Stand volume can be estimated from other stand variables by using multiple linear regression (MLR) or other ordinary regression models. MLR, however, only produces global parameter estimates that cannot reveal spatial variations in stand variables. In this study,we used a geographical weighted regression (GWR) method to investigate local spatial variations in the relationship between stand volume, stand age, and basal area of Acacia mangium plantations,and to examine whether a GWR model could provide better prediction accuracy than an MLR model. Stand data and geographical coordinates were obtained from 247 plantation sample plots. We analyzed the data using MLR and GWR methods by formulating a linear model that relates stand volume to stand age and basal area. Performance of the GWR model was compared with the MLR model in terms of their parameter estimates and goodness-of-fit statistics. We found that the GWR model was not only able to reveal local spatial variations in the relationship between stand volume, stand age, and basal area, but it also produced better prediction accuracy than the MLR model. The GWR model reduced AIC by 2%, increased R²_adj up to 3%, and reduced RMSE by 14%, compared with those of the MLR model. The GWR model, therefore, could be useful for modeling spatial variations in stand attributes that cannot be revealed by ordinary regression models. Stand volume can be estimated from other stand variables by using multiple linear regression (MLR) or other ordinary regression models. MLR, however, only produces global parameter estimates that cannot reveal spatial variations in stand variables. In this study,we used a geographical weighted regression (GWR) method to investigate local spatial variations in the relationship between stand volume, stand age, and basal area of Acacia mangium plantations,and to examine whether a GWR model could provide better prediction accuracy than an MLR model. Stand data and geographical coordinates were obtained from 247 plantation sample plots. We analyzed the data using MLR and GWR methods by formulating a linear model that relates stand volume to stand age and basal area. Performance of the GWR model was compared with the MLR model in terms of their parameter estimates and goodness-of-fit statistics. We found that the GWR model was not only able to reveal local spatial variations in the relationship between stand volume, stand age, and basal area, but it also produced better prediction accuracy than the MLR model. The GWR model reduced AIC by 2%, increased R²_adj up to 3%, and reduced RMSE by 14%, compared with those of the MLR model. The GWR model, therefore, could be useful for modeling spatial variations in stand attributes that cannot be revealed by ordinary regression models.

This study assesses the applicability of combining the general standardization procedure (GSP) with principal component analysis (PCA) in ecological data analysis. For this purpose, we conducted a comparison of the performance of combined GSP and PCA with detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) in classifying the structure of species composition in natural forest stands at the Kwangneung Experimental Forest. Prior to analyzing the data using PCA, it was standardized using GSP to avoid the tendency of involutions accompanying PCA. Results showed that both approaches were successful in classifying stand species composition and provided ordination surfaces showing three separate groupsconiferous, deciduous and mixed forests. In terms of total explained variance, GSP-PCA seemed to demonstrate better performance than DCA. However, in classifying species composition structures by visual inspection of the ordination graphs, the ordination plots obtained using DCA were more effective than those generated using GSP-PCA.

This study evaluates whether wind data at local meteorological stations can be used for studying wind damage in forested areas. Data from four Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System (AMeDAS) stations and one weather station, located in the northern and southern portions of Hokkaido Island, was compared with wind data collected at flux towers located in the Teshio and Tomakomai regional forests. Anemometers were affixed to the flux towers at a height of 32 m in Teshio and 40 m in Tomakomai; thus, the data was assumed to adequately represent wind conditions in a forested area without vegetation effects. Mean wind speed at the AMeDAS stations and weather station sites was converted to extreme wind speed using roughness length on eight directions. This comparison was based on the storm (October to May) and typhoon (August and September) seasons. Subsequently, a distance-limited topographic exposure index (TOPEX) was calculated for all anemometer positions using 1, 2, 5, and 10 km distances from the position. We found that wind at sites with low TOPEX scores and small roughness length could significantly represent wind conditions in nearby forested areas. Wind speeds with high TOPEX scores but small roughness length occasionally showed correlation with conditions at the flux tower. Although additional study is required, using TOPEX with roughness length could be beneficial for deriving suitable wind data sets that correlate with wind conditions in nearby forested areas.

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.

