Abstract
The application of optimization methods to forest management has given rise to a successful line of investigation in recent decades. However, there have been few publications associated with the application of these techniques to the management of industrial forest plantations (those with short or medium rotations, always less than 50 years), which consider the important role played by these forest systems in the supply of diverse goods and services. This study presents an overview of this literature which, by analyzing 67 articles published in journals contained in the ISI Web of Science, highlight, among other aspects, the techniques employed, their evolution, their planning type (strategic, tactical or operational), the functional objectives and constraints considered, or the type of software deployed in these studies. The results show how Model I has been the one most frequently used in these studies, and how the spatial component is increasing in importance. However, classic optimization methods, such as mixed integer programming, have been those most commonly resorted to, although the employment of multi-criteria techniques such as goal programming and analytic hierarchical process have strongly emerged in recent years.
Highlights
In spite of the growing relevance of industrial plantations to the supply of different outputs (Landsberg and Waring, 2014), studies analyzing the optimization tools most often used in the management of these forest systems are scarce
This study presents an overview of this literature which, by analyzing 67 articles published in journals contained in the ISI Web of Science, highlight, among other aspects, the techniques employed, their evolution, their planning type, the functional objectives and constraints considered, or the type of software deployed in these studies
The survey made on optimization methods for the management of industrial forest plantations has shown that it is a topical and timely subject reaching a very notable publication level in recent years
Summary
In spite of the growing relevance of industrial plantations to the supply of different outputs (Landsberg and Waring, 2014), studies analyzing the optimization tools most often used in the management of these forest systems are scarce. In specific forest plantation management books, there are few chapters devoted to these topics (e.g., Evans, 2009; Bauhus et al, 2010), with the exception of Weintraub et al (2007) and Borges et al (2014a) Bearing this in mind, when briefly analyzing the literature on forest management and the application of the main mathematical optimization methods, the use of which differentiates these plantations, we find (as shown in Table 1) that the number of articles on the use of these techniques in forest plantations, published in the ISI Web of Science is, again, somewhat scarce. From the data in the table, it can be seen that in no case did the studies published reach 10 %, and the average is below 5 %
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