FORESTAR:

Abstract

Past monoculture forestry in China has contributed to countrywide ecological disasters and economic difficulties in forestry regions. China’s new forestry programs, Natural Forest Conservation Program and Returning Farmlands to Forests Program, provide opportunities for ecosystem management of mountain forests in China. A decision support system, FORESTAR, has been developed for better managing and protecting natural forests in Changbai Mountain area. It uses GIS-based forest inventory data at a scale of forestry bureau. The first version contains two sub-modules: forest operation and forest restoration. Under each sub-module, users can compare several decision options and make optimal choices. It can help field foresters, forest managers, and policy makers make multi-objective and consistent decisions in planning forest management at hierarchical administrative scales.

Keywords

Sustainable forestry / Ecosystem management / Forest policy / Decision support tools / Temperate mixed forest / S750 / A

References

[1] Boston K., Bettinger P. Development of spatially feasible forest plans: a comparison of two modeling approaches [J]. Silva Fenn., 2001, 35(4): 425-435.

[2] Dai L., Shao G., Xiao B. Ecological classification for mountain forest sustainability in northeast China [J]. For. Chron., 2003, 79(2): 233-236.

[3] Haddon B., Sauvageau F., Wang E. REGEN: A program for reporting on forest regeneration [J]. For. Chron., 1996, 72(5): 505-512.

[4] Li H.B., Gartner D.I., Mou P., Trettin C.C. A landscape model (LEEMATH) to evaluate effects of management impacts on timber and wildife habitat [J]. Comput. Electron. Agric., 2000, 27(1–3): 263-29.

[5] Maclean D.A., Erdle T.A., MacKinnon W.E., Porter K.B., Beaton K.P., Cormier G., Morehouse S., Budd M. The spruce budworm decision support system: Forest protection planning to sustain long-term wood supply [J]. Can. J. For. Res., 2001, 31(10): 1742-1757.

[6] People’s Daily. 2002. The returning farmlands to forests program starts up countrywide. People’s Daily June 21, 2002.

[7] Puttock G. D., Timossi I., Davis L. S. BOREAL: A tactical planning system for forest ecosystem management [J]. For. Chron., 1998, 74(3): 413-420.

[8] Rauscher H. M. Ecosystem management decision support for federal forests in the United States: A review [J]. For. Ecol. Manage., 1999, 114(2–3): 173-197.

[9] Rauscher H. M., Lloyd F.T., Loftis D.L., Twery M.J. A practical decision-analysis process for forest ecosystem management [J]. Comput. Electron. Agric., 2000, 27(1–3): 195-226.

[10] Shao G., Zhang P., Bai G., Wang Z. Ecological classification systems for protection and management of China’s Natural forests Acta. Ecol. Sinica, 2001, 21(9): 1564-1568. (in Chinese)

[11] Shao G., Zhao G. Protecting versus harvesting of old-growth forests on the Changbai Mountain (China and North Korea): A remote sensing application [J]. Natural Areas Journal, 1998, 18(4): 334-341.

[12] Shao G., Zhao S., Shugart H.H. Forest dynamics modeling: preliminary explanations of optimizing management of Korean pine forests [M], 1996 Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House (In Chinese with English table titles and figure captions)

[13] Weintraub A., Church R.L., Murray A.T., Guignard M. Forest management models and combinatorial algorithms: analysis of state of the art [J]. Ann. Oper. Res., 2000, 96: 271-285.

[14] Wu, Y. 2001. Policy Analysis of the Returning Farmlands to Forests Program in China. Master Thesis of Purdue University. 92 pp.

[15] Zhang P., Shao G., Zhao G., LeMaster D.C., Parker G.R., Dunning J.B., Li Q. Ecology: China’s Forest Policy for the 21^st Century [J]. Science, 2000, 288(5474): 2135-2136.

[16] Zhao G., Shao G. Logging restrictions in China: A turning point for forest sustainability [J]. J. For., 2002, 100(4): 34-37.

[17] Zhao G., Shao G., Zhang P., Bai G. China’s new forest policy (In response) [J]. Science, 2000, 289(5487): 2049-2050.