Production Economics of Harvesting Operations

Because of the species diversity, varied site
conditions and growth rates, it is really
challenging to manage the central Appalachian
hardwoods. Examining the harvesting techniques and
interactions among stands, harvests, and machines is
becoming a concern to the researchers in the region.

This book, therefore, provides a modeling and
simulation approach to aid these efforts by
estimating the productivity, cost, and traffic
intensity of different harvesting configurations
under a variety of harvesting prescriptions and
stand conditions. A three-dimensional stand
generator was described in the book, which can be
used to visualize the stand structure and
composition of hardwood stands and perform dynamic
analyses of various management prescriptions.
Algorithms for felling and skidding operations were
modeled mathematically. Three commonly used
harvesting systems were modeled and simulated on
five generated stands of different ages in the book.
Five harvest methods were examined. This book will
be of interest to loggers, landowner, forest
managers, and students and researchers in forest
operations and timber harvesting.

Autorentext
Yaoxiang Li received her Ph.D. in Forest Resource Science from West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA (2005). She worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at West Virginia University from 2005 to 2006. She is currently an associated professor of Forest Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.

Klappentext
Because of the species diversity, varied site conditions and growth rates, it is really challenging to manage the central Appalachian hardwoods. Examining the harvesting techniques and interactions among stands, harvests, and machines is becoming a concern to the researchers in the region. This book, therefore, provides a modeling and simulation approach to aid these efforts by estimating the productivity, cost, and traffic intensity of different harvesting configurations under a variety of harvesting prescriptions and stand conditions. A three-dimensional stand generator was described in the book, which can be used to visualize the stand structure and composition of hardwood stands and perform dynamic analyses of various management prescriptions. Algorithms for felling and skidding operations were modeled mathematically. Three commonly used harvesting systems were modeled and simulated on five generated stands of different ages in the book. Five harvest methods were examined. This book will be of interest to loggers, landowner, forest managers, and students and researchers in forest operations and timber harvesting.