FORECE: A forest succession model for southern Central Europe
A general forest succession model that simulates forest stand development for the most common site conditions in the southern part of Central Europe (with emphasis on Switzerland) is described. The model provides a useful tool for testing hypotheses about forest succession and enables the user to evaluate the impacts of natural and human disturbances on forest communities. Written in FORTRAN, it is a JABOWA-type simulator (Botkin et al., 1972) and is based on existing succession models for forests in eastern and western North America. Birth, growth, and death of 31 species of individual trees are simulated on a multitude of 1/12-ha plots. The successional characteristics of each replicate are subsequently averaged to obtain the forest development on a landscape level. Existing light in the forest stand, climatic conditions, soil properties, and other environmental factors control the growth of each individual tree. Species-specific input data such as light requirements and drought resistance were obtained from silvics information and phytosociological descriptions. Compared with previous simulators, some major modifications were made, including the incorporation of the indicator value concept of Ellenberg (1978). This approach is partially optional and is used to describe the ecophysiological behavior of the 31 different tree species incorporated in the model.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 5729437
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM-10575; ON: DE88003736
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted. Includes 1 sheet of 48x reduction microfiche; Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 2989
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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