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OOS-47: Insights, challenges, and future directions in modeling forest dynamics
at multiple scales
Thursday,
August 11, 1:30 PM - 5 PM, Meeting Rooms 510a and 510c, Level 5, Palais
des congrès de Montréal
Organizers:
Chris Tripler (triplerc@ecostudies.org),
Charles Canham, Christian Messier, Michael Papaik
Description:
Dynamic,
mechanistic, and ecologically-based models have played an important role in
advancing our understanding of the effects of processes such as disturbance,
dispersal, and herbivory on forest stand dynamics. They also have provided us
with valuable insights into how disease, land-use change, and potential shifts
in climate may impact forests at landscape and regional scales. Yet, they have
been rarely used in forest management because of a perceived lack of predictive
power. Empirically rich growth and yield models have provided such predictive
power, but only in a very limited set of environmental and structural
conditions. Our requirements from analytical and simulation forest modeling
efforts appear to be shifting towards more mechanistic, ecologically-based
models, but with much lower predictive power. This session’s theme will focus
on how future modeling efforts should accommodate multiple scales, natural
phenomenon, new silvicultural treatments, and the novel responses of forests to
changing environmental conditions.
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