Modelling mixed-species forest stands

Abstract

The chapter first describes common models for monospecific stands and then the environmental conditions, processes, and structures that need to be included in forest growth models that are to be applied to mixed-species forests, how these different processes are incorporated into models, and the strengths and weaknesses of tree-level and stand-level approaches. The chapter gives an introduction to empirical models, process-based models, and hybrid models, which are a combination of the former two groups. Empirical models describe the system behaviour statistically, not the structure and mechanistic functioning of the system. Processbased models describe the trees and stand development on the basis of the underlying structure, within-stand environment, and functioning. Hybrid models represent a compromise between empirical and process-based models; they may bridge knowledge gaps of processes using statistical relationships. The chapter focuses on models that start at the individual tree level and scale up to the stand level or models that start and finish at the stand level.