Southern Research Station

Title: Using forest vegetation simulator to aid communications between natural resource managers and stakeholders

Author: Rawls, Randall P.; Loewenstein, Edward F.

Date: 2006

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-92. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 76-77

Description: Due to differences in perspective, natural resource managers and members of the general public often find it difficult to communicate with each other concerning alternative management scenarios. Natural resource managers often consider and describe the forest in numeric terms such as number of trees, basal area, and volume per acre. Members of the general public are more likely to consider management implications from a visual perspective. With the ability to produce computer-generated, graphical images of the stand over time, the Stand Visualization System (SVS) and the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) may provide an interactive means of communication that bridges the gap between these two perspectives. To demonstrate the potential of this tool, FVS was used to project future stand conditions based on five different real estate cuts applied in a pine plantation. The graphical and numeric information produced by SVS and FVS was then used to determine relative stakeholder preference for each regime over time.

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Citation

Rawls, Randall P.; Loewenstein, Edward F.  2006.  Using forest vegetation simulator to aid communications between natural resource managers and stakeholders.   Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-92. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 76-77