Example 3: Small Landowner Inventory
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Example 3: Small Landowner Inventory

Summary
Imagine a scenario where a retired couple is interested in purchasing a 136 acre parcel of forestland with a house on the edge of it. The prospective buyers have never owned forestland before, so they have asked you to help them understand the resources on the property as well as potential management options. Their first concern is protecting the property and the home site in the event of a wildfire. Their next biggest priority is to manage the property for aesthetics and wildlife. They do not need their property to fully pay for itself, but they would like to recieve some income along the way and they do not want to incur any exorbitant costs. In this example, we will create a single detailed scene depicting four different forest conditions present on the parcel.

 

Concepts Introduced

Using preset polygons, using the border, multiple object placement, single object placement, object editing

 

Preparing the Data

Example data is provided under Stand Designer/Forests/Example 3. There are five stand tables which represent four different strata on the hypothetical property, plus a stand table that approximates the surrounding area. Lastly, there is a word document that provides additional details about the stand conditions, understory, woody debris, and special objects. For convenience, these strata descriptions are also included at the bottom of this example.

 

 

Walk-Through

 

Stand Designer Tutorial: Example 3 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.

 

Walk-Through

 

Import the Four Stand Tables into Seperate Quarters Using the Polygon Panel

  1. Create a new scene using the flat plane terrain. Open the full work menu.
  2. In the Polygon Panel, turn on the checkbox to the left of the first list item, "NW_Quarter". This polygon is now active and the area inside the polygon is selected. You will see "Selected Acres" change from 4.00 acres to 1.00 acres.
  3. With the NW Quarter selected, use Stand Table Import to bring in the first stand table. Place these trees with a "clumpy" distribution, which matches the description in the word document.
  4. In the polygon panel, turn off the NW Quarter and turn on the NE Quarter. Import the second stand table and place the trees with a distribution that fits the stratum description.
  5. Repeat this technique to place the third and fourth stand tables on the SW Quarter and SE Quarters.

 

Some other important notes about polygons:

 

Place Trees in the Border

Placing or deleting trees in the border is a seperate system from the polygons. To place trees in the border, select "Border" from the structure dropdown in the upper left panel. You will see all polygons turn off and "Selected Acres" will read "Border Selected". Then, import the last stand table and place the trees as normal. Change the structure dropdown back to "Base".

 

Customize the Understory of Each Stratum Using Multiple Object Placement

  1. Open the Settings panel and drag the Plant Density Slider to 0.
  2. Return to the work menu. Under the Stand Tools header, click the icon for Multiple Object Placement.
  3. This tool will allow you to place a custom list of multiple different objects. First, navigate through the "models library" to find some shrubs. Click the icon for Ground Cover, then click Shrubs.
  4. Add objects to the list by clicking the thumbnail image. Add some ground cover objects to the list that match the description of stratum 1 in the word document.
  5. Click an object in the list to select it. You can then adjust the sliders for Quantity per Acre and Scale Variance or open a preview of the object. Scale variance allows some objects to be randomly larger or smaller than others, making the scene less repetative. Scale variance of 1.30 is usually a good option for ground cover and natural objects. Click another object in the list to copy and paste the settings from the previous object. If you don't want a list item to change, you can click the "lock" checkbox to the left of the list item.
  6. Select the NW Quarter from the polygon panel.
  7. Click Preview Positions, adjust distribution and quantity per acre as needed, then preview again.
  8. Click Place Vegetation. If you would like to try again, remember that the clear objects dropdown allows you to "clear last" or "clear ground". When you clear objects, it will use the same "selected acres" as the polygon menu.
  9. If you like this list of vegetation, click Save List so that you can modify and re-use it later. A good goal is to create a few multi-purpose lists that you can re-use in future projects.
  10. After placing some "ground cover" objects, go to the "natural objects" and practice placing some stumps, snags, and woody debris. Again, consider the ability to save and re-use lists of objects.
  11. If you have the time, repeat this process to customize each quarter of the terrain according to the strata descriptions. If in doubt, keep it simple.

