Is the Domain of Tree Dominance Needed in Simulation Models?

Abstract

The methodological aspects of modeling the growth of stands in the works of A. N. Borisov and V. V. Ivanov (hereinafter the Authors) are analyzed. The indicator “area of dominance” and models of “optimal” trees with the best size ratio and proportional feeding polygons are considered. It was found out that dependent variables were used in them, which does not allow them to be used in adequate simulation models. However, the Authors still create from them a kind of abstract model of a stand with a quasi-uniform placement of trees, where there are no windows and clusters of trees, which does not happen in reality. Then the model is compared with another abstraction – static states of stands with a completeness of 1.0. Next, a table is constructed-a model of “optimal” completeness according to the conclusions of other authors, according to which, in stands of 50-120 years, it is recommended to maintain a completeness of 0.6–0.7 by thinning to increase of phytomass ofcrowns. To verify the model, the Authors use an increase in the radius of the trunk. However, such an increase does not reflect an increase in the stock over the entire area, where technological corridors appear during care cutting, which are also not taken into account in the models. As an example of a more objective approach, the works of V. A. Usoltsev and M. V. Rogozin. In the latest work, it was found that the feeding areas at the age of 30 years affect the diameter of the tree at 55 years only by 9.4±0.2%. Therefore, “areas of dominance” will lead to the creation of models beyond which 90% of the influence of other factors will remain. From the point of view of the theory of logging, the authors used dubious scientific methods, which were warned about by leading foresters back in the 1970s. The considered variants of imitation models of the growth of stands and models of care based on “areas of dominance” borrowed from zoology were, apparently, the last attempts of this kind - the era of discussion of five new laws of the development of stands and the period of changing scientific paradigms has come in forestry.