Example 2: Visualize a Selection Harvest
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Example 2: Visualize a Selection Harvest

Summary
Imagine the scenario where a small landowner is interested in having a selection harvest performed on their property. However, in this example, the landowner is hesitant because they don’t fully understand what the prescription means and they are concerned about what it might look like. To give them a better understanding of the plan, we will use Stand Designer to build a visual representation of the current inventory, proposed treatment, and long-term outlook.

 

Concepts Introduced 
The structures system, table development, video recording

 

 

Prepare the Data
Example data is provided under Documents/Stand Designer/Forests/Example 2. However, if you have your own data and access to a forest planning tool, you could also create your own dataset. To do this, you will need to import some inventory data into a forest planning tool, prescribe a fuels treatment, then do some growth modelling on the residual trees, as described in the video above. Export one stand table for the trees that will be harvested, another table for residual trees post-harvest, and lastly, a table for the residual trees grown 20 years into the future.

 

 

Walk-Through

 

Stand Designer Tutorial: Example 2 from Alpine Land Information Services on Vimeo.

*Development changes have happened fast and these videos need a few updates. If you get confused, check the text version of the example.

 

Import the Data Onto Multiple Structures

Stand Designer uses a system called "Structures" to manage different layers of trees and objects. The system is similar to a "layers" system in GIS or photo applications, though our system is more structured. Objects are assigned to a structure via the Structure Dropdown in the upper left panel of the work menu. Then, you can toggle the visibility of each structure using the buttons in the lower half of the toolbar. There are numerous ways to use this system, such as breaking down a stand by different habitat components or showing a stand at different time periods. In this example, we will show different time periods.

  1. Create a new scene on the terrain of your choice.
  2. Import the stand table of the "residual trees". Use the structure dropdown to place the trees on "S1" and use the distribution slider to lay out the trees in a "uniform" distribution.
  3. Import the stand table of "harvest trees" onto structure "S2" in a "clumpy" distribution.
  4. Import a stand table representing the residuals grown out 20 years. Place on structure "S3" in a "uniform" distribution.

 

Use Table Development to Create Understory Trees

Many growth models don’t include ingrowth (the natural reseeding of young trees). Therefore, we will use table development to make understory trees for the future stand.

  1. Return to the work menu (ESC) and click Table Development under the Stand Tools header.
  2. Add a species to the pie chart by selecting it in the dropdown, then clicking the arrow buttons. Add ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, incense cedar, and white fir to the pie chart, then click Build Stand.
  3. Use the arrow buttons to adjust the shape of the tree size/frequency distribution that you will be placing. Aim to add about 150 trees per acre (or your own best judgement) in trees that are 1 to 7 inches in DBH.
  4. Set the distribution slider to "clumpy" and the structure to "S4". Then click Preview Position and Place Vegetation.

 

Create Videos of the Stand at Different Time Periods

  1. Click the structures icons in the toolbar (lower half of the toolbar) to toggle the different structures on and off. This will allow you to depict the stand at different time periods. First, turn all structures off except for S1 and S2. This is a combination of your residual trees and your harvest trees, i.e. your current stand conditions.
  2. Record a video of the current conditions. For a simple video that floats down a path, follow these steps:
    1. Open the Capture Tool from the toolbar.
    2. Click Start Path
    3. You will see a blue plus sign appear next to your cursor. Left click the terrain to draw out a camera path.
    4. Click Finish Path. You will see the straight line be replaced with curves and green spheres will appear at the vertices.
    5. Click Start/Stop to send the camera down the path and preview the video. If you would like to adjust the speed or any other recording settings, click the arrow button to access the recording settings.
    6. When you are ready to record and export a video, start the camera down the path again using the Start/Stop button, then click Record.
    7. You can stop the recording at any time, or let the camera go to the end of the path. To find the file location, click Browse. For more tips and information about recording videos, see 3.8.1 Capture Tool Overview.
  3. From the toolbar, turn off all structures except S1. Turning off S2 hides the "harvest" trees, leaving just the residuals. This represents your conditions after treatment. Note that all of the inventory/tree data in the application only includes structures that are turned on.
  4. Record a video of the post-treatment conditions (you can use the same camera track as before).
  5. From the toolbar, turn off all structures except for S3 and S4. This represents the predicted stand conditions 20 years in the future.
  6. Record a video of the predicted stand conditions.

 

 

Up Next: Example 3: Small Landowner Inventory

 

 

Extending this Example

Insert the videos that you created into a simple slideshow presentation. Show and discuss the stand’s pre- and post-treatment conditions as well as the rationale of the prescription. Then show and describe what you expect the stand to look like 20 years in the future and discuss future “maintenance” prescriptions. Note that most slideshow tools also allow you to "trim" the length of videos that you attach.