IA2.7. Landscape design strategies, using tactical planning methods

What kind of result is this?

Tools and new methodologies 

What’s the area addressed?

Ecosystem Conservation and Landscape design
Landscape and Economy 

What’s the covered phase?

Prevention & Preparedness  

What’s the addressed challenge?

Integrate the evolution of the forest and yield of ecosystem services into fire prevention, or include fire risk into forest planning  

What value is proposed?

This action evaluates the possibility of including fire mitigation objectives into the forest production process. By combining four elements 1) a growth and yield simulator, 2) a management prescription module, 3) a fire spread simulator, and 4) an optimization module, we aim at evaluating the impact of medium term (30-50yr) forest plans into fire mitigation strategies.

Growth and management simulations and modules will be intercalated with fire simulations to define the coevolution of the landscape and fire impact. The system will allow to evaluate the flow of forest products, Ecosystem Services (ES), and the impact of fires on a forest landscape that evolves due to natural dynamics and management. Through optimization means, we will be able to define the most efficient management prescriptions (on space and time) to reach desired goals (e.g. minimise losses, maximize income, reduce potential fire size, etc.).

The IA 2.7 requires:

• from a region-specific growth and yield (G&Y) simulator based on tree or stand-level forest dynamic models, biomass and timber assortment models, bush evolution models, plus accompanying allometric and rules linking forest evolution and fuel build-up.
• a management prescription system that generates alternative management schedules for each stand of a landscape (thinning, clearings, pruning, final cuts, land use change),
• models that produce a direct linkage among the G&Y simulator, the management prescription module and the fire simulator, for example by creating a FlamMap landscape file (LCP). Depending on the allocation, land-use, or the characteristic of forest stands, the G&Y model has to create terrain variables, fuel models, and canopy characteristics required by the selected fire spread simulator to run
• from a fire spread simulator that produces landscape level metrics based on multiple stochastic fires, metrics depicting burn probability, distribution of fires by size classes, fire intensity, or any other that will be generated over the course of the project,
• a landscape with all the information to run G&Y simulations and fire simulations, with the required variables terrain, forest stands and other land uses, species composition, diameter distributions, etc.),
• ignition and climate scenarios.

Who can use it?

Researchers, with future potential forest administration   

What type of tool is it?

​​Test results/protocol​ 

How does it look like?

​​Stand-alone software

This tool is…

⊠ a new tool

☐ an improved tool

What are the vision & mission statement?

The application of the tool and results will be limited by the need of common decision making for the whole landscape (current fragmentation), and the uncertainty of Ess value. Still, the tool and proof of concept generated should help to strength the idea that productive, conservation, cultural services should be combined in forest plans, while also integrating mitigation recommendations.

When will it be complete?

Early 2025 

Documentation

TBA

This IA is implemented in the Living Lab(s)…

Catalonia, Chile