A simulation study to assess the sensitivity of a forest health monitoring network to outbreaks of defoliating insects.

The sensitivity of the United States Forest Health Monitoring network to outbreaks of defoliating insects was examined by means of a simulation study. A model constructed specifically for the study was used to generate a wide variety of defoliation patterns in forested landscapes. Forest configuration was that of Minnesota, USA, as expressed by the GAP land cover classification.

Process-based models for forest ecosystem management: current state of the art and challenges for practical implementation.

Recent progress toward the application of process-based models in forestmanagement includes the development of evaluation and parameter estimation methods suitable for models with causal structure, and the accumulation of data that can be used in model evaluation. The current state of the art of process modeling is discussed in the context of forest ecosystem management. We argue that the carbon balance approach is readily applicable for projecting forest yield and productivity, and review several carbon balance models for estimating stand productivity and individual tree growth and competition.