Stand density management is the process of controlling tree density within a stand to achieve desired objectives. Stand density management practices include the spacing of planted trees, pre-commercial thinning, and commercial thinning. A sound density management prescription must consider three elements of prediction: biological responses of the stand to treatment, economic implications of the treatment, and forest-level effects of the treatment. This document provides essential information on each of these elements, and provides a structured decision process for making site-specific density management prescriptions. Sections of the document cover the biological concepts of timber production, economic principles of timber production, forest planning considerations, the decision process, and density management planning tools. Includes glossary.

Modelling is an important tool for understanding the complexity of forest ecosystems and the variety of interactions of ecosystem components, processes and values. This book describes the hybrid approach to modelling forest ecosystems and their possible response to natural and management-induced disturbance. The book describes the FORECAST family of ecosystem management models at three different spatial scales (tree, stand and landscape), and compares them with alternative models at these three spatial scales. The book will help forest managers to understand what to expect from ecosystem-based forest models; serve as a tool for use in teaching about sustainability, scenario analysis and value trade-offs in natural resources management; and assist policy makers, managers and researches working in assessment of sustainable forest management and ecosystem management. Several real-life examples of using the FORECAST family of models in forest management and other applications are presented from countries including Canada, China, Spain and the USA, to illustrate the concepts described in the text. The book also demonstrates how these models can be extended for scenario and value trade-off analysis through visualization and educational or management games.

Presenting a summary of the development in boreal forest management, this book provides a progressive vision for some of the world's northern forests. It includes a selection of chapters based on the research conducted by the Sustainable Forest Management Network across Canada. It includes a number of case histories.