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Patchworks Modeling
120-302
Description: Patchworks is a sustainable forest management optimization model. As an optimization model, it balances many attributes and values (economics, habitat, fibre supply, etc.). It is able to determine the spatial allocation of harvest blocks that best suit operational and strategic goals and constraints, including spatial allocation objectives such as opening sizes and adjacency delays. Patchworks can effectively examine policy space issues, and at the same time develop realistic and implementable operating plans.
Patchworks can also be adapted to a variety of reglatory and corporate situations. Stand dynamics and silvicultural regimes can be expressed by strata, or on an individual stand level. The model can account for economic factors including harvest costs, multiple product values, silvicultural costs, road construction and hauling costs. A variety of realistic long-term spatial allocation criteria can be applied simultaneously.
Patchworks is currently being used in a pilot project on the Romeo Mallette Forest. For this project, calibration and validation runs of both Patchworks and SFMM were conducted. Both models utilized the same datasets for these runs, and produced closely comparable output results. Patchworks has a distinct advantage over SFMM. Patchworks is a spatial model, meaning it is able to identify polygons (eg. areas available for harvest, specific silvicultural treatment activities, thinning, etc.). This spatial capability of Patchworks will be crucial in developing and implementing intensive forest management programs.
The approval and implementation of Patchworks would help Tembec to better manage its forest licenses, and would positively contribute to the production of forest management plans. The scientific objectives of this study were:
1. To improve forest modeling and decision support capabilities using Patchworks and other related models to develop a better understanding of resource sustainability and the trade offs associated with forest management decisions.
2. To enhance the ability of forest management planners to address ans manage risk and uncertainty in a spatial context by linking Patchworks to other companion models.
Tom Moore, Spatial Planning Systems
Project Work Report (2007-2008)
The Project Team: Tom Moore, Spatial Planning Systems, Dan Rouillard, MNR, David Martell & David Savage, University of Toronto.
Project Outputs:
Patchworks Implementation on the Nipissing and the Romeo Mallette Forests - Presentation
Special Issue of the Forestry Chronicle articles:
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