COSSI, a cohort simulation model of forest growth and yield in the Solomon Islands

Abstract

A cohort simulation model of forest growth and yield in the Solomon Islands is presented. The model takes stand table information of the 12 common big tree species and simulates recruitment, growth and mortality of cohorts through time on the basis of basal area increment functions and size-specific mortality estimates derived over 1964-1994 from permanent sample plots in natural forest on Kolombangara, Solomon Islands. A cohort is defined as a set of trees on the same plot which are deemed sufficiently similar in size and condition to be grouped for the purpose of simulation. Recruitment is modelled in a two-step process involving the calculation of a total number of new recruits to be added to a plot, followed by partitioning this total according to species-specific probability values. Total recruitment and species-specific probability values are derived from empirical data on recruitment of the 12 species onto the Kolombangara plots following a cyclone in 1967.

Citation

oxford Forestry Institute Occasional Paper no. 50. 64pp.

COSSI, a cohort simulation model of forest growth and yield in the Solomon Islands

Published 1 January 1996