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Evaluating Individual Tree Growth Models

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Sustainable Forest Management

Abstract

Individual tree growth models have become important tools for forest management. Therefore proper model evaluation criteria are of increasing interest to achieve a consistent and reliable management output. Generally, a forest growth model consists of a set of model components or functions, estimated independently or simultaneously using a range of different techniques. While an evaluation should examine each individual model component, the overall system performance is usually considered much more important. In this chapter we discuss evaluation criteria within three growth models focusing on the general model approach, the parameterisation and estimation methods, variable selection and model simplicity, biological realism, as well as the compatibility and reliability.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Research Station of Lower Saxony, 37079, Göttingen, Germany

    J. Nagel

  2. Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, 2970, Hørsholm, Denmark

    J.P. Skovsgaard

Authors
  1. M. Schmidt
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  2. J. Nagel
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  3. J.P. Skovsgaard
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Forest Growth Research, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, BOKU University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Peter Jordan Str. 82, A-1190, Vienna, Austria

    Hubert Hasenauer

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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Schmidt, M., Nagel, J., Skovsgaard, J. (2006). Evaluating Individual Tree Growth Models. In: Hasenauer, H. (eds) Sustainable Forest Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31304-4_12

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