slovakian Forest Enterprise case study, it reduces the harvest flow level and harvested area by approximately 30%, while the calculated flow fluctuation over time is 10 times smaller than that from the ordinary adjacency problem without strip windows. However, strip windows could play an indirect role in preserving some resources for future harvest, possibly meeting sustainable management objectives.