| |
| TITLE |
Incorporating Soil Parent
Material and Spatial Information into the Forest Vegetation Simulator |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
USDA Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station; USDA Forest Service, Forest Management
Service Center; Inland Forest Tree Nutrition Co-Operative; Potlatch Corporation;
Boise Cascade Corporation; Plum Creek Timber Company |
DATE
and
DURATION |
1999 through
2003 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
1. Lithology Aggregation Approach Pilot
Study Proposal
2. Lithology data set comparison
3. FVS Overview Report |
| CONTACT |
Robert Froese; Andrew Robinson |
| SYNOPSIS |
Recent research has demonstrated
a significant influence of soil parent material on tree growth, mortality
and stand development. Other research has deveoped techniques to explicitly
incoporate spatial variability within stand inventories into FVS model projections.
This project will incorporate these two recent developments into FVS at
an operational scale. A single FVS variant including the new technologies
will be developed for forest land in Idaho, eastern Washington and western
Montana. |
| |
| TITLE |
Testing the robustness
of a physiological process model at different sites a sensitivity analysis
of 3PG |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
Dr Richard Waring, Oregon
State University |
DATE
and
DURATION |
2000 through 2001 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
1. Draft report |
| CONTACT |
Andrew Robinson |
| SYNOPSIS |
We applied sensitivity
analysis within a Latin-hypercube design to predictions of stand volume
and leaf area index from 3PG at two distinct sites Priest River, ID and
Wind River, WA. In each case, a surprisingly large proportion of the variation
in the state variables (>99%) was explained by a small number of main
effects, which is encouraging for both the model builders and potential
users. This implies that the model does not need all the parameters to be
accurately estimated, and also that there is a low risk of significant interactions
between the parameters. Similarities and differences between the parameter
effects at each site are interpreted in the light of the physiological processes
that underpin the model. The ability of the model to operate robustly at
different sites under a common analytic framework is a quantum of evidence
of its generality. |
| |
| TITLE |
Taper Equations for Loblolly
Pine in Uruguay |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
Colonvade Corporation |
DATE
and
DURATION |
1999 through 2001 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
none |
| CONTACT |
Laura Leites-Barrios; Andrew Robinson |
| SYNOPSIS |
Loblolly pine has been
planted commercially in Uruguay. However, it is unknown whether the growth
of loblolly pine outside of its natural range is different. If taper of
loblolly pine in Uruguay is not significantly different from North America
then volume equations should be able to be extrapolated with confidence.
This project will test the hypothesis that taper of loblolly pine is similar
in both locations. |
| |
| TITLE |
Using the variagraph
to test lack of fit of a parametric regression model without replication |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
Dr Sanford Weisberg,
University of Minnesota |
DATE
and
DURATION |
1997(!) through 2001 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
1. Draft report |
| CONTACT |
Andrew Robinson |
| SYNOPSIS |
The variagraph is a graphical
diagnostic technique for assessing lack of fit in regression modelling.
The behavior of the variagraph is explored by simulation, and its use demonstrated
on an example dataset previously applied in lack-of-fit testing. |
| |
| TITLE |
Comparison and Assessment
of Forest Yield Simulation Models for West-side Forests in the Pacific Northwest |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
USDA Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Research Station |
DATE
and
DURATION |
1999 through 2001 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
1. Model overview draft |
| CONTACT |
Andrew Robinson |
| SYNOPSIS |
Assessing and comparing
a range of different forest growth models for suitability in forecasting
yield at varying scales in the western forests of Washington and Oregon,
and the south-eastern forests of Alaska. |
| |
| TITLE |
Parameterizing Physiological
Forest Models in Idaho |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
University of Idaho (MacIntyre
Stennis Grant) |
DATE
and
DURATION |
2000 through 2003 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
none |
| CONTACT |
Andrew Robinson; Paul Gessler;
John Marshall |
| SYNOPSIS |
Physiological models
of forest processes are seldom linked to the empirical models that are used
for natural resource management decisions. This study aims to link these
diverse modeling paradigms by using mensurational and physiological data
to assess physiological models. The first goal is to assess the feasibility
of running process models for forest stands in northern Idaho using remotely
sensed data. The second goal is to assess the impact of measuring input
variables at different spatial scales and with different measurement tools.
The third goal is to assess model performance using empirical data. The
model will be run using climate data dating back to 1912 and compared with
mensurational data from permanent plots dating back to the 1930's, and predictions
of forest growth from the Forest Vegetation Simulator. In addition, model
estimates of leaf area index (LAI) will be compared with remotely sensed
data from the early 1970's to the present. Finally, physiological state
and rate variables from the model will be compared with field measurements
during the study period. These independent tests of model performance should
open new possibilities for ecosystem research in Idaho, including improvements
in the models themselves. |
| |
| TITLE |
FVS Variant for Boise
Cascade Private Forestland in Central Idaho with Soil Parent Material as
a Predictor |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
Boise Cascade Corporation |
DATE
and
DURATION |
June 1999 through January
2000 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
proprietary |
| CONTACT |
Robert Froese; Gias Uddin; Andrew Robinson |
| SYNOPSIS |
FVS has been used extensively
on lands outside of the range of the data from which it was developed. This
project aims to fit a local variant of FVS for Boise Cascade private timberlands
in Idaho that also includes soil parent material as a new predictor. This
project is a pilot project that complements and contributes to the Regional
FVS refit. |
| |
| TITLE |
Alternative Measurement
Systems for Standing Trees |
CLIENT(S)
or
COOPERATOR(S) |
University of Idaho |
DATE
and
DURATION |
1999 through 2000 |
PRODUCTS
TO DATE |
none |
| CONTACT |
Laura Leites-Barrios; Andrew Robinson |
| SYNOPSIS |
Traditional techniques
for taking numerous diameter measurements at numerous heights on a single
tree are expensive and time-consuming. This proposal focuses on exploring
the feasibility and challenges associated with gathering tree dimensional
information from ground-based photography: taking a photograph of the sample
tree and applying measurements to the image. |