Original paper: Spatially correlated forest stand structures: A simulation approach using copulas

  • Authors:
  • John A. Kershaw, Jr.;Evelyn W. Richards;James B. McCarter;Sven Oborn

  • Affiliations:
  • Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, 28 Dineen Dr., PO Box 4400, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada;Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, 28 Dineen Dr., PO Box 4400, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada;School of Forest Resources, College of the Environment, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA and Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources, North Carol ...;Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, 28 Dineen Dr., PO Box 4400, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada

  • Venue:
  • Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

Spatial structure of forest stands is one of the main drivers of forest growth and yield, and is an important indicator of wildlife habitat, aesthetics, and other non-timber forest uses. Because spatial structure is costly to measure, a number of approaches for simulating spatial structures have been proposed. In this paper, we propose a simple approach that is capable of generating multispecies stand structures. Based on the method of copulas (Genest and MacKay, 1986, Am. Stat. 40:280-283), we utilize a normal copula to simulate spatially correlated stand structures. Species composition, diameter, height, and crown ratio distributions of each species, and their correlation with underlying spatial patterns are all controlled by user inputs. Example data sets are used to demonstrate how to estimate required parameters and compare simulated spatial structures with observed spatial structures. Except at the smallest scales (