A compiled project and open-source code to generate web-based forest modelling simulators

Abstract

Sustainable forest management requires decision support systems to evaluate possible scenarios and anticipate the consequences of decisions. Forest modellers typically develop complex systems of equations to predict the behaviour of forests which makes the use of forest models difficult for end-users in general, affecting transfer of knowledge and technology. To overcome these difficulties and facilitate their practical use, models can be integrated into software to generate user-friendly forest simulators. In this paper we introduce and describe ForestMTIS, a cloud computing compiled and editable open-source project to generate forest simulators which was developed for statistical, non-spatial, deterministic, disaggregated, single species even-aged stand growth and yield models. We demonstrate the use of ForestMTIS based on the development of FlorNExT®, its first practical application, based on a collaborative approach to make growth and yield modelling and sustainable forest management available to a large community of users in the Northeast of Portugal.