Development of an advanced growth and yield model for multipurpose sustainable forest management

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We propose to establish a collaborative research partnership with the forest industry of Nova Scotia (NS) andthe NS Department of Natural Resources, with the specific goal to develop an advanced growth and yield (G&Y)model. The modelling framework envisioned will incorporate state-of-the-art technology to relate forest G&Y to biophysical conditions and site quality that control growth, species-response functions, and forest-stand dynamics under new silvicultural interventions. The model will be designed to provide stand and tree information required for provincial wood supply analyses and be the basis for future sustainable forest management planning in NS and elsewhere.Currently, forest management planning uses G&Y estimates derived from sampling plots placed throughout the forest. These G&Y values generally reflect average conditions in individual strata classified according tospecies composition and management history. Such G&Y values are normally acceptable when applied to even-aged stands treated with a single management regime, but not to inceasingly used uneven-aged management prescriptions. We will develop a robust, design-based empirical tree model that will incorporate process-based data. Forest industry in NS will directly benefit from this research by having a scientifically-defensible G&Y prediction protocol. Training of partners in model calibration and use will take place. The G&Y model envisioned here will be sufficiently general in its structure and content that it can be transferred to other jurisdictions in Canada, and elsewhere. The NS G&Y model has potential to be used to address questions of national importance including impacts of climate change on stand and landscape development processes, species replacement, and ecosystem integrity and use of forests for carbon sequestration under constraints of wood utilization and forest management.