This paper discusses development of a multi-country, multicommodity linear trade model that includes intermediate goods. This new model improves the author’s previous model by rigidly formulating the supply and demand conditions for each good according to the final demand for that good as a linear function of gross domestic product (GDP). Parameter domains of ϕ^o_K (i.e., the level of public benefit - in monetary terms - provided by the forestry sector in country K, assuming that the forestry sector maintains its present output level) are investigated where the pattern of forestry specialization in each country reverses from its primary state. These domains were identified in three-dimensional ϕ^o_K spaces. Public benefit was assumed to be directly proportionate to the country’s forestry output. Calculations were made using data from the “Asian International Input-Output Table 2000.” Simulations were conducted to examine interactions between Japan, the U.S., and China. Results showed that (1) if the present public benefit from the forestry sector in each country is not considered at all, then forestry output should be decreased in Japan, (2) when public benefit is considered, a “reverse domain” (in which desirable outputs increase) certainly exists within the range of ϕ^o_J =0 − 1.0(10¹⁰$/year) in the three-dimensional ϕ^o_K spaces, and (3) when the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors are aggregated into one sector and public benefits from these sectors are evaluated together, this “reverse domain”exists within the range of ϕ^o_J =0 − 70(10¹⁰$/year) in the same spaces.

The objective of this article is to analyze the technical efficiency of the sawmill industry by prefectures in Japan over the period of 1990-2006 using nonparametric approach, Data Envelopment Analysis. The data used in analysis are domestic roundwood purchased, foreign roundwood purchased, number of employees, and power capacity as inputs, and shipments of products for construction and others as outputs. Empirical results show that the Japanese sawmills have enjoyed highly technical and scale efficiency, averagely 0.958 and 0.988 respectively. The first post-hoc test with Kruskal-Wallis revealed that the average efficiency of sawnwood production decreased significantly with time. The second post-hoc test with Mann-Whitney showed that the average technical efficiency in different production scale varied significantly, however, the power capacity and wood species had no effects on technical efficiency.

Thinning and pruning activities are often given low priority in management plans for plantation forests. In many cases, these activities are postponed because of poor economic conditions. We devised a method to evaluate the impact delaying these maintenance activities can have on forest growth. While the system yield table technique forecasts total stand volume growth, we introduced a slight variation that considers standing timber, which should remain following thinning or other management activities. By utilizing a stand density control chart and the management plan system figure, we specified the thinning effect and introduced a variable for opportunity cost. We compared a management scenario without thinning to a scenario with thinning, and predicted future forest conditions after 10 and 50 years. We also calculated the opportunity cost for the scenario without thinning.

Previous studies have revealed wide variation in forest stand volume estimations derived from forest canopy profiles that were detected using a line-transect method of airborne laser altimetry, or LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). We suggest the possibility that a detected canopy profile may not accurately represent the true stand profile. For example, a vertical profile detected by LiDAR may not always intersect the tree crown centerline. We theoretically examined projected individual crown volume, which is normally estimated using the corresponding individual vertical crown profile. The results suggest there should theoretically be no bias in the projected crown volume, regardless of crown profile. On the other hand, the results also suggest that variation in projected crown volume can be greater when the canopy is not closed and/or when the crown features a sharper top.

Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) clones, called kawaidanisugi, planted in western forests of the Toyama prefecture suffered severe wind damage from typhoon No. 23 in 2004. A dynamic model of kawaidanisugi, based on “cantilever” theory, was built to examine the mechanics of wind damage for this cedar tree. The stem form, elasticity data and necessary for construction of the model was collected from the forests in Toyama. Overturning moments at the tree stem was investigated in three different forests throughout the prefecture. Given tree size, the model can estimate the failure type (uprooting or stem breakage). To verify the model’s accuracy, actual tree size and failure type in kawaidanisugi forests were compared to predicted values. This comparison revealed that stem breakage could be predicted with a relatively high level of success, while the ability to predict uprooting was poor. As for the height of stem breakage, observed values corresponded well with estimated values. Assuming equal diameter at breast height, taller trees were more likely to suffer stem breakage, while shorter trees were more likely to uproot.

We develop a stand-level dynamic programming (DP) model for joint production of timber and biomass as a source of bio-energy, and evaluate the effect of bio-energy use on optimal thinning regimes. We add a forest biomass component to a forest stand growth simulator and evaluate two types of carbon emission reduction effects - the direct effect of carbon sequestration from producing and using timber, and the indirect effect of fuel substitution. We compute benefits from producing timber based on the price of logs, while we use the price of Grade A crude oil to compute benefits from biomass production for bio-energy. We examine the relationship between utility ratio of log and benefits from joint production of timber and biomass by introducing a new decision variable for this ratio. Our results show that forest landowners focus on producing timber for the price of Grade A crude oil less than 80 Yen/l, while they shift entirely to biomass production for bio-energy in the other case of the price more than 80 Yen/l. As for carbon emission reduction effects, our results point out that biomass production leads to greater carbon emission reduction effects than timber production when thinned timber products are ignored as a source of carbon sequestration.