Articles containing the keyword 'decision support tool'

Rut formation caused by logging operations has been recognised as a challenge for Swedish forestry. Frequent traffic with heavy machines on extraction roads, together with a warmer climate, is one of the factors that increases the risk of rut formation in forests. One possible way to control this impact of logging operations is to design and apply decision support tools that enable operators to take sensitive areas into account when planning extraction roads. In this study, 16 different logging sites in south-eastern Sweden were surveyed after clear-cut. Information was collected about extraction roads (i.e. traffic intensity, whether the roads had been reinforced with slash) and ruts. Digital maps such as cartographic depth-to-water (DTW) index and soil type were also examined for any connection to rut positions. Soil type and traffic intensity were found to be significant factors in rut formation, while DTW and slash reinforcement were not. However, the DTW map combined with other information, such as soil type, could contribute to decision support tools that improve planning of extraction roads.

• Mohtashami, The forestry research institute of Sweden, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden E-mail: sima.mohtashami@skogforsk.se
• Eliasson, The forestry research institute of Sweden, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2038-9864 E-mail: lars.eliasson@skogforsk.se
• Jansson, The forestry research institute of Sweden, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3018-9161 E-mail: gunnar.jansson@skogforsk.se
• Sonesson, The forestry research institute of Sweden, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2018-7496 E-mail: johan.sonesson@skogforsk.se

Environmental planning for of the maintenance of different conservation objectives should take into account multiple contrasting criteria based on alternative uses of the landscape. We develop new concepts and approaches to describe and measure conflicts among conservation objectives and for resolving them via multiobjective optimization. To measure conflicts we introduce a compatibility index that quantifies how much targeting a certain conservation objective affects the capacity of the landscape for providing another objective. To resolve such conflicts we find compromise solutions defined in terms of minimax regret, i.e. minimizing the maximum percentage of deterioration among conservation objectives. Finally, we apply our approach for a case study of management for biodiversity conservation and development in a forest landscape. We study conflicts between six different forest species, and we identify management solutions for simultaneously maintaining multiple species’ habitat while obtaining timber harvest revenues. We employ the method for resolving conflicts at a large landscape level across a long 50-years forest planning horizon. Our multiobjective approach can be an instrument for guiding hard choices in the conservation-development nexus with a perspective of developing decision support tools for land use planning. In our case study multiple use management and careful landscape level planning using our approach can reduce conflicts among biodiversity objectives and offer room for synergies in forest ecosystems.

• Mazziotta, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Center for Macroecology Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2b, 11429 Stockholm, Sweden http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2088-3798 E-mail: a_mazziotta@hotmail.com
• Podkopaev, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Newelska 6, 01-447 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: dmitry.podkopaev@ibspan.waw.pl
• Triviño, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: maria.trivino@jyu.fi
• Miettinen, University of Jyväskylä, Faculty of Information Technology, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: kaisa.miettinen@jyu.fi
• Pohjanmies, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: tahti.t.pohjanmies@jyu.fi
• Mönkkönen, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: mikko.monkkonen@jyu.fi