Forest Dynamics: An Ecological Model

Over the past two decades, the author has developed and refined an extremely useful simulation model of forest growth. The JABOWA model was the first successful application of digital computer simulation to a complex natural ecosystem. Effects of global warming, acid rain, and commercial forest harvesting practices have been analyzed with this model. Offering a fresh perspective on ecological phenomena, Forest Dynamics provides all the information necessary to understand and use the model. Written for students and professionals in forestry and ecology, the book sets the forest model within the broader context of the science of ecology and the ecological issues that confront society in the management of forests. It also explains the theoretical foundations of the model.

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This volume is about a computer simulation that is a model of how forests grow and change over time--the JABOWA forest model, originally developed by the author and his colleagues in the early 1970s. Botkin places the model within the development of the science of ecology; provides an explanation of the model so that readers can understand it, use it, test it, and develop their own extensions and modifications of it; and suggests what is and what likely is not possible in the development of theory for complex ecological systems. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)