Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9736073 | Landscape and Urban Planning | 2005 | 15 Pages |
Abstract
The Forest Service has relied on a single forest measure, timber volume, to meet many management and planning information needs in southeast Alaska. This economic-based categorization of forest types tends to mask critical information relevant to other contemporary forest-management issues, such as modeling forest structure, ecosystem diversity, or wildlife habitat. We propose the joint distribution of tree density and mean tree diameter as a more comprehensive set of forest measures. Focusing on those measures, we build a predictive-mapping model by using existing geographic information system data resources and existing ground-sampled inventory data. The utility of our predictive-mapping model will need to be tested with additional intensive ground-sampled data and in applications that involve forest managers, planners, and biologists. Such tests will reveal the model's utility in addressing contemporary forest-management problems and information needs.
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Authors
John P. Caouette, Eugene J. DeGayner,