SBIR-STTR Award

The objectives of this project are to: 1. Establish one, standardized research database for long-term records from field studies of all existing growth and yield studies in the Northwestern States currently accumulated and maintained by Dr. James D. Arney. These databases contain 2,846,000 tree records in 20,440 plots representing hundreds of site preparation, planting, brush control, thinning, pruning and fertilization conditions and interactions. They span over fifty years of observation in five western States. 2. Make this research plot database available to other researchers and graduate students wishing to investigate stand dynamics, inter-species competition, growth-mortality relationships and refinements to long-term growth models. 3. Provide the incentive to return copies of all analyses back to this library so that each user generates a net gain to documented knowledge about growth & yield in the Northwest for the benefit of all. In this way even small, short-term analyses may contribute to the overall knowledge in forest silviculture and forest modeling.

Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:
A common, standardized research database will stimulate new research investigation and testing of alternative growth models by graduate students, faculty and other forest researchers. These new studies will contribute to the Library and to publish knowledge about forest dynamics and growth model architecture. It will provide analytical field data to investigate alternative silvicultural regimes being suggested by current State watershed and wildlife regulations.

Forestry has historically relied on publically funded Experiment Stations and University programs to supply new technology. Funding has moved away from biometrics research and technical support. This situation changes the relationship among USDA Experiment Stations, University cooperatives, outside professional consultants and industrial forestry organizations. This project establishes the prototype organizational structure for an industry-sponsored research and technical services organization in forest biometrics. A large database of growth and yield information has been accumulated for availability through this new forest biometrics R & D organization. The forest industry is showing strong support for this new approach. OBJECTIVES: 1) Provide the means for ongoing access to a robust database library of field measurements from permanent plots and felled trees; 2) Initiate a process of updating the database library with new information as it becomes available; 3) Provide standardized methods of model validation and testing using these databases; and 4) Initialize a forest-industry sponsored database library and forest biometrics research station for ongoing support and evaluation of growth models, decision-support models and silvicultural response models. APPROACH: This project is initializing a forest-industry sponsored growth and yield database library and research station for building and testing growth models, validating decision-support models, and calibrating silvicultural response models. It provides the largest publicly available database in the Northwest. This database is sufficiently robust to provide a basis for validating growth models for sustained yield analyses and forest certification of yield potentials for many regions and species in the West. There is no other known organization in the West providing these types of biometrics databases and services to the industry