A1 Journal article (refereed)
Improving Economic Management Decisions in Forestry with the SorSim Assortment Model (2019)

Lemm, R., Blattert, C., Holm, S., Bont, L., & Thees, O. (2019). Improving Economic Management Decisions in Forestry with the SorSim Assortment Model. Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.5552/crojfe.2020.586

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Lemm, Renato; Blattert, Clemens; Holm, Stefan; Bont, Leo; Thees, Oliver

Journal or series: Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering

ISSN: 1845-5719

eISSN: 1848-9672

Publication year: 2019

Volume: 41

Issue number: 1

Publisher: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Forestry

Publication country: Croatia

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5552/crojfe.2020.586

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/67635

Abstract

The sustainable supply of timber is one of the most important forest ecosystem services and a decisive factor determining the long-term profitability of forest enterprises. If timber production is to be economically viable, there must always be a way to analyse forest stands and trees felled for exploitation with regard to the wood assortments they contain. Only then can the expected timber yields, achieved by various silvicultural strategies or actions and different sorting options, be quantified with sufficient accuracy. The SorSim assortment simulator was developed for forest practitioners and forest scientists in Switzerland to realistically simulate the sorting of individual trees and entire forest stands based on defined specifications. SorSim has a simple user interface and comes in a number of different language versions (G, E, F). The software is implemented in Java, making it platform-independent. It can be downloaded for free at (https://www.wsl.ch/en/projects/sortimentsimulator-sorsim.html). This article provides an overview of how the simulator works and demonstrates its potential applications based on a practical and a scientific example. A particular practical advantage is that the composition of the assortments of the planned harvests can be estimated according to quantity and value. When used in strategic planning and especially in research, SorSim provides a basis for analysing either long-term developments in yields from forest stands or silvicultural treatment methods. Based on an even-aged and a selection forest stand, the scientific example shows how strongly the assessment of the advantageousness of two different silvicultural strategies depends on the time when the calculation was made (using historical and current assortment revenues and timber harvesting costs). In particular, the combination of SorSim with timber harvest productivity models enables differentiated forest economic insights. Various approaches for value-based optimisation in the sorting of individual trees and for the optimal allocation of harvesting activities to defined customer demands are currently being examined as further SorSim developments.

Keywords: forestrysimulation; silviculture; forest management planning; sustainable forest management; decision making; 

Free keywords: decision support; forest economics; forest management planning; net present value; timber revenues

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2019

JUFO rating: 1