 

Place Special Objects Using Single Object Placement

  1. On Stratum 3, the description mentions a wagon and can dump. On Stratum 4, the description mentions some mule deer. To place objects such as these, return to the work menu and click the icon for Single Object Placement.
  2. For the wagon and can dump, navigate to Human Objects/Archeological/Homestead. Click on the thumbnail of one of these objects to select it.
  3. As noted on screen, hold the control key and left click the terrain to select a location for this object, then click Place Objects
  4. If you are viewing the object in the scene, you can use SHIFT+Left Click on the object to select it for manual adjustments. You will see some "transform handles" appear which you can click and drag to move the object around. You can also rotate and scale the object by clicking on those options in the Object Edit panel.
  5. Repeat this process to place the other special objects in the scene.

 

 

Extending This Example

Capture media from this scene and use it to create a presentation for the landowner describing the resources present on the property. Discuss the key differences between the different strata and some of the management implications. For at least one of the stands on the property, recommend a management prescription. Create a visualization of this stand after the prescription and include some media in the presentation. You can create this visualization in the same scene by using the structures system OR you could create a new scene.

 

 

Stratum Descriptions

The property is located in the Sierra foothills. In this particular area, rainfall is 35 to 45 inches per year. The forested area in question is contiguous and relatively flat with soils that appear to be deep and not too rocky. Overall, the area appears to be of high site class. The canopy closure and tree size distributions vary greatly for each stand. A walk-through of the property revealed four distinct strata and a cruise produced a stand table for each stratum (see attached CSV files).

 

Stratum 1
Stand description: The stand appears to have been created by meadering, reckless logging 40 to 50 years before. It is now dominated by hardwood. The conifers that remain are small and poorly distriubted with some dense patches and some unstocked holes.
Understory description: The underbrush was thick and it was difficult to get around. Poison oak and blackberries are found, mixed in with numerous other shrub species. 
Stumps, snags, and debris: There is a great deal of down and woody debris on the ground due to postharvest blowdown as well as logging debris. Additionally, there are several very old large snags. I would guess that there were at least 3 to 4 large snags per acre and numerous smaller snags. A moderate number of medium to large stumps remain.

 

Stratum 2
Stand description: Similar to stratum 1, the area appears to have been recklessly logged—however, this area appears to have been logged more recently. Basal area is low and the remaining conifers are poorly distributed with many unstocked areas. 
Understory description: Similar to stratum 1, the underbrush is thick and difficult to navigate.
Stumps, snags, and debris: There are numerous small to medium sized stumps, but relatively few snags. The stand is choked with woody debris.

 

Stratum 3
Stand description: This is a nicely seperated stand type comprised of well distributed conifer, mostly white fir, comprised of all sizes up to ~38 inches in DBH. Interstingly, an old wagon and can dump were spotted in this stand. 
Understory description: The understory in this stand was considerably more subdued than the first two strata. There are less shrubs, more ferns and other forbs.
Stumps, snags, and debris: Only a few stumps were noticed and most were very large and old. There is a moderate amount of snags and woody debris from natural mortality.

 

Stratum 4
Stand description: An area close to the owners’ home was by far the most attractive stand. It was somewhat overstocked, but could qualify as a late seral stand since a handfull of trees are five to six feet in diameter. Additionally, there are multiple distinct vertical canopy layers. Some mule deer were spotted in this stand.
Understory description: Similar to stratum 3, the understory was a pleasant mix of native shrubs, ferns, and other forbs.
Stumps, snags, and debris: No stumps were seen in this stand. There is a moderate amount of snags and woody debris from natural mortality.

 

Bordering Area
Stand Description: Dense industrial forest with 40 to 50 year old Douglas-fir regeneration. The stand was planted on a 14 x 14 spacing and was never thinned. In addition to the crop trees, there is dense ingrowth from a variety of tree species.