A Spatially Explicit Decision Support System for Assessment of Tree Stump Harvest Using Biodiversity and Economic Criteria

Mari Jönsson, Jörgen Sjögren, Björn Hannrup, Anders Larsolle, Ulla Mörtberg, Maria Nordström, Bengt A. Olsson and Monika Strömgren
Additional contact information
Mari Jönsson: SLU Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Jörgen Sjögren: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden
Björn Hannrup: Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden
Anders Larsolle: Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Ulla Mörtberg: Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Maria Nordström: Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden
Bengt A. Olsson: Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Monika Strömgren: Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: Stump harvesting is predicted to increase with future increasing demands for renewable energy. This may affect deadwood affiliate biodiversity negatively, given that stumps constitute a large proportion of the coarse deadwood in young managed forests. Spatial decision support for evaluating the integrated effects on biodiversity and production of stump harvesting is needed. We developed a spatially explicit decision support system (called MapStump-DSS), for assessment of tree stump harvesting using biodiversity and economic criteria together with different scenarios for biodiversity conservation and bioenergy market prices. Two novel key aspects of the MAPStump-DSS is that it (1) merges and utilizes georeferenced stump-level data (e.g., tree species and diameter) directly from the harvester with stand data that are increasingly available to forest managers and (2) is flexible toward incorporating both quantitative and qualitative criteria based on emerging knowledge (here biodiversity criteria) or underlying societal drivers and end-user preferences. We tested the MAPStump-DSS on a 45 ha study forest, utilizing harvester data on characteristics and geographical positions for >26,000 stumps. The MAPStump-DSS produced relevant spatially explicit information on the biodiversity and economic values of individual stumps, where amounts of “conflict stumps” (with both high biodiversity and economical value) increased with bioenergy price levels and strengthened biodiversity conservation measures. The MAPStump-DSS can be applied in practice for any forest site, allowing the user to examine the spatial distribution of stumps and to obtain summaries for whole forest stands. Information depicted by the MAPStump-DSS includes amounts, characteristics, biodiversity values and costs of stumps in relation to different scenarios, which also allow the user to explore and optimize biodiversity and economy trade-offs prior to stump harvest.

Keywords: bioenergy; coniferous forest; environmental management; integrated sustainability assessment; multi-criteria analysis (MCA); sensitivity analